I had to laugh when I read Ron Paul's position on abortion. He wants to leave the decision to the states -- but he also wants to pass a law defining life as beginning at conception, thus essentially trumping whatever decision the states might make on the subject.

I think "viability" is a reasonable standard to use for whether abortion should be legal. And when I say "viable", I mean without heroic measures. As a practical matter, that means abortion would always be legal in the first trimester, mostly legal in the second, and largely illegal in the third.

There should also be exceptions for things such as rape, serious birth defects and the health/life of the mother. If you think such exceptions are abused, then define them strictly and enforce those exceptions. But they should be there.

There should also be strong support groups for women who are prevented from having abortions, including access to adoption information, assistance (including financial) in choosing an adoption agency or family, and full-spectrum family-planning counseling. I don't want to be the person sending someone home with a baby they didn't want.

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Scarred survivor of the April 2008 Mod War.