Should Women be punished for abortion

Quote: zippyboy

What about the emotional and physical pain of having a baby? Especially if young and poor? NOT good for either mom or the kid.

Abortion is never good for the kid.

Quote: beachbumbabs

It's a legitimate question in the current environment. But it also assumes anyone has a right to judge someone else's decision in this area, ever, for any reason.

May I ask your position on third-trimester abortions in cases of a healthy pregnancy?

Quote: Wizard

I don't think anybody understands my point here. Let me rephrase it. For the sake of argument, if we assume that abortion is murder, then shouldn't those complicit in it be held liable for murder?

If we assume water is combustible, then should we still use it to put out fires?

Quote: Nareed

If we assume water is combustible, then should we still use it to put out fires?

No.

Wizard I believe abortion is murder, but I the way I justify not punishing the woman in this case is because they don't recognize the developing child as a human being and are consumed by other concerns that overwhelm them. In this way the child becomes the victim of accidental circumstances and is more like an accidental tragic death that I find impossible to blame the mother for.

Quote: FrGamble

Wizard I believe abortion is murder, but I the way I justify not punishing the woman in this case is because they don't recognize the developing child as a human being and are consumed by other concerns that overwhelm them. In this way the child becomes the victim of accidental circumstances and is more like an accidental tragic death that I find impossible to blame the mother for.

It sounds like you respect the right for the mother to make her own decision.

Quote: Wizard

May I ask your position on third-trimester abortions in cases of a healthy pregnancy?

I've never considered one, so I'm thinking this through as I write.

I think that baby, with modern medicine, is viable outside the womb, and should be born. I'm trying to imagine a woman carrying a baby that long, being told it's healthy, and refusing to continue at that point. Seems like it would be exceedingly rare; in every case I've ever heard about, either the baby was fatally flawed or the mother developed life-threatening issues, where she would not survive the birth (I'm assuming by healthy pregnancy you mean BOTH mother and child, not just the fetus). (And I know of 2 mothers who went ahead anyway and died so their baby would live.)

However, I think that if she's forced to bear the child she doesn't want somehow at third-trimester viability and health is not an issue, that child should not remain with that mother or family. If the state or other entity forces her to continue, they should bear the costs of the live birth and place the infant for adoption.

One of the nightmare things women go through more often than you'd think are forced pregnancies, where the husband is getting her pregnant and making her have and care for the children, turning her life into continual servitude for decades. The number of women in this situation in this country is atrocious; those who finally break away and seek shelter have just appalling stories to tell. Ours isn't the only country with this problem, by far, but it's not rare. "Keep 'em barefoot and pregnant" is not an obsolete practice, unfortunately. And once the babies are born, they function as hostages for her continued acquiescence; it's an ugly cycle.

So, I guess if a woman were to fit your criteria (waiting that long), I think it's most likely she's in a situation like that, So that brings me back to feeling that I was not put on this earth to judge whether she should seek an abortion or not. How can anyone live another person's life for them in that area?

Quote: FrGamble

Wizard I believe abortion is murder, but I the way I justify not punishing the woman in this case is because they don't recognize the developing child as a human being and are consumed by other concerns that overwhelm them.

Well, some women are adults and informed. So you would prosecute them?

Anyway, when you say murder, I don't see how you make equivalencies then. 1st trimester = people. So, how is it different than a 1930s German knowing they were gassing "people" in the camps? That's some sort of disconnect if you ask me.

Also, I still say what people would actually do, is proof of what they believe.

Would you really sacrifice a 1 year old baby in a fire to rescue a dozen frozen embyros not given enough time to rescue both? I don't believe anyone sane would in reality make that choice..

Quote: beachbumbabs

So, I guess if a woman were to fit your criteria (waiting that long), I think it's most likely she's in a situation like that, So that brings me back to feeling that I was not put on this earth to judge whether she should seek an abortion or not. How can anyone live another person's life for them in that area?

I give you points for consistency. May I ask your position on infanticide?