Pro-life / Pro-choice

I think that's a pretty extreme example. I believe there to be plenty of people who would call themselves pro-life but would support an abortion where the mother's health was at risk.

Mollified, it is never an easy choice but for so many different reasons can be the right choice. In my opinion I would rather a thousand abortions than to see one child born and live a life of misery and neglect because his/her mother was not allowed to choose.

"Pro-Life" is most definitely a tasteless term for those who would prefer to let a woman bleed to death than perform a life saving abortion

I am very much pro making it so that a woman who might want a baby but thinks that the circumstances are not right is supported and helped so that she can have the baby if she wants to (not socially ostracised, financially helped out, etc).

But a woman who does not want a baby should be able to become unpregnant quickly and easily and safely without judgement.

Well, it depends on so many factors, many of them hidden, as to whether it's an easy choice or not, and an easy procedure or not.

I had a friend who knew the day she got the positive test (the day her period was due - she'd been on antibiotics and knew there was a chance the MAP might have failed) that she wanted an abortion. Her GP delayed and delayed without being explicit about the fact that he was very pro life, and she was nearly 12 weeks before she actually was able to have the operation.

And yet, she didn't change her mind. She just got more and more stressed, more and more upset, more and more sick and tired.

It seems so cruel to make a woman jump through hoops when she's sure in her own mind that she doesn't want to be pregnant. For what? To punish her? Do you have to suffer a certain amount for society to deem it hard enough and therefore permissable?

of course there are consequences to abortion.
there are consequences to everything.
It's up to an individual to decide whether to take them on or not.

I do struggle with the Rights of the Unborn though. I don't think the right of a woman to avoid a minor inconvenience trumps the foetus right to life.
But that throws up other questions, such as what is 'minor', who decides, who would be so frivolous anyway. On balance seeing as how no one would agree, the most qualified person to decide is the woman herself.

I hope you don't mind me saying, but you seem very incoherent and I can't help suspecting there is more to this than you say in your OP? No need to answer if you don't want to, but if you are actually in the middle of an upsetting situation, we might be more able to understand where you're coming from if you let us know.

I agree that pro choice is the best position on the whole for all of the reasons that have been pointed out however I don't agree that it should be pro easy choice. I know women who have deeply regretted their choice as well as women who have rejoiced that they live in a country where they are free to make that choice. Coming from Ireland I understand the incredible difficulties that women have had to go through in order to take the abortion choice - very few of these women regret it.

Exactly!

There are mental and emotional consequences of being pregnant when you don't want to be, surely?

I don't really see the logic in the argument that there are mental and emotional consequences of abortion, therefore abortion is bad.

It doesn't make sense.

You would have to demonstrate that the abortion itself - as opposed to the pregnancy, or the wider situation, or the way in which the abortion was carried out - was the cause. And the very large numbers of women who have abortions with no ill effects would seem to suggest abortion itself is unlikely to be the root cause of the problems.

"down't an't" =" doesn't want"

"There are often mental and emotional consequences to the woman that I believe are often not made clear prior to the appointment at the clinic. "

That may be true( although I dispute it). However, the are sure as hell mental and emotional consequences to the woman forced to carry, birth and look after a baby she down't an't that are not made clear at the an't natal clinic.

I thought I read about a study from Holland recently that found worse effects on the mental health of women from continued pregnancy regardless of whether the child was wanted or not. Did anyone else come across that? I did google but could not find it.

The baby can't make a choice to be born or not. Or did you mean something else?

Sorry, I am a bit busy but I think you'd be best employing a professional. I know people who work full-time in that industry and it really makes a huge difference. You can even turn a hobby into a modest source of income if you are willing to take the trouble, it's not bad at all.

But I digress.

I don't think your argument about 'the point behind the label' quite holds up, because what you find is that people actually mean what they say - so people who identify as 'pro life' really do believe that people who're anti-abortion are anti-life.

It's tough to get your mind around but it is, I'm afraid, quite true.

I don't like the term pro-life either.

I am def pro choice with regards to abortion.

Yes, I bet mooncup!

I've always been moderately pro-choice, but am much more strongly so since I have been pregnant (very much wanted). I have been sick, depressed lacking in energy, socially isolated etc, and that is with the thought that I want this child. I could never force someone who doesn't want a child to go through this.

Incedently the reason our law almost allows abortions on demand is because pregnancy is very risky for the health of the mother, and early term abortions aren't. From a mental health perspective, the only abortions which make things worse than that pregnancy in the first place are those which are for wanted children who are likely to be severly disabled or when a life-threatening on the side of the mother makes it necessary. Not early-term abortions for unwanted pregnancies.

Yes indeed LRD. My university boyfriend found his thoughts on the matter evolving quite swiftly when my period was a couple of weeks late!

Pro-life may be the general term in use but that doesn't mean that it's not objectionable.

I have just noticed an amusing typo, btw.

It's not 'termanology', much as you might wish it!

To be fair to the OP, I think a lot of young men find this debate quite intellectually challenging, because it is something women have often had more reason to think hard about it. I know it took me a long while to get my mind around it all.