Ranked Vote: How Should the Law Handle Abortion?

Np, Thanks for the clarification.

 

Hey folks! Sorry for the delay, but it was as expected; these results turned out to be pretty interesting, especially compared to the last few Ranked votes. Chalk it up to the unique way opinions tend to diverge on this issue. I'm really looking forwards to performing some detailed analysis on the way things broke down under each voting method!

​

And now for the winners (split by category):
The top other and overall winning option is...

#. Improve Availability of Contraceptives​

The winning cutoff point option is...

I. Viability (Week 24): Because that's when a fetus
is able to live outside the woman without artificial means​

And the number one exceptions are...

Q. There should be Exceptions if Health of the Mother is Threatened &
R. There should be Exceptions if Life of the Mother is Threatened​

Second place as far as the cutoff point goes is, similarly to the last vote,...
option E. Viability (Week 20): Because the earliest surviving baby was born at just over 21 weeks.

And taking all results into account, here is what the politicalforum consensus position on the abortion issue would look like:

The cutoff-point for legal abortions should be placed at 24 weeks gestational age with all costs associated with the abortion being paid for by the person getting it (and not the government), but with exceptions made for abortions beyond that cutoff point if the life or health of the mother is threatened, if the pregnancy was a product of rape or incest, or if certain fetal abnormalities are discovered. Efforts should also be made to improve the availability of contraceptives and taxpayer funds should be used to keep any preterm infants alive. Beyond this, any other abortion-related questions should be handled on a state-by-state basis as opposed to by the federal government, e.g. such as whether or not there should also be an exception made based on a parent's ability to afford and care for the child if born or whether or not there should be a loan program to help fund people wanting to get abortions, ideas which there seems to be a small bit of support for.​

So what do you folks think? Do you feel that the consensus position would be a decent outcome? If not, do you think that it would at least be acceptable as a compromise between yourself and those who disagree with you regarding the ideal?

And also, if we were to put aside for a moment the actual implication of the results, what are your opinions on the winning results themselves given what the votes were? With different winners for each of the different voting methods, again these results are definitely more interesting and useful for analysis in comparison to the last few Ranked votes...

Winners of Ranked Pairs were #. Contraceptives and I. Viability (Week 24),
while the winner for Instant Runoff was option E. Viability (Week 20) instead,
and the winner in the Plurality method was yet another option... option D. Nervous System (Week 12).
Again, without respect to what the options actually were, does anyone think, in just looking at the votes themselves (posted below, under ballots), that option E or D should have been declared the winner instead of option # and I?
If you have an opinion on this, let's discuss why or why not.

Black: Cutoff Points
Blue: Other Ideas
Red: Exceptions

Results (Ranked Pairs - Plurality - Instant Runoff):

Spoiler: Ballots

Spoiler: Options

A. Lovemaking (Week 0): Because Any Form of Abortion is Murder
B. Conception (Week 0): Because Life Begins at Conception
C. Conception (Week 0): Because since no one knows exactly when a zygote becomes a child, it must be assumed to qualify as one
D. Nervous System (Week 12): Because the baby’s senses are developing and it looks pretty human at that stage
E. Viability (Week 20): Because the earliest surviving baby was born at just over 21 weeks
F. Thalamic Afferents (Week 20): Because its been theorized that connections between afferents may be capable of pain transmission
G. Thalamocortical Fibers (Week 23): Because a fetus cannot suffer feel or perceive pain without Thalamocortical Fibers
H. Viability (Week 24): Because that's when the law defines a fetus as becoming a child
I. Viability (Week 24): Because that's when a fetus is able to live outside the woman without artificial means
J. Thalamocortical Fibers (Week 29): Because a fetus cannot suffer feel or perceive pain without Functional Thalamocortical Fibers
K. Pain Perception Dvmnt (Week 23-29): Because a fetus cannot suffer feel or perceive pain without Functional Thalamocortical Fibers
L. Pain Perception Dvmnt (Week 20-29): Because this is the period in which a fetus develops the structures necessary for pain perception
M. Mental Life (Week 29): Because fetal consciousness cannot and has not been observed to occur before this point
@. Medical Community (Week ??): Because the decision should be left to the doctors and patients who are more than capable
N. Birth (Week ??): Because That is When a Baby No Longer Depends On Its Mother to Live
O. Birth (Week ??): Because Women Should Always Have the Right to do What They Want With Their Body
P. There should be Exceptions in cases of Rape
Q. There should be Exceptions if Health of the Mother is Threatened
R. There should be Exceptions if Life of the Mother is Threatened
S. There should be Exceptions for Certain Fetal Abnormalities
T. There should be Exceptions for Incest
U. There should be Exceptions based on Ability of Parent to Afford and Care for the Child
V. There should be No Exceptions to the Cutoff Point
W. Graduated Restrictions and Requirements for Women Seeking Abortion as Gestational Age Increases
X. Use Tech to Remove Human Reproduction to an Industrial Process
Y. General Abortions Paid for by Person Getting It (Not the Government)
Z. Loan Program to Help Fund People Who Want to Get General Abortion
#. Improve Availability of Contraceptives
$. Where Abortions banned, State/Govmt/Taxpayer money used for any costs needed to keep pre-term infants alive
&. Abortion Issue Should be State-by-State Issue NOT Federal
£.
!0. Nothing Needed Beyond Cutoff Point and Exceptions (Status Quo Option)
!1. Don't Feel Qualified/Knowledgeable Enough To Vote In This Poll
!2. No Strong Feelings One Way Or The Other

Ranked Vote: Discussion Thread

Spoiler: Ranked Vote Notification List

If you want to be added to the list (or taken off), go to this thread and make a post and or vote in the poll:
http://www.politicalforum.com/index.php?threads/ranked-vote-contact-list.534668/

@Derideo_Te @Pollycy @fifthofnovember @redeemer216 @BahamaBob @modernpaladin @yiostheoy @Spooky @Jonsa @Crawdadr @Longshot @Distraff @Moi621 @Seth Bullock @Thought Criminal @jmblt2000 @61falcon @mamooth @Chronocide Fiend @Merwen @Bob0627 @fmw @clg311 @Mac-7 @APACHERAT @kazenatsu @Socialism Works @Moonglow @FreshAir @rtts48 @perdidochas @Bridget @Bowerbird @scarlet witch @Andrew Jackson @Sallyally @Kode @crank @Bluesguy @AlifQadr @tealwings @Capt Nice @Moriah @Ndividual @wyly @Woogs @DennisTate @Ritter @Junkieturtle @cerberus @Homer J Thompson @JohnnyMo @Smartmouthwoman @ARDY @reallybigjohnson @Falena @PatrickT @StillBlue @JakeStarkey @Nerd of Liberty @drluggit @PARTIZAN1 @Aleksander Ulyanov @Canell @The Rhetoric of Life @Lucifer @vman12 @btthegreat @Mr_Truth @JakeJ @DoctorWho@Loving91390 @Lee S

Many thanks to everyone who participated BTW!!
And... it seems a little weird to say this on this subject...
But I'll say it anyways... this was a fun one to work on.

-Meta

 

Keeping in mind that this vote was just limited to politicalforum...
To answer your question, I would say that it depends on how folks answer the question I asked.

I.e. What do you think of the resulting consensus position? Do you feel its implementation would be a decent outcome? And if not, do you think that it would at least be acceptable as a compromise between yourself and those who disagree with you regarding the ideal?

What's your answer?

Spoiler: Consensus Position

The cutoff-point for legal abortions should be placed at 24 weeks gestational age with all costs associated with the abortion being paid for by the person getting it (and not the government), but with exceptions made for abortions beyond that cutoff point if the life or health of the mother is threatened, if the pregnancy was a product of rape or incest, or if certain fetal abnormalities are discovered. Efforts should also be made to improve the availability of contraceptives and taxpayer funds should be used to keep any preterm infants alive. Beyond this, any other abortion-related questions should be handled on a state-by-state basis as opposed to by the federal government, e.g. such as whether or not there should also be an exception made based on a parent's ability to afford and care for the child if born or whether or not there should be a loan program to help fund people wanting to get abortions, ideas which there seems to be a small bit of support for.

Again, I would say that it depends...
It depends on where you are, who you are, how informed you are, and what specific type of contraceptives you're looking for.
And for some folks, there may also be a question of affordability.

Improving the availability of contraceptives could therefor run the gamut, from increasing the numbers of specific types of contraceptives, ensuring their wider distribution across areas where they may be hard to come by, removing limits on who can obtain them, increasing the variety available, simply informing more folks on how/where to get them, and or making existing contraceptives more affordable.

-Meta