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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To ask if anybody on here is pro-life?

999 replies

Teeandee · 28/12/2018 15:02

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?

OP posts:
EnthusiasmIsDisturbed · 29/12/2018 21:18

I am pro choice all the way

Of course I disagree with pro lifers but I can tollorate their opinion more than those who only feel women should be able to access abortion under certain conditions

That to me is the most hypocritical opinion of all the arguments around abortion

ElonMask · 29/12/2018 21:19

So are you saying that a woman would be unreasonable to refuse to have sex with her husband, and also unreasonable to expect help from the state if she got pregnant Elon?

Well, I'm suggesting to you that the former does not morally justify abortion.

Drogosnextwife · 29/12/2018 21:22

formerbabe

The question was directed at you after you made this statement;
We weigh up the benefits versus the risks

I wasn't asking myself the question of what the benefits were Confused

ElonMask · 29/12/2018 21:23

That is, a desire to have sex but not to get pregnant is not a moral justification for abortion, certainly not late term ones. For me, early term abortions are not obviously morally wrong, but thats really the best you could say about it.

formerbabe · 29/12/2018 21:24

Oh so it was a rhetorical question? I think it's fairly self explanatory. No need for anyone to explain in great depth why couples have sex for recreational purposes.

Penguin34 · 29/12/2018 21:24

I am pro choice without a doubt.. but I could never have an abortion myself. Am I a hypocrite?

formerbabe · 29/12/2018 21:25

I am pro choice without a doubt.. but I could never have an abortion myself. Am I a hypocrite?

Of course not. It's not compulsory Confused

Drogosnextwife · 29/12/2018 21:25

Of course I disagree with pro lifers but I can tollorate their opinion more than those who only feel women should be able to access abortion under certain conditions

Well I hope you agree with termination until full term then.

JacquesHammer · 29/12/2018 21:25

Am I a hypocrite?

Of course not. Your making decisions right for you without impressing some morality on other women. That’s just what pro-choice should be.

Penguin34 · 29/12/2018 21:26

Thanks @JacquesHammer

TheLazyDuchess · 29/12/2018 21:28

I'm in the grey area. My biggest issue is how many abortions could be prevented, with proper controceptives. Someone who tried to be careful but it happened anyway, has my sympathy in a way that someone having sex without caring about the consequences, doesn't.

I do think abortion should be legal, and accessable to anyone who wants one. No one should be forced to be pregnant, or give birth, when there's an alternative available. Making it/the pills illegal means it'll happen anyway, but be backstreet/all "surgical", and surely botched aborition is worse than the other options.

TheLazyDuchess · 29/12/2018 21:29

*contraceptives

Drogosnextwife · 29/12/2018 21:31

formerbabe

No it was a genuine question that I was looking for an answer to. Confused

"Recreational purposes", oh dear.

That's why I said apart from the obvious, "because it feels good and I want to". Does it have any other great benifit? Thought perhaps you new something I didn't

TheLazyDuchess · 29/12/2018 21:35

Excuse typo's Blush I don't agree with late term abortion, because the procedure is different, and riskier for the woman, and the baby has developed more, and I'm not quite convinced foetus's can't "feel". Babies are born being able to, but when do all those nerves etc form?

ElonMask · 29/12/2018 21:40

The moral argument seems to be (and correct me if I'm wrong) abortion is justified because a woman should not be pregnant if she doesn't want to be. The obvious response is don't want to be pregnant, don't have sexual intercourse. The response to that is that it is a totally unreasonable suggestion. That leaves the justification for abortion being that people want to have sex and not be pregnant. It's not a great moral argument.

Xenia · 29/12/2018 21:43

I believe abortion is killing but I am not against that killing. i can understand both sides' points of view but I support English law as it currently stands as a reasonable compromise.

JacquesHammer · 29/12/2018 21:43

It's not a great moral argument

So don’t have an abortion then.

I have absolutely no issue with the morality of abortion for any reason.

thehorseandhisboy · 29/12/2018 21:43

EltonMask Wanting to have sex without getting pregnant is the rationale behind contraception, is it not?

Do you think contraception is somehow immoral then?

Fluffiest · 29/12/2018 21:50

Contraception doesn't end a life that's already made.

JacquesHammer · 29/12/2018 21:51

Contraception doesn't end a life that's already made

But then you come back to the question of belief as to when life is made.

I think the easiest conclusion is:-

If you believe life starts at conception, then abortion most likely isn’t for you.

If you don’t have that belief then abortion is a reasonable option for you.

The important thing is neither the “pro” or the “anti” side should think about applying their beliefs to anyone other than themselves.

Xenia · 29/12/2018 21:53

I think it depends on the contraception - some kill life and some just prevent it coming into existence.

Some people think not having all those babies who potentially could be born is morally wrong.

speakout · 29/12/2018 21:56

At what point does life begin?
Conception?

CardsforKittens · 29/12/2018 21:58

I'm pro choice and, as I said on the other thread, I would support abortion at any time for any reason.

I do think that life experiences have had some influence on my position. I became pregnant as a result of contraceptive failure and didn't find out until I was well into the second trimester.

Fortunately I was not experiencing any adverse circumstances. And despite the shock I was quite happy to be pregnant. However, it really clarified to me that in less fortunate circumstances my situation could have been quite desperate.

Having said all that, I've always been pro-choice and I don't feel remotely uncomfortable about the idea of termination even at a very late stage. I think that arguments for fetal rights are ultimately extensions of medieval theological ideas about access to an afterlife that I don't believe in. That, and control of women's bodies.

TheLazyDuchess · 29/12/2018 22:01

Surely the only thing that will realistically reduce abortions, or the need for them, is better contraception, and anyone who isn't ttc using something from they decide to be sexually active. Abstinence is easier said than done. When are will all the male hormonal contraceptives we've been promised for years, be hitting the market? Surely that would make a big difference even if men had to be nagged into it.

Drogosnextwife · 29/12/2018 22:01

But then you come back to the question of belief as to when life is made.

No it's fact that contraception stops an eggs from being fertilized, that's why it's is CONTRA-caption, the opposite of conception. When the sperm enters the egg, the egg is fertilized, which means a life has been conceived.