18+ General Discussion Forum

Abortion is a complicated issue – one for which there is not general agreement in the US. Polls show that only about a fifth of Americans want it banned altogether. The majority want it legal under some but not all circumstances. More than half state that they do not want Roe v Wade overturned. http://www.pollingreport.com/abortion.htm

It may seem that abortion as an accepted, legal practice is a modern invention, but it has probably been around as long as motherhood. It is not commented on in the Bible
(Hebrew or Christian) and the Catholic Church did not condemn it until 1869. It wasn’t until around 1900 that it generally became outlawed in the US. (Source: Billions and Billions, Carl Sagan).

Two issues are raised by the abortion issue: 1) when to mark the beginning of human life and 2) the rights of women to control their reproductive lives. Human life is varyingly said to begin at conception, at birth, or at any of several points in between. I don’t think there is a scientific answer to this question. It seems to be more of a moral or religious judgment.

That a woman has a right to control her reproductive life is self evident to many of us. Yet some religious traditions are opposed to birth control. Others approve of birth control but not abortion as a method of birth control. I suspect that whatever their personal moral views, most Americans are reluctant to have the government intrude on the personal moral decisions of others.

My personal view is that a conceptus is a potential human life, something to be valued, but not protected by law. As it develops it takes on more human characteristics until at some point before birth it should be considered human in a legal sense. Roe v Wade defines that point as the end of the second trimester, when viability outside the womb is possible. This is about the same time that distinctly human brain structures are developing in the fetus. This seems to me to be about the right time to ban abortion except in cases of protecting the mother’s health or of severe fetal abnormality.

I doubt if any woman likes having an abortion. I doubt if any intend to use it as their primary means of birth control, although some couples, particularly young couples, are careless. Personally, I would like to see the number of abortions greatly reduced through increased use of and effectiveness of birth control. Urging young people to delay sexual activity is also a good idea, but from my experience, it’s not something adults have much control over.

OK, I've gone on record. This is all I have to say on the subject.

Marcia