The following is my opinion as a member participating in this discussion.
Talk about a deep subject... there is little that brings out emotional responses from humanity more than anything dealing with death.
Abortion
As a father of two children, a Christian (meaning I believe all life is sacred), and as a thinking adult, I am firmly against abortion. The fetus is a separate life from the moment of conception, based the fact that its DNA is distinct from that of the father or the mother. Left to exist naturally, it will become an infant, then a child, then an adolescent, and finally an independent person just like everyone who is reading this.
I realize my stance will be seen as extreme by some, but I am serious in it. This subject came up in a debate I had with a friend once. He asked me if my views would change should my young daughter come home pregnant. My answer (paraphrased):
"No, it wouldn't. Should that happen, there is no way I could condone the willful destruction of another human being, especially one that is completely innocent of any wrongdoing and would be a member of my family if allowed to exist. No, should she become pregnant and unable to care for the baby, and should my wife and I be unable to care for it either, there is only one choice to be made: adoption. Adoptive couples will regularly cover the medical expense of their future child, and while it will be extremely painful to give up such a precious gift from God, at least the child will have a chance to live.
As for my daughter, she will simply have to live with her choices. She would have behaved as an adult, and therefore she will have to act as one with regard to the pregnancy. If it costs her a year of school that has to be made up later, so be it. Better that than having to endure the fact that she was directly responsible for the ending of another human life."
Now, that said, life is rarely as simple as our own beliefs would have us to expect. Would I support making abortion illegal across the board? I would not, simply because there are always special circumstances. For instance, the case of rape. Should a woman be forced to accept or even to bear a child she had no input in creating, other than being the victim of a heinous crime? I would personally say the child had no input into the decision to be conceived either, and death is a far more severe action than going through with a pregnancy... but that is my opinion. I don't like it when opinions become law. Even my opinions.
It has been shown to my satisfaction that outlawing abortions has a dangerous side effect: back-alley (or home-made) abortions. These not only attempt to kill the child, but often can kill or injure the mother as well. Illegal abortions, then, can have the effect of not protecting one life as much as destroying two. That is not a good thing.
If I were to live in a perfect utopia where I could set the rules and everyone would obey, I would like to see the following restrictions: abortion allowed on demand, within the first trimester or two weeks after determination of the pregnancy, whichever comes last (except in the third trimester; see below). In other words, if you simply have to take this innocent life, at least do it quickly, with as little pain to your victim as possible. Within the second trimester, I would limit abortions to those mentioned above and to those who had been raped or were victims of incest. I would prohibit abortions within the third trimester completely, as such is nothing more than the wanton killing of a fetus that has the potential to survive without the mother. I would say that exceptions to the third trimester exclusion would only be allowed in cases where there is a reasonable assurance that the mother could be placed in danger by continuing the pregnancy.
Now to address this issue of 'parasitic existence'... this is nothing more than a cop-out. The fetus came about not through an attempt to live off of a host, but due to the hosts own actions when the results were (or should have been) known. It was created in order to experience pleasure, and usually could have been easily and cheaply prevented. It also will not continue to infest, but rather is in the process of becoming able to survive on its own, the opposite of a true parasite.
I'll cut this here for now, and continue on with the other two situations as I have time. I'm sure there are enough people ready to burn me at the stake already.

As an ATS Staff Member, I will not moderate in threads such as this where I have participated as a member.
TheRedneck
[edit on 10/8/2009 by TheRedneck]


