Lisa Benson for July 17, 2013

Nope, she works at Planned (non)Parenthood.

What about the unborn foetus’ right to be loved and wanted?

So,you want to have your say and it should be questioned by no one? Typical liberalism. There is no longer any rule. Everyone gets to do whatever he or she wants with no repercussion.

The GOP does not try to limit access to birth control. I just don’t want to be forced into paying for someone else’s. if you can’t afford the baby, don’t have sex with another person.

why does the party that touts ‘smaller givernment’ want to legislate women’s uteri?

Well said russell! It makes sense to begin whittling down the “virus on this planet” beginning with the unconscious foetus; next I suggest the brain dead among us. Russell would that be down syndrome children or MS sufferors or mentally ill or Jews or gypsies or homosexuals? Where do YOU stop?

Why do anti-abortion fanatics always equate a 2- or 3- or 4-month old fetus with a living, BREATHING, baby? They are not babies, yet. And what about the 2-week embryo or 1-week blastula? Are these babies, too? This black-and-white, all-or-nothing gibberish is pathetic. Yes, abortion is unfortunate and sometimes tragic, but for some women it is necessary and must be allowed, even with some limitations. Abortion-on-demand is a myth in this country; there will always be restrictions, even though the process itself must be legal and obtainable when truly needed. Who are YOU to tell a woman who has been raped or is carrying a fetus with a genetic defect that she must carry that pregnancy to term? It’s none of your damn business.

Personal opinion; Late term abortion should be allowed only when the life of the mother is in jeopardy or the pregnancy is the result of rape, incest or the mother is too young, which would indicate that rape had indeed occurred. Why are abortion opponents so determined to stop birth control too?

The vast majority of late-term abortions are due to severe medical issues, occasionally those of the mother but more often those of the fetus, which often cannot be detected until post-20 weeks. This includes deformities like anencephaly, harlequin-type ichthyosis, major heart defects or congenital disorders where major organs form outside the body. These are in most cases (or in anencephaly, all cases) non-survivable, but even where survivable may require extremely expensive and possibly life-long high levels of care.

To force a woman to carry these to term is not “humane” in any way. It’s more horrifying. Most of the women who have sought a post-20-week abortion have done so as a heart-breaking choice after discovering that a wanted pregnancy will only result in the baby dying a fast and painful death anyway; you can read about some of it at http://www.aheartbreakingchoice.com/.

A late abortion is not something that anyone does lightly. It’s painful, difficult and dangerous (although often, not so dangerous as birth, when it is done in a safe and regulated setting). The people who seem to think that the women who get one are ignorant sluts who use it for birth control, are hateful know-nothings; you should be ashamed to be so far from reality.

To make this inaccessible to women will not save lives. It may break them.

Also, note the testimony of this Amicus brief.

So…using your logic…it’s okay to kill them when they’re young but you can’t shoot them when they’re older?

It’s not “her body” that she wants to kill. A baby can have a different blood type. It didn’t ask to be conceived. People need to be more responsible, especially those lazy women who want to use abortion as a form of birth control.

lichtentunes… you only know how to name-call. the MAJORITY of people in the united states DO NOT support abortion. go look it up. and by the way, this country was founded by Christians. why is it okay to bash them but not Muslims?

Wow. You forgot to mention making those poor women jump from ice floe to ice floe (while barefoot. In your world all non-democat women are probably kept barefoot) while being pursued by a pack of hunting dogs let loose on her from the evil republicans.

I’m not saying that abortion is wrong or right overall. For myself there are too many shades of grey and each case can be different. Regardless, I actually believe abortion should be kept legal so it would remain regulated. If it has to happen, keep it clean and safe. There’s no point in loosing the mother as well. So I’ll agree with your point on that.

But what I can’t get is your name calling. First, your post makes it sound like all men who oppose abortion are ‘closeted gays’. Why would gays of any persuassion be for or against abortion? And it’s fairly obvious that you use the term to denigrate republican men. So are you saying you believe ‘closeted gay’ is a derogatory term? What about ‘closeted gays’ do you find morally offensive?

But I may be reading too much into that part of the comment. If so I apologize. But then we come to the second part of your comment. “Brainwashed Wives”. So…it sounds like you are saying that every woman who disagrees with abortion only does so because she’s been brainwashed? That the natural state of women is to agree with abortion? Is it impossible to think that a woman might consider the arguments and decide she was opposed to it, all on her own? Or do you automatically assume anyone who disagrees with your political ideology is brainwashed?

If the answer to that last question is yes…you may want to reconsider your opinion as to who qualifies as ‘brainwashed’. Just a thought.

So in Europe there is no talk of banning it.In Canada it is nearly completely unregulated.In mexico it remains legal.In western Asia it remains legal.In the rest of rural asia, Africa it remains far to expensive for most people and is thus ignored..In south america it remains legal.^This to me does not make things sound like the world is in favor of banning abortion.

As for late term abortion, nobody is in favor of it but most people are in favor if it is a risk to women’s life, considering this is present in 97% of late term abortions, Banning it would either have little to no effect, or alternately punish those with a medical neccesity

LIsa and “W” both indicate that anencephaly may not be totally lethal, so guess we can take away women’s rights without affecting their lives, or mental health after having to deliver to term a fetus with no brain, or with Tey sachs (sp) genetic, 100 % lethal outcome.

Can you give any observable evidence as to when a fertilized egg receives a soul? Maybe a fetus doesn’t get a soul until it is born. Without a soul, a fetus is nothing more than a bunch of human-like cells. So if you have evidence for the timing of the gift of a soul, please present it!

An “unconscious” person is still a person. And we know what the result of reproduction is: a human being who is unique and unlike any other. If people are not ready to be parents, then they have the choices to abstain from sex (whose primary purpose is reproduction) or use birth control. When we choose to follow instinct instead of using our inner conscience, we are nothing more than animals. We are certainly animals when we start to kill our own young.

I certainly believe in the right of women to have a safe abortion when necessary, i.e., in the case of rape or danger to the mother. Other than that, abortion is unnecessary and way overdone.

No one has mentioned the obvious: that birth control does not work 100% of the time.

And some of you posters have mentioned that people use abortion as a substitute for birth control. True enough. I don’t know that this is the most common reason, and I’m pretty sure it’s not. Very few people view abortion as a minor issue, especially those who are considering it personally. This is why I would recommend that abortion laws be considered only by women. Men have no frame of reference, other than paternalistic religious dogma.

What I do NOT want is a return to the stories about all the unfortunate women who die of “complications from appendicitis”, which was code for failed back-alley abortions. There will always be some demand, and it should be safe. Even anti-abortion legislation is almost always framed as though it is “for the health of the woman”.

You may not want to pay for birth control. Fine: I’ll make you a deal: you don’t pay for birth control; I don’t pay for in-vitro fertilizations or other non-natural means of childbirth. Can’t have one of your own? Adopt one of the millions of unwanted children on this planet.

We became parents because after three miscarriages, we were able to adopt. We were so fortunate that our boys’ biological parents were gracious enough to give them to someone who wanted children.

Simple. Because the same people who want abortion banned wrote those laws (and are writing “personhood” legislation).

It was done specifically to get you to ask that question. It worked.

“Typical Republican mumbo-jumbo. You can’t kill them when they’re young, but the NRA thinks it’s okay to kill them after birth.”.Typical Democratic rhetoric. In your minds, it’s okay to take a life as long as it’s unwanted.

If anyone should be spayed to improve the species, maybe the people like you, who are evidently unable to read or reason, should be considered as the first candidates.

If you had any interest in reality, you would make some effort to find out what the reality is. You don’t want that, evidently. I guess it’s more fun for you just to hate people, even if you have to cling to illusions to do so.

The women who have abortions that late are real people, who do not and have never done any such thing lightly – and as I pointed out above, abortions done at that stage are well over 90% because of serious medical problems not detectable until that stage. Is it so superior, in your view, to let a baby be born just so that it can die in pain and agony and the parents have to deal with the huge medical bills which usually go with that? How does it value life, to force either the parents or the baby to go through that? Where do you get the right to determine this?

Not to mention, over 60% of abortions done even in the first trimester are because of failures of contraception. No contraceptive method is 100%, as was entirely correctly mentioned above. Most abortions done in the second trimester? They are partly due to medical problems which either develop that late or are detected that late; and others are because of restrictive laws on abortion that creates or forces weeks-long delays for women trying to get one. Most people can spot that these laws are in place to try to force women to carry to term by placing as many barriers in the way to an abortion as is legal, but the actual net effect is to delay early abortions and make them later ones. Think that makes it any better?

But I guess that’s too complicated an issue for you, as is the understanding that an embryo or early fetus is far from being a “baby”, in that it cannot possibly have any form of consciousness or awareness – and thus, the lives that are already here, conscious and aware take precedence, have more responsibilities and more rights, both.

Nope, that doesn’t get a look in, in your world, I guess. You only understand simple stories, I guess.

I’m afraid the world is under no obligation to conform to your level of comfort or understanding….and it doesn’t.

To those who tried to be thoughtful on this impossible issue and showed grace and compassion, thank you.However, may I suggest we encourage our hubris filled legislatures (national and state) to work on job creation so people can afford to have children? May we consider improving our healthcare system so children can be born healthy and kept that way? Can we protect their air and water and food sources so they won’t face unexpected health or safety issues at the hands of corporate negligence and greed?Can we simply repair the one out of four bridges in our nation in need of some degree of repair so families and truckers carrying toxins don’t fall into rivers or ravines?Can they be given access to schools that will prepare them for the skill sets their nation… OUR nation… needs?It is not enough to have a life. There has to be an acceptable quality of life. The number of suicides in our nation is a testimony to how important quality of life is.Respectfully,C.

Thank you, too. But sometimes it seems like all the voices of reason just get drowned out by the crazy.

Very few people actually talk about these issues amongst the sturm und drang of the abortion fight.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/21/opinion/my-abortion-at-23-weeks.html?hp&_r=0