to not want a teenage boy telling me abortion is a sin and should never be legalised?!

[ThisMomentusDay]

I never really know how to feel about abortion, i don't think i could ever have one but thankfully i've never been in a position to have to consider this so it's a very easy thing to say isn't it?
As such i'm very much sitting on the 'pro-choice' fence!
It's such a personal choice for a woman and not usually one taken lightly.

Yesterday on the street there was a stall set up with a petition to the Taoiseach (PM) to not have any sort of a referendum on legalising abortion in Ireland. Fair enough i thought, freedom of speech, right to protest etc.
Untill i was passing and a teenage boy below the voting age (and possibly the age of consent) tries to hand me the leaflets. I looked across the street and on the 4 corners of this junction there are teenage boys handing anti-abortion leaflets out to (mainly) women!

It really annoyed me, (especially as it was very obviously a catholic group and i think the church has done enough damage to the state and should stay the hell out of politics) but i just refused the leaflets and kept walking.

AIBU to have thought 'what the hell has it got to do with you?'

[oila]

YABU, teenage boys have as much right to protest and lobby for the causes they support as anybody else does.

[Goblinchild]

Ask them if they ever plan on having sex, and what contraception they will be using that is acceptable to the catholic church. Insist on a detailed answer.

[purepurple]

YABU for the reasons oila gives.

[cookielove]

Was going to post what oila said but she got there first, so yes YABU

[AlabamaWorley]

YADNBU!

As if they are fully informed?!?! I am all for people (including teenagers) having opinions and for lobbying for causes they support - so they should. That is much better than kids taking drugs and getting into trouble.

However, I have issues with those that jump on bandwagons because they haven't heard/researched/been informed of the other side. And i just cannot believe that 14 year old boys have enough life experience to have a valid opinion on abortion. Ridiculous!

[catgirl1976]

YANBU. Yes they have a right to free speech and to peaceful protest - (although to my mind there is something distinctly unpeaceful about forcing leaflets often showing deliberatly distressing images of aborted fetuses to women who may have had a miscarriage or abortion) - but you are not BU to be annoyed by their views or by the fact they are MALE and 14 and unlikely to have been in a situation where they have ever needed to consider abortion in anything more than a hypothetical situaiton.

[handsomeharry]

YANBU.

[fernier]

Yabu to think they can't voice their opinions plenty of people are anti abortion for many reasons. Yanbu to avoid them refuse their leaflet as im sure was possible.

[MistressFrankly]

what the hell has it got to do with you

Its called having an opinion. It may not be the same as yours but they are entitiled to it. I for one am pleased that kids were motivated to get off their arses and protest.

Just because they are young and male does not mean they cannot have feelings on the subject of abortion. It is a highly emotive subject and it is their democratic right to protest.

Would you have been annoyed if it was young girls handing out leaflets?

Whilst it maybe the woman who physically has the abortion men are also affected the decision abort or not.

As for life experience, by 14 i had already formed the moral stance to which i have governed my life. Yes it has been tempered by life experience but to say that a 14 yr olds opinion is irrelevant as they are too young is patronising.

At 14 unfortunatly some have already had to deal with the issue of abortion, or have been around friends who have.

[itisnearlysummer]

YANBU. Most teenagers get involved in one issue or another. But abortion isn't really on the same continuum as animal testing, for example.

[fernier]

I would think abortion was exactly the same level as animal testing actually?

[DuelingFanjo]

ok, so you may be being unreasonable because they have a right to protest/campaign ...but...

bet you if you had tried to engage them in a conversation about it they wouldn't have had the skills to reasonably debate the issue with you.

[spiderpig8]

Why don't teenage boys have teh right to stand up for their beliefs ?
I can'r see age has any bearing on the desire to protect unborn lives if that is what they believe in.

[OTheHugeManatee]

What goblinchild said. It's a golden opportunity to educate some young men on doing their bit to make sure fewer women are ever confronted with that horrific choice.

[MistressFrankly]

Eeek forgive the typos - was being attacked by small child weilding a rubber fish

[catgirl1976]

Given the teenage boys in question were part of a catholic group, how likely is is that they have been exposed to a fair and frank discussion on the subject and been given access to information on both sides of the debate? Not very I image.

They are still entitiled to the views foisted upon them by the catholic church their views and to protest or give out leaflets. But the OP is entitled not to be comfortable with it.

[HelloKlitty]

I am pro-choice...but YABU to think a teenage boy can't protest.

[DilysPrice]

YABU -I agree with goblinchild, if you strongly disagree with their stance (as do I) then confront them and ask how they will live their principles in their own lives (feel free to start with the Catholic Church's stance on masturbation if you feel vindictive).

I have moral views on lots of things that are "none of my business" - FGM leaps to mind.

[EricNorthmansMistressOfPotions]

Well YANBU not to want a teenage boy's opinion o abortion, or to consider it ill-informed.

Something that really stuck with me once was a TV discussion programme with a young man on the panel, a member of 'catholic youth league' or something like that, and a comment he made, regarding abortion for rape victims, was that allowing rape victims to terminate a pregnancy was like raping them again. It highlighted just exactly how much he misunderstood the idea of consent and bodily autonomy. I think it's very hard for most men to comprehend the reality of terminating a pregnancy, and inexperienced teenage men even more so.

[BelleDameSansMerci]

YANBU, in my opinion. Love the idea of discussing contraceptive choice with them...

[aeder]

YABU they are perfectly entitled to campaign

[sausagesandmarmelade]

Excellent post mistress

Problem with "pro choice" is that it's very one sided....only the pregnant woman has the right to choose....her partner doesn't and neither of course does the unborn child (whose life depends on the choices that adults make).

And don't tell me it's "her body"....it's also the unborn child's body...his/her life is at stake.

I think that abortion should only be carried out in exceptional circumstances....i.e where the pregnancy would jeopardise the health (mental or physical) of the mother...and/or child

[catgirl1976]

As for life experience, by 14 i had already formed the moral stance to which i have governed my life.

You were way more mature than me then. I was an opinonated little twonk who thought the world worked in black and white and hadn't had enough life experience to understand it was actually mainly shades of grey.

[leares]

YABU If they had been campaigning in favour of abortion, I bet you wouldn't have written this

[catgirl1976]

I bet she would.....