What's your stance on abortion?

Let the woman decide what she wants to do with her body and other should not stick their noses in other people's business.

Abortion:: the termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus: Pregnancy:: containing a developing embryo, fetus, or unborn offspring within the body. This action should always be condemned in general consciousness and in the direction for society and is certainly not a right; for it conflicts with the right to life that each one of us enjoys. However, situations do arise where it is a great moral dilemma. One wants to say it is a right just to take the pain away. Very sad and education of the 'Theology of the body' might be considered; for sexuality is a gift where man (male and female) becomes complete with the other; and very often life springs from this union (male needs female and female needs male, to be a true person). This is the ideal and is not the reality of many situations. Bad things do happen and we must have empathy and realize that we are all in the same boat. We must try to help each other, whomever that other may be (this includes prayer).

I am pro-choice. People who insist on religious and/or moral grounds that aborting an embryo or fetus is wrong should do more than spout vitriol. Why do you concentrate on the unborn? Reach out to teens, single women, married couples who are having trouble caring for their child. Help out financially and emotionally. Just a day or so ago, there was an article on JT about the babies left at a hospital. Articles abound on children being beaten and murdered by their own parents or mother's boyfriend. Children who were born and unwanted are everywhere. If you're going to stick your nose into other people's lives, help those who are already born.

Abortion? Choose it but then you have to live with it when your furies come after you and they will come.

There are so many ways for safe sex. Why do you need an abortion? Unless a woman is being raped. That's a different issue. She deserves to have an abortion.

Abortion is kinda cool, I would hate to be an unwanted kid, I would hate to be uninvited. I would hate to be an accident.

I'm pro-choice but I am against abortion being used a means of birth control after the fact, as it is often regarded in Japan.

Born persons have a right to life. Unborn do not. Simple as that. I think abortions should be safe, low cost, and available to anyone who thinks they need one. (None of this for-profit, permission slip business that they do in Japan.) No one "should" have a baby if they don't want one. And the decision should belong to no one but the woman in question. She knows best what she wants for her own future.

DenTok2009 In fact, many organizations, who are against abortion on moral or religious grounds, do reach out to help unwanted children everywhere, including Japan. They run orphanages for children, homes for pregnant teens and offer counseling for women going through unwanted or unplanned pregnancies.

I'm pro-choice and abortion is a woman's decision to terminate pregnancy. (remove the fetus from her body)

Good responses so far to a classic hot button topic (who chooses these?).

A woman's decision Should not be viewed as a method or alternative to other forms of birth control Basically, IMHO, should be a last resort, but should be available.

Anyhow, I'm a man. Ultimately it is not and should not be my call.

Finally, I'm more worried about the furries than the furies (whatever the latter may be...the former are scary enough!)

Woman's womb, woman's choice.

No body has the right to tell others what they can do with their own body.

Abortion is kinda cool, I would hate to be an unwanted kid, I would hate to be uninvited. I would hate to be an accident.

Hellbound, as always, incredibly well-said and poignant..

It's a woman's choice when it comes right down to it. A couple should actually decide, but it's her body and her life.

Overpopulated world. Pro-choice.

I am true-abortion at any age: either parent should have the right to abort their "child" at any age, conversely it is only fair that the child is able to abort its' "parents" at any age.

By true-abortion we are able to keep the human numbers down and the populace productive and responsible (within families). However many innovations would not have happened if true-abortion would have taken place = many losers turn into great innovators.

Sad that many do not recognize that a human person has begun. Quite plain really. Perhaps most do recognize a person in the baby palace, but it does not matter. This is even sadder, for many in the modern world to know life is taken but have no compassion for it. Hellbound - you were wanted? Most of us were surprises. Laissey faire attitude to the taking of life must always be condemned. And a majority vote does not override the natural moral order. It exist nevertheless, and those that go against it and teach others to go against it, and never return before death...I just hope mercy overrides justice.

"Abortion is kinda cool"

If your mother had thought that, you wouldn't have been born.

This is a very deep question ... I know I am sounding like a philosopher ... but please look at it from spiritual point of view ... life is a glorious gift ... it is so very precious ... so very magnificent ... ask a dying person ... i know because i was in an intensive care unit ... THINK ABOUT MEANING OF LIFE ...

Why punish the child for the selfish decisions of others? The baby did not ask to be conceived. Why should they be punished for it? Abortion is an absolute sickening and barbaric practice. True justice would be to save the baby; abort the idiot parents. The parents have already proven to be irresponsible and selfish. The baby has yet to do wrong.

I support abortion, including retroactive abortion of anyone who thinks he has the right do force a woman to bring a foetus to term against her will.

I am against. A fetus is a live human being, so killing it is murder.

I am for it

I am pro-choice. I think women should be able to get an abortion which is both safe and affordable. I would think that the majority of women do not make this decision lightly. They do so because they are not financially able or emotionally ready.

That said, I also believe that there needs to be a lot more education on sex and contraception for teenagers so that the number of unwanted pregnancies is reduced.

I am pro choice, male, thankfully I have never had to contemplate such a thing, in Jpn its a popular form of birth control which I diasgree with.

Hellhound, I wud guess a fair amount of the human race are accidents or unplanned, I have no data but I wud guess around 20-30% wud fall into those categories. Anyone think higher or lower?

Personally don't like it, but I think it's not the government's place to decide who should do what with their body.

I've known several women who've had one for medical reasons and it's just spiritually exhausting for them. I can't imagine how any woman would ever make such a decision lightly, nor can I imagine how anyone could make such a decision for another person.

Except for the life of the mother being in jeopardy, it is murder.

I am glad I wasn't an abortion.

Abortions from Roe v Wade were likely responsible for a drastic drop in crime rates 15-30 years later (ref freakonomics)

The whole "it's a woman's body" argument doesn't hold water.

killing a pregnant woman is double murder, even if she is on the way to the abortion clinic.

do those of you who think "it's a woman's body" think ALL drugs should be legal? After all, it's MY body, who are you to tell me what to do with it? What about euthinasea are you "it's a woman's body" crowd in favor of that as well?

complicated issue. How to avoid it? Always wear a condom. Case closed.

I have no data but I wud guess around 20-30% wud fall into those categories. Anyone think higher or lower?

I would guess the overwhelmingly vast majority of the inhabitants of earth are unplanned.

there is a reason women get more hornier around that time of the month, and men are always good to go. Mother nature ain't no fool. (for much more info, read The Red Queen, by Ridley)

Totally against in my personal case, but nobody cares. Totally opposed to forced abortions as they are done in China for instance. And totally in favor of pro-choice and of an offer of free medical help in the first months of pregnancy, for any woman in age to become pregnant. Making abortion illegal does not make women abort less, it makes them do it secretly, in worse conditions. My Mum was a teenager when that was illegal in my country, she has lost a number of friends that died as a consequences of "at home" abortions.

That said, my wish is abortion become useless, and reserved to a few medical emergencies. Everybody could use other ways of birth control. And if it fails, every woman should be able to give birth and even raise the child if she wishes, without being judged and rejected by society.

Especially in Japan, it's not a question of financial means. The information about birth control is distorted to maintain the juicy business of abortion clinics. And the shame culture and bias against adotption are not doing any good for natality either.

I agree with Blue Tiger...

bamboohat - there's a preview button - please use it - your ramblings are just rambling.

Case closed!

I always find it amusing that those who equate abortion with murder are often unquestionably pro death penalty. But of course, that's another hot topic discussion point. ;)

What's your stance on abortion?

I wouldn't stand for it at all!

I believe it's important to uphold the sanctity of human life, which I believe begins at conception when the miracle of a sperm and an egg fuse to create a new human being. Second, I recognize that our free will to choose is also a precious and sacred responsibility. But as we all know, we cannot always exercise choice whenever we want, anytime we want. It has its limitations and boundaries. I think it's important to prioritize our values and uphold the sanctity of human life as primary above all else. If we lose that, then we've lost our humanity when we kill the most innocent of our species for whatever reason, selfish or not. (The operative word here is "innocent".) I also didn't say it was the easy road to take. I think upholding this value is very difficult but necessary.

It is murder. But hey, we are all so cool and groovy, so ultra-hip that we can rationalize it by saying "we're pro-choice" - BUT WHOSE choice is it? Not the unborn child's. To accept the "choice" argument, one must view the child as nothing more than an disposable stone.

pro choice. here is a thought. why do you think life is so wonderful. We are programed in our genes to survive. That doesnt mean life is such a great gift. We are here and we make the best of it. come on you all run away from the terrible things this world through at us. You drink, or watch tv, or play video games, or listen to music, or loose yourself in the internet. They all make you and me happy, but they its just running away from this GIFT of life. I am a happy person. I enjoy life. But I stay busy, I try not to think about the terror, the STARVING BABIES!!!!! the poor people all over who do awefull things, take awefull jobs, to feed their family. Its funny that I bet only the rich wonderful happy people on here think abortion is so horrible. Really, travel to africa, to india, to china where 90% of the people are living in hell trying to feed a baby that will grow up with no chance at a good future. Yeah. Pro-torture. lets try to take care of the people who alive today, not make more miserable souls. Thats why i am pro-choice. accidents happen, and bad decisions are sometimes made. just 1 unwanted baby could ruin 3 peoples lives and make the world a worse place. and the baby is going to grow in a broken home, un loved, un wanted, with less of a chance of future. yeah sure if u want to call it murder. Then fine. its murder. But sometimes murder isn't so bad. look at war and execution. I know a few million Jews who wish someone had murdered Hitler!!!!!!!!! I would gladly murder hitler and live with the conciseness. and a lot of babies are unplanned. but just becuase something is legal, you dont have to it. I am pro-choice. it doesnt mean if I get my girlfriend pregnet today, I would choice to abort. I probably wouldnt! but I want the freedom to make a choice. Becuase if I was 18 and i got my girlfriend pregnet and my plans to be a meidcal docter to save lives was ruined, then I would make the choice to abort. but who am i kidding. Everyone out there has made their decision. and they wont change.

im sorry. miracle??? what is a miracle. do you realize that possibiltes of something extremely rare to happen. pretty high because if you think about all the random things that COULD happen. well its into the trillions and trillions of things. so something 'rare' happens all the time somewhere. If you think about the MIRCLE of sperms and eggs. if you think about all the sex, and all the sperm, and and all the egs. then I would say its really not that rare all the time... if its such a miricle, then why are their 6 billion people running around. and if its such a miricle, then why is their so much pain and suffering in the world. I will tell you what it is. Its the only way you can rationalize life, when in the end all life, and humans really are are a roll of the universal dice that all started with a few chemical reactions that made the first amino acids, and once DNA formed, BY SCIENCE, then human evolution was just a product of the environment. bam. simply a roll of galactic dice. all math and science. i guess a mircle would be you passing a science test.

It's almost 2010, this is still an issue? Religion/religous background still seems to be the biggest factor. If you are against it because of your religous background or beliefs, then fine, but leave everyone else alone, it's their decision for them, not your imposed ideals for everyone.

@societymike: hense PRO-choice. not: what I think is right and everyone one should do and feel and think exactly like me because god instilled in me the only correct soul ever created.

Cos: You made a good point. There will always be women who want an abortion so accepting that, we can take action to ensure that these women can have an abortion safely. For someone too say that he/she is anti-abortion should only be a personal stance and not a moral stance that they are pushing onto others. I am pro-choice but that doesn't mean if I got pregnant that I would abort the baby. I probably wouldn't.

Besides, being pro-something is always a more realistic and positive way of looking at an issue. Being anti-something seems so negative and doesn't really address any problems or solutions. By being pro-choice, I acknowledge the reality of the world. By being pro-choice, we can educate people on the real facts about contraception and we can have support systems in place for women who do decide to have a baby.

Totally with societymike on this one. Religious people should keep their ideas to themselves. Noone will go to hell because they couldn't make others accept their ideas. Plus there are enough unwanted babies around. I'm a firm believer that most of the problems we are facing today is caused by unloved babies. If you won't be able to bring up a child with parents and love, don't do it at all. Abortion can be a great problem solved. I owe two mistakes solved by it and very appreciative that it exist. Otherwise both my life and the life of babies would be ruined.

Abortion should not be used as an alternative to contraception , like it is so widely used here in this country.

here is something that will blow your mind. I am pro-choice, and I was also adopted...

I hear about so many horrible things in every corner of this world. Children are not valued as much as we claim, the proof is how they are treated. I really doubt that abortions are so bad, in fact they probably do much to avoid misery and suffering. There are too many people on this planet and we need to do everything we can to decrease the population before humanity squeezes the life from this world. We don't even have healthy food or water to feed people anymore. Abortions and limits on pregnancies are a good start.

Pro-choice...Do as you want with your body.

I think any nominally "free" country simply must give its women the choice between birthing an unwanted/unaffordable child and medical abortion. The morals/ethics of abortion are rather grim (and endless), but sane people realize that sometimes the purely practical trumps ideologies and theologies and that's just the way it is.

That said, there IS a point when a fetus is developed enough that it should qualify as a "citizen" ... the last two or three months for sure. Abortions during that timeframe should probably require a court review. That still leaves plenty of time to decide on a no-hassle elective abortion.

In the meanwhile though ... CONTRACEPTION ! Lots of very effective methods, very cheap, very easy - and thus no excuses for "suprise" pregnancies. There should be subsidized vending machines in every school & business locker-room so those in need can get contraceptives for (almost) nothing - and it would be money well spent, and ultimately saved, by the govt. Any female biologically capable of getting pregnant should at least have a "morning-after" pill in her kit somewhere.

My stance is politicians have spent way too much time on it. Same as gay marriage, and anything else they love talking about as they spend out tax money and meddle in the economy.

Interesting, even the pope talks about abortion and the death penalty in the same sentence. This coming from the leader of the single largest pro-life organization on the planet, someone who communes with God. Who are we to argue with someone who revelation directly from God? I also hope we appreciate the irony in someone literally saying you can't use abortion and death penalty in the same sentence.

The reason the two are discussed is because the core of most pro-life arguments is that abortion ends human life and that is always wrong. Of course, when you look at the stance of world religions on abortion you'll see that even answering that doesn't touch on the real issues. For example, Ultra Orthodox Judaism holds that abortion is wrong with the exception of if the mother's life is in danger. If the mother's life is in danger, not having an abortion is morally wrong. In that case, an abortion is explicitly compulsory. It's worth noting that every single major religion has a different stance on abortion (mostly as for when you can abort and at how many days).

Moderator: Readers, the death penalty is not relevant to this discussion.

Women should have the right to choose.

One abortion= one less welfare recipiant, one less prison cell occupied later on.

I don't support abortion.

I support abortion.

someone who communes with God

They talk to God, but I don't think God replies. I wish he did so we could ask these sensitive questions to him. Like why did he create different religions and all this conflict?

ant721, nailed it.

Abortion is only a woman's choice. :)

**smartacus at 01:50 PM JST - 29th November

I'm pro-choice but I am against abortion being used a means of birth control after the fact, as it is often regarded in Japan.**

Exactly!

glycol57: I like the idea of vending machines! They have everything else in them, why not condoms too?! Young girls should be encouraged to carry a condom with them at all times and they should also be taught to insist that they guy wear it! No if's, and's or but's!!