Thread: My take on the abortion debate

Hi all I'm new around here so I'll start by giving a quick summary of who I am. I am a 30 year old male registered Republican. Raised Roman Catholic but I'm not religious at all. If you ask me if there's an afterlife I'll tell you I don't know. If you ask me if Jesus was the son of God I'll say probably not. I only mention this to give people an idea of who they're talking to. Ive been reading different political forums on and off for years and have seen every twist and turn this debate takes.

First of all, I do believe conception is the start of a new human being's life. True, they have not yet developed sentience, but that is not because they aren't human, but because they are at the beginning stages of their life. A zygote has already formed a unique set of DNA and has begun cell division. The organism's growth will be a continuum until it achieves adulthood and finally death. At no point in that development did the organism swap species, or whatever absurd comparison you wish to make. (Ive seen a human zygote compared to trees, finger nails, skin cells, cysts, and frankly I cant think of a more idiotic way to approach this topic.)

I believe women should have the ability to choose, but that choice should be whether or not to have sex, which is the act of reproduction. Once you choose to engage in this risky behavior, you have to learn to live with the consequences.


However, since my argument is based on choice, I must concede that in the instance of rape a woman was never given a choice in the matter. I can not conceive of a way to legislate an exception for rape victims. How do they prove they were raped? ect. I also would like an exception for cases in which the mother's health is in clear and present danger. Then you get into, who decides this and when, how, ect. It becomes clear to me that in the end abortion should be legal, however it should be frowned upon and viewed as a last resort.

People should be better educated, have easy access to contraception, and parents should get more involved with their children's lives.

The thing that bothers me most about this debate is how people try to dehumanize a zygote or fetus because it is young. A zygote has not been given a chance that you or I had to be able to get here and speak up for itself. That doesn't make it any less unique, and that doesn't change the fact that a unique pregnancy has been terminated, and that person that was lost will never get a chance to make anything of him or herself.

Originally Posted by NineInchNailz

Hi all I'm new around here so I'll start by giving a quick summary of who I am. I am a 30 year old male registered Republican. Raised Roman Catholic but I'm not religious at all. If you ask me if there's an afterlife I'll tell you I don't know. If you ask me if Jesus was the son of God I'll say probably not. I only mention this to give people an idea of who they're talking to. Ive been reading different political forums on and off for years and have seen every twist and turn this debate takes.

First of all, I do believe conception is the start of a new human being's life. True, they have not yet developed sentience, but that is not because they aren't human, but because they are at the beginning stages of their life. A zygote has already formed a unique set of DNA and has begun cell division. The organism's growth will be a continuum until it achieves adulthood and finally death. At no point in that development did the organism swap species, or whatever absurd comparison you wish to make. (Ive seen a human zygote compared to trees, finger nails, skin cells, cysts, and frankly I cant think of a more idiotic way to approach this topic.)

I believe women should have the ability to choose, but that choice should be whether or not to have sex, which is the act of reproduction. Once you choose to engage in this risky behavior, you have to learn to live with the consequences.


However, since my argument is based on choice, I must concede that in the instance of rape a woman was never given a choice in the matter. I can not conceive of a way to legislate an exception for rape victims. How do they prove they were raped? ect. I also would like an exception for cases in which the mother's health is in clear and present danger. Then you get into, who decides this and when, how, ect. It becomes clear to me that in the end abortion should be legal, however it should be frowned upon and viewed as a last resort.

People should be better educated, have easy access to contraception, and parents should get more involved with their children's lives.

The thing that bothers me most about this debate is how people try to dehumanize a zygote or fetus because it is young. A zygote has not been given a chance that you or I had to be able to get here and speak up for itself. That doesn't make it any less unique, and that doesn't change the fact that a unique pregnancy has been terminated, and that person that was lost will never get a chance to make anything of him or herself.

you summed it up rather nicely

welcome to this subsection

If a zygote cannot develop emotional attachments, feel pain, etc. until the third trimester, then killing it is immoral because . . . ?

The opinion of someone who will never have to face this choice is irrelevant.

Originally Posted by kvmj

The opinion of someone who will never have to face this choice is irrelevant.

I don't see how that is even remotely true either.

Your opinion is unrealistic. If a woman never wants children, why should she bother getting married? She cannot, after all, consummate the marriage, and should never have a boyfriend to engage in sexual relations in.

Do you know where you find the women you describe? In a nunnery.

Originally Posted by Ideologue

If a zygote cannot develop emotional attachments, feel pain, etc. until the third trimester, then killing it is immoral because . . . ?

It's a stage of development. What you're saying is so since it's very very young, it should not have any rights we give to all other humans. That is an arbitrary line you're drawing. It's the same human organism from zygote to fully grown adult, these qualities you search for does not change that. All you're doing is killing it before it's had the time it needs to develop those qualities, so you should assign it the same value that it would have after those qualities develop.

Originally Posted by NineInchNailz

It's a stage of development. What you're saying is so since it's very very young, it should not have any rights we give to all other humans. That is an arbitrary line you're drawing. It's the same human organism from zygote to fully grown adult, these qualities you search for does not change that. All you're doing is killing it before it's had the time it needs to develop those qualities, so you should assign it the same value that it would have after those qualities develop.

The problem with that is, you'd be assigning them to something that occupies the body of someone who already has those values.

They can't both have them.

Originally Posted by Makedde

Your opinion is unrealistic. If a woman never wants children, why should she bother getting married? She cannot, after all, consummate the marriage, and should never have a boyfriend to engage in sexual relations in.

Do you know where you find the women you describe? In a nunnery.

So you're saying if it's wrong to get an abortion, and a woman doesn't want children, she should never get married or have a boyfriend? That is a bit absurd. There are many other options... Double up or triple up on birth control, the pill and a condom combined when used properly are extremely effective. If you seriously never want children, that can be taken care of via surgery.

Originally Posted by diamond lil

The problem with that is, you'd be assigning them to something that occupies the body of someone who already has those values.

They can't both have them.

Why not? You realize evolution has placed young human life inside the mother to protect the organism right? This argument runs counter to the way nature has set up the reproductive process.