Should pregnant women be allowed total control over their bodies? Where do the unborn child's rights come into it?

pregant woman's body her choice. Once you start to say that pregnant women can or can't do something where does it end? What sanctions would you put in place if a woman does something she shouldn't? Do we need special prisons for women who put their babies at risk? Who decides what a woman should or shouldn't be able to do? Which risks are or aren't acceptable? Its not just a case of whether or not an unborn baby/fetus has rights. IF they do have rights how do these rights balance against the rights of the mother?

Just as a point of interest

I understand that men who do not have healthy lifestyle (or are older but that's a differnt conversation) are more likely to have below-par sperm, which in turn can lead (amongst other things) to miscarriage.

I don't see calls for laws saying that fertile men should stop drinking alcohol competely and stop smoking etc etc.

The woman is the more obvious person as she carries the foetus, but the actions of the male prior to conception are not without consequence.

The question in the OP - pregnant women should have control over their bodies, yes of course.

Foetuses have no rights. And it belongs to it's mother alone until the moment it's born.

Women should have total control over their bodies.

well, along with rights, I guess you get responsibility.
So, yes, I don't drink when I am pregnant - but I resent people 'telling' me what I should and shouldn't do. Give me the research, facts etc. and I will choose responsibly.
No-one is 'allowing' me to do or not do anything...
(MIL would disagree strongly... )

Appologies for the use of "unborn child," BoF, actually I think you are right, I just couldn't think how else to word it.

My personal thinking...and I wouldn't expect any legislation to be passed on what I personally think....is that once you are pg the baby comes first. Obviously there are a million shades of grey here, and I really don't want to bring terminations of pg into this.
I also think the father has no right to any say in the matter...but I did have tests done in pregnancy that I wouldn't have had if DH hadn't wanted them/been bothered, and I did respect his wishes (to a certain extent) when it came to things relating to his "unborn" child.

Hope that make some sort of sense. I'm not expecting anybody to agree with me.

Well, it depends on when you think that an unborn child becomes a fully fledged human being, with the rights that should go along with that. Is it conception? (presents difficulties for fertility treatments) Or is it at viability? And when is that anyway? or is it birth? And should at any point the rights of that human outweigh the rights of another(the mother)and if so why?

And then you have the issue of whether something that we may feel to be immoral, say drinking to excess during pregnancy, should be illegal. Are morality and legality nesessarily linked?

I was asked by a 24 year old man "Are you allowed to ride a motorbike when you're pregnant?"

I'm afraid my reply was somewhat caustic, and ended with me sarcastically begging him not to tell my husband I had obtained shoes and left the house.

Incredibly difficult question.

Legally, a woman can do as she pleases. She can drink as much as she likes, she can smoke as much tobacco as she likes, she can go diving, rock climbng, sky diving and can get a job as a hod carrier for all the law cares.

MOST women don't do this. They moderate their behavior for the sake of their unborn children, within reasonable levels for the life they have to lead - for example, I stopped drinking entirely but I did continue to ride my motorbike as I couldn't get to work without it. My Auntie and Uncle, who tried for 15 years for the one child they now have and suffered 9 miscarriages, thought I was a disgusting human being for being so blase, and if they were in charge of making the laws governing pregnant people's behavior, pregnant people would lie on a sterile foam bed for the 40 weeks a pregnancy lasts, and be fed a fibrous balanced vitamin/protein/complex carbohydrate mulch.

Unfortunately, when we talk about making 'laws' so that 'they' can't do that (give their children FAS and low birth weight) we forget that we live in a representative democracy, not a direct democracy, and as we know, our representatives do not always do as we want.

For me it's a case of my body, my choice. Otherwise a woman is relegated to the status of incubator if she loses her human rights, and the fetus is not yet fully human and part of the world, iyswim?

I also have a big issue with the way the phrase 'unborn baby' has entered common parlance actually. It's my understanding that it comes from the anti-choice movement and emotionalises pregnancy over a woman's rights over her own pody.

It really bugs me to see a silhouette of a pregnant woman in a round sign with a red diagonal line through it on bottles of Bulmers cider.

Excessive alcohol can raise the risk of foetal alcohol syndrome. Having no alcohol is unncessary. Makes me mad I tell you.

Anyway, it's your body so I reckon it's your choice what you do when pregnant.