Although I am not for abortion, I just do not see how making abortion illegal will solve any problems. That is, how can we assume that once abortion is made illegal, every doctor and woman will automatically cease its prolongation? Women have been undergoing abortions for centuries now, even when it was an illegal act. Thus, if abortion was illegalized, women would still go to great lengths to abort their unwanted fetuses, even if it was extremely expensive and risky. We would not only be destroying the lives of the fetuses, but also the lives of the women who may get injured during an unsafe abortion. Furthermore, the federal and state governments would have to spend a great deal of money to enforce an anti-abortion law. With the current war in Iraq, the Hurrican Katrina crisis, and our needy school situation, making abortion illegal should not be a priority at the moment.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if people went to great lengths to avoid having to go to great lengths to abort fetuses? That's something we have the power and knowledge to do these days that we didn't have not long ago.

If the people who expend so much energy protecting the woman's right to abortion began expending some of that energy trying to prevent unwanted pregnancies, I would have a great deal more respect for them.

No, I don't want to outlaw all abortions. I want the power to restrict or allow abortions to be given back to the states.

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Order without liberty and liberty without order are equally destructive. - Theodore Roosevelt

it isn't necessary... i think that it should be on the bottom of our "politcal agenda" at the moment. hurricane katrina is at the top for sure...

How can we give that power back to the states when the federal government in Roe v. Wade declared abortion legal? And I also agree with "govstudent" that abortion isn't a pertinent issue right now with the war and Hurrican Katrina...and our schools really do need some more funding.

Read Roe vs. Wade. Many constitutional scholars agree that it was poorly decided. Judicial activism, plain and simple.

Amendment X: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

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Order without liberty and liberty without order are equally destructive. - Theodore Roosevelt

What would be the advantage of giving that power back to the states? Couldn't women who wanted abortions just travel to a state where abortion was legal?

Compare it to the death penalty. When the Supreme Court said that capital punishment was constitutional, that did not require all states to be pro-capital punishment. Something like 13 states do not have the death penalty. Whenever possible, I believe in giving jurisdiction to the smallest government entity. Roe vs. Wade makes it very nearly impossible to reliably restrict and prosecute late term abortions.

http://members.tripod.com/~joseromia/survivors.html

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Order without liberty and liberty without order are equally destructive. - Theodore Roosevelt

GOVSTUDENT: Does this mean that we should wait till the Iraq War and Hurricane Katrina crises are solved and then banning abortion can become a priority again?

I'm a woman, but I feel the only "men who are forcing women to have babies" are rapists. Women should have, and do have, many choices, before conception. THAT'S the point where they are free to decide what happens to their bodies, before another life is involved. Personal responsibility does not kill babies, and the mother doesn't have to submit to a surgical procedure. Win-win. If people would be adult about the consequences of sexual relations, abortion would be much less of an issue.

If you find abortion immoral, don't have one. It's really quite simple. If you thinks it's wrong, don't do it. But don't cram your views down other people.