To ask if anybody on here is pro-life?

[Teeandee]

When it comes to the subject of abortion I've noticed a high number of people on here are very pro-choice and support abortion. Is there anybody else, like me, who doesn't?

Everybody is entitled to their opinion of course and I don't think badly of anybody who has had a termination and I don't judge. It's only my personal outlook and life experiences that shape my view and was wondering if I really am in the minority here?

Sorry I was just talking about abortion in general. I'm happy with the law as it currently stands- I don't understand the point of abortion to term of a healthy foetus, surely that would just be an induction? The woman is then no longer pregnant anyway.

I think that a lot of anti abortion sentiment boils down to an idea that women are vessels and that is their fate and to try and get out of that fate is messing with nature and somehow "cheating".

The fact that many "pro lifers" are quite comfortable with women and children having terrible lives and / or dying kind of shows up that it's not coming from a place of caring, I think, or of love or compassion. It's something else.

@NothingOnTellyAgain I inadvertently overlooked the situation which you've described, the mother's life being at risk if she continued the pregnancy, so I'll answer that now.

If I were suffering from an aggressive cancer (for example) and was told that unless I aborted and proceeded with treatment then I'd die, yes I think I'd terminate under those circumstances, because I already have children who need me to be around.

I'd also understand and empathise with anybody else in that hypothetical situation if they had living children at home.

I guess I'd feel the same regardless of existing children though. Whether the woman who's life was in danger was a mother or not. I'm pretty sure I would.

Perhaps that means I'm not completely pro-life, then? More so pro-choice under extreme circumstances.

Assessing that hypothetical situation has been food for thought definitely.

So it would seem I'm in the grey area after all then. I respect people's choices to terminate under extremely difficult circumstances but am absolutely opposed to people having them unless absolutely necessary.

@WipsGlitter

Yes people saying that literally mean for any reason right up until term, infact on the last thread I was on it was debated it should be allowed during labour.

You are definitely pro choice OP because you don't seek to impose your views on others.

I mentioned the thing about children as Pro life people claim to care about children (about babies / foetuses) but many seem to have a massive blind spot about what their ideas will mean in real life for actual children who already exist, when their mum is forced to see a pregnancy through (that may kill her / send her into poverty etc).

Not becasue i thikn women with kids are more valuable than those without obviously!
Although losing your mum is a pretty massive deal especially if you are young and especially if it's entirely avoidable and done because of ideology.

Similarly to CmdrIvanova I believe that the moment an egg is fertilised by sperm, that there is a living entity separate from mother or father - a life in its own right. I genuinely don’t understand how it can be defined any other way.

I don’t however think that early term abortions are awful - I couldn’t do it myself and it does stir my emotions but things do happen and there are circumstances in which it’s the right decision for that woman.

I have to say despite knowing all the arguments for and against, I am against the notion of aborting a viable baby that would live outside the womb. I could never 100% support, despite knowing the argument of the extreme pro choicers, the idea bodily autonomy, simply because I fundamentally can’t ignore the fact that pregnancy is a unique situation where a life resides inside another. It’s not accurate in my mind to say “your body, your choice” when there is another body, another living being who will lose its life because of this decision.

So to me despite being for bodily autonomy, I cannot support “your body your choice” at any stage because it’s disregarding the life of the baby b

I'm pro-life and atheist. I would never have an abortion but I accept the right of others to have one because they are legal in this country but I'd obviously prefer that they didn't. If, heaven forbid, either of my daughters got pregnant I'd support them if they decided to have an abortion but it would be with a heavy heart. I'd never criticise anybody for having an abortion as it must be a horrendous decision to make.

I am catholic and relatively pro choice.

However, I don’t think abortions should be used a form of contraception.

And before anyone jumps down my throat I know someone who has had three abortions for this reason and it does not sit well with me.

The woman in Ireland for example where the rights of teh foetus were the same as the rights of the woman,

She was dead, she was literally starting to decompose

It was intensely distressing for her children but that was irrelevant as they didn't matter, her DH didn't matter, her rights to dignitiy in death were non existent, and the stupid thing was the pregnancy was too early for there to be any possibiltiy of a live birth outcome.

And yet because they had equal rights > the baby more in fact as the mum was dead, this absolutely macabre experiment was carried out.

I can see there are people on here who say the foetus / baby should have equal rights and again I really struggle. This was grotesque.

I just wish that no woman should ever find herself in the position of having to make that choice.
Pro life supporters should realise that even women who agree with abortion don't take their decision to terminate their pregnancy lightly.
Personally I don't understand anyone being totally pro life (unless only applied to themself) so for me, there is only pro choice.

I think my views have been somewhat coloured by the actions of somebody I know fairly well who has had multiple abortions including a late one, then continued to have unprotected sex regardless and take no responsibility for contraception.

I think it's hard for people to imagine that this kind of thing happens often and it's likely not very common but having seen it first hand it's compounded my personal view on abortion and the way some people see pregnancies as disposable.

I don't think it's fair for me to push my judgements of her onto others who've terminated or are considering terminating under different and or difficult circumstances so I don't. I've never been vocal and critical of anybody online or offline who's admitted to having aborted, not even the woman I've mentioned.

I am neither anti-life nor pro-abortion. Abortion is a traumatic procedure for all involved, including the fetus and those that administer it and if we lived in a society that was motivated by radical care of those within it, we should seek to reduce the number that happen to as close to zero as possible (it will never be zero but it could be a rare procedure).

But for this to happen, women would have to have complete autonomy over their body's, would have a wealth of knowledge about their reproductive systems and access to contraception that was both effective and not detrimental to their health, would have amazing obstetric and post-natal care and would be fully supported in child raising (financially, emotionally, practically, relationships, careers etc). That's a fuckton of investment into the wellbeing of women as a class.

We don't live in that world, so women need immediate access to safe abortion on demand and they should get to dictate the terms.

If you are pro-life, the answers are easy - make the choice to have a baby an actual livable choice for women... always. If you're not interested in that then you're just a Forced Birther and that is a totally different thing.

It is a huge source of irritation to me that those opposed to abortion have commandeered the label "pro-life". You are NOT "pro-life" you are anti-choice.

As someone said above, life is not just being born, it's being wanted and fed and clothed and housed but I find those who are anti-choice tend to be those who moan about the welfare state as well. Hypocritical twats.

If you truly believe that life begins when the egg meets the sperm than I do hope you take stock of every period or ejaculation you have as, after all, those are potential lives you are squandering .

As to those dragging in arguments about the death penalty. A woman having an abortion doesn't affect you. It is her choice not to go through the very risky life changing situation that is giving birth and raising a child. After all there are thousands of threads on her about woman whose bodies and quality of life has been drastically altered by childbirth and pregnancy. Living under a system where you may be falsely convicted of a crime and be killed by the state affects everyone.

Bertrand it can't be that hard to think of some realistic examples.

Here's the first one I can find: metro.co.uk/2018/09/25/man-beat-girlfriend-to-force-miscarriage-because-they-would-lose-benefits-7976209/

There was also a video on Facebook (possibly on the BBC, I can't find it quickly now) where a woman who was pregnant with her third girl was being pressured to abort by her family, and her SIL had been in the same situation and was "sent to visit family" in Pakistan and was never seen again. The woman's father said he would kill her himself for bringing shame on the family.

Domestic violence, affairs, parents throwing out their young pregnant daughters...

So women in these circumstances don't get a "choice", they should just abort because it's easier?

As I said, abortion is legal, it's unlikely to be made illegal (and I can see why illegal abortion is a bad thing - I haven't thought too much about it but I wouldn't want abortion re-criminalised) so I'd like to try to make things better for women in difficult situations and reduce the number of abortions through supporting women, educating on life before birth and campaigning against increases in the abortion limit etc.

But that of course means I want all pregnant women to have coat hanger abortions and die in the gutters because I'm a horrible misogynistic pro-lifer

I am pro choice.

However I understand people who would choose not to have an abortion themselves - that is a personal decision.

But if you describe yourself as 'anti abortion' or 'pro life' would you want abortions to be banned? Completely? Or change in the law?

Bizarrely a large number of the pro-life movement in places such as the US, including politicians, seem to support the death penalty, oppose gun control and are against welfare/ affordable healthcare. Pro forced birth is far more accurate.

I had an abortion at 8 weeks. To this day it still haunts me.
I’m very much pro choice in that I believe a woman has the right to make her own decision without anyone else forcing their own opinions on her.
The whole thing makes me really sad because to me it is ending the potential life, and every day I wonder who my baby would have been. Every so often I have that awful feeling in the pit of my stomach knowing that I took that life away.
I don’t think I’ll truly be at peace until I’m dead.

Pro-choice.

If you're forced birth (because it's not really pro-life if you're oy thinking of the child even if it will be born into a completely unsuitable situation) then you DO judge. I am pro abortion all the way.

But if your friend is so chaotic as to not be able to sort out contraception for herself, how is bringing a child into their world a positive thing?

Surely you understand that this is not a person who is ready to be a mother or to healthily sustain a pregnancy and the better option is to terminate?

Repeatedly putting yourself in harms way is a sign of mental and emotional distress. The person you know may need help but judgement of their behaviour is not going to change the behaviour.

I'm much like you op. Personally against abortion and would never have one but accept other women have the choice under the current limits, although I'd probably vote to have that slightly lowered. Can't abide any term for any or no reason abortion though. I would actively campaign against that, but I suspect most women and general public would too. I think pushing for any term any reason would perhaps push me towards a much stricter pro life stance.

I'm not pro-life but I understand why some people are. It all comes down to whether you see a foetus/baby as a full, separate human being from the moment of conception or whether you view it as more of a spectrum from 'ball of cells' at the start to 'full human baby' at the end. Personally I'm in the latter camp but it's not difficult to see why people who hold the former view think abortion is abhorrent and equivalent to murder.

I don't think it makes sense to think of abortion as okay in a situation involving contraceptive failure or rape, but not okay after unprotected sex. Either you think the foetus is a human being, in which case killing it would be wrong regardless of circumstances (as someone said above, no-one would support killing a baby after it's born because it was conceived through rape), or you think it's not a human yet, so abortion is not immoral. The circumstances of conception don't change the impact on the foetus, so how can they change the morality of the situation as a whole?

So women in these circumstances don't get a "choice", they should just abort because it's easier

No they should have a CHOICE - and you may not be aware but many pro-choice supporters are also pro women, anti domestic abuse and anti the general oppression of women by men - which includes removing their right to biological self determination

Not rtft, only got as far as this post

shade of gray. I worked as a translator on the NHS and had to be present at abortion a couple of times. Most unpleasant experience. I'm generally pro-choice as in against forced birthing. But... those abortions were a result of total ignorance and selfishness and... I just don't know how to describe. Having a 5th (!) abortion just because you don't believe/can't be arsed to take a pill or use any other contraceptive sad

I have posted about similar before and been totally disbelieved. I used to be pro choice in general but anti abortion for myself, however since working in a gynae clinic my views have shifted a bit. Women having multiple abortions should not be allowed. Some of them literally treat it as a form of contraception and it's disgusting.

I'm definitely a shade of grey, as are the vast majority of my colleagues