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?

I am completely pro-life. I believe a human is created from the moment of conception. But I also acknowledge that it is a sensitive topic and that women need support and understanding in the way the subject is approached.

I have just suffered a miscarriage of my second child at 8 weeks and that baby was by no means just a ball of cells. I didn't know whether it was a boy or girl but it was a much-loved child. With my first baby I was a member of a mumsnet group on which we were all very excited about our "babies" even pre-12 weeks. No one there referred to their child as a foetus. I cannot accept that a child's right to life depends on the subjective view of someone else (i.e. that a wanted child is a baby, whereas an unwanted child is a foetus).

Pro choice but abhor the idea of abortions. We need better sex education, better focus on womens sexual health, better access to contraception, better support for young parents. Preventing unwanted pregnancy is always the ideal but unrealistic.

For me:

Fine with abortion up to current 24 weeks, because that gives time to have scans and work out if there’s a problem.

Fine with abortion after that for serious disabilities and those incompatible with life. Cleft lip, club foot and/or having half an arm missing not being serious, for example.

Fine with abortion where mother’s health is endangered.

You should only need one doctor to sign off, not two, and it should be free choice up to the time limit (doctor only there to advise if your health means there might be additional issues, and to make sure you know what will happen and the risks).

Does my personal stance make me a shade of grey then? Genuinely interested in others opinions. I didn't think so but now I'm not sure after reading the replies.

See I've always believed I'm very pro life, but very much understanding and sympathetic if the baby had serious life limiting disabilities likely to cause extreme suffering. I would feel extremely sad for the mother if advised to abort because continuing the pregnancy would cause great suffering, I'd never judge her or the medical professionals under those circumstances.

Obviously my opinion and judgements mean fuck all to anybody but me and I don't go around forcing my ideals on to other people. This is an anonymous forum so I can chat freely here without worrying about whether my friends and family think I'm ignorant or a bigot.

I've known somebody who's had multiple abortions including a late term abortion because she said the time wasn't right, this woman however did not a thing to prevent any of those pregnancies. I think it's horrible that she'd terminate multiple pregnancies only to carry on having unprotected sex and conceive again under the same circumstances, no protection used and no contraception. I judge her very harshly and think she's a disgrace for using abortion as a get out of jail free card just because she can't be bothered to take precautions.

For babies conceived in less than ideal circumstances there's always adoption, both open and closed adoptions. I get that accidents happen and situations aren't always ideal but its my personal opinion that surely it's better to give that baby the opportunity to live, than to rob it of its chance to live just because circumstances aren't ideal or the father is a piece of crap etc.

No, Drogo, that's a fact. You may not agree that this fact means it's ok to abort the fetus, and it's ok for you to have that opinion.

Pro-choice.

Absence of legal abortion meant the leading cause of maternal death in the uk was illegal abortions.

Dh is strongly pro-life.

I'm pro choice. It's a women's choice, her body. Happy to live in a country that allows abortion.

I've never had to have an abortion. I have 2dc who were planned. They are 5 and 7, the oldest has ASD, my dh has depression. Financially, emotionally and physically we're at our limits. I cannot imagine being forced to have a baby I didn't want. If I fell pregnant now it would be my worst nightmare. It's unlikely - I mean I'm 42 and on the pill - but if I had to, I'd have an abortion, and I think it's quiet right the choice is there.

MsLucyLastic

I completely agree with you. People regard it as their right to pass over responsibility for the consequences of the fulfilment of their sexual desires to the state. And then saying society is misogynistic if it places any restrictions on that. It's quite an odd state of affairs. I'm personally pro choice within the current limits and use contraception provided by the NHS so although i regard the situation as vaguely absurd when viewed from 10000 feet, I am still very grateful for it. That said of my contraception did fail I'm not sure I would have an abortion.

I've had a miscarriage at approx 12 weeks. I referred to it as a baby because that was what I was hoping it would become- I was 'expecting a baby'- that doesn't mean it technically wasn't a foetus or that it was in any way viable or sentient at that point.

I cannot accept that a child's right to life depends on the subjective view of someone else

You could say the same in reverse- I can't accept that a woman should be denied the basic right over her own body because somebody else wants their pregnancy.

In an ideal world there would be no need for abortions. But we live in a far from ideal world. Whilst disliking the idea personally, I dislike the idea of a return to back street abortionists even more. It wouldn't save lives, it would cost more. I feel uncomfortable with the current cut off though.

@Panapan I'm very sorry for your loss

I've had an early miscarriage, earlier than yours, in fact my lost baby was so early she/he really was still cells - but I did and still do think about them as the baby they were destined to be.

@TwistedStitch I'm very sorry for your loss too

And to anybody else on here who's comments I've missed that have suffered a miscarriage.

Descend, not defend

“I've known somebody who's had multiple abortions including a late term abortion because she said the time wasn't right, this woman however did not a thing to prevent any of those pregnancies”
I am always interested in the fact that I have been knocking around the world and active in women’s rights for a very long time- but have never met a woman who has cheerfully had multiple abortions because she couldn’t be bothered with contraception, but pro life people seem to bump into them all the time. Very curious.

So those of you who would never have an abortion would not use the coil or the pill I presume?

What a ridiculous thing to say, I don't even know why I am commenting on such stupidity.

I can't accept that a woman should be denied the basic right over her own body because somebody else wants their pregnancy. Who is the "somebody else" in this example? Is it the child? The thing is, we have two competing human rights here - that of the mother, and that of the child. As in any other situation where human rights compete with one another, you need to look at the consequences of those rights being breached. For the mother, the consequences can be serious, but very rarely does it lead to death. For the child, abortion is fatal. I therefore would put the child's right to life first unless continuing the pregnancy would inevitably be fatal for the mother.

I am pro choice and I would have one. I'd have to now because of medication that causes severe mutations but I would have still been willing before I was on it. My body, my life, my choice.

Anyone else who wishes to assert themselves over my body can bugger off.

As far as other women are concerned, it's not my right to even have an opinion. I am totally for bodily autonomy.

Her body is none of my business.
The foetus is not mine nor would the live baby after birth be mine.

Why pro lifers think that a foetus created by the smashing together of cells from two random individuals is anything to do with them, I could never fathom.

BertrandRussell

I'm not pro life and I know of someone who is 21, she has had 4 abortions and 2 children one she has history of one who had to be taken yo live with a family member due to neglect. So it happens

Firmly pro-choice.

Ave
The topic of healthcare professionals and abortion is a tricky one.
I think if you could guarantee you were never going to come in to contact with a patient who is asking for an abortion that would be acceptable. A GP certainly cannot guarantee this and I have a very dim view of those who tell patients to come back and see someone else as they don't agree with their decision . There are some O&G specialists who work in certain areas that do not perform abortions, but also have little requirement to. I would feel uncomfortable working with a colleague who I felt judged my decision to help my patients, and also judged my patients for their choices. I think it would also impact on your ability to present your patients with all their options and help them come to an informed decision. Every pregnancy should be a choice, you cannot offer them that choice, therefore you should not be their clinician.

Shades of grey. However I do believe life starts at conception. That is not to say I don't accept that there difficult situations that at times may justify it. But my instinctive inner moral compass points towards a more pro-life stance.
100% atheist

Custody, not history. Dodgy phone!

People who think a woman should be forced to share her body against her wishes should be forced to give kidneys to people on dialysis.

Because really, why you say you won't allow abortion, you're saying they the pregnant woman must allow someone else to use her own body for their own needs, against her wishes. How then can you justify keeping two healthy kidneys to yourself while children die of kidney failure?

You sound pro-choice, even if in a personal capacity you wouldn’t have one yourself. That’s still pro choice.

Wanting it banned for everyone is anti—abortion (I use that term as think we’re all pro-life even if some of us support a women’s right to chose).

I'm pro choice. I happen to live near an abortion clinic and every Saturday morning there are protesters stood outside harassing the poor women that attend the clinic. It is so, so awful to see and I often want to scream in their faces.

They display horrendous pictures, they put candles out and pray, sometimes they stand outside with tiny newborn babies, and they approach the poor women as they try to get to the building. They are also extremely abusive to the staff on their way in, and occasionally follow them home. It makes me so so angry. No one has the right to harrass and distress these (already distressed!) women.

As I said, I'm pro choice.

Absolutely anti abortion here. But I do not believe that making it illegal is the right thing to do. I would struggle to remain friends with anyone who had one. Unless it was for a very good medical reason.