Women Should Have the Right to Choose!

When you say, "it's that woman's choice" it sounds like you believe that whether that baby is born or not, only affects that woman - and maybe that's why she alone should have the final say. You appear to be in my generation. We have lost 1/3 of us to abortions. That 1/3 of the workforce, scientists, artists, neighbors, entrepreneurs and friends. Picture 1/3 of the people who has made an influence good or bad on your life and make them gone(just like a tv show or movie). Should that decision rest on her perspective choice alone...?

So basically you are saying that 1 in every 3 babies of your (our, whatever) generation are/were aborted? Just curious but how did you arrive at that number?

Hi there, No prob. the current stats http://www.abortionno.org/Resources/fastfacts.html
says we have 3700 Abortion/day X 365 days/Yr X 10 yr for gen X (roughly 1967-1977) = 13,505,000 abortions. My total gen population is roughly 35,000,000 - (google it). The abortion rate represents 1/3 of population rate. Mind blowing, huh?

Wow, that's pretty crazy!! And all those stats are pretty nuts, too. Thanks for the link.

darino,

Your #'s are shocking. Thank you for the link and statistics.

There are probably a large # of abortions that are unnecessary and the woman/couple involved isn't thinking completely about there situation and whether or not they can care for a child or give the child to a respectable adoption agency or other possible solutions that allow that child to be born. I think that if there was significant consideration and thought put into all the options available before the decision to have an abortion, the #'s you presented would be much less. I believe there are other options that should be strongly considered before an abortion but if there are serious circumstances, health or other, that requires the woman/couple to decide that an abortion is right for them, they should have that right to make that decision.

Abortions WILL happen regardless of laws and restrictions and this to me only puts the woman that needs to have an abortion at a very high risk for her life by having an unsafe, possibly illegal abortion. I would never want to see abortion rights taken lightly were it is a method used for birth control but if hospitals and proper health care facilities are given the laws and support to perform abortions legally, then a lot more woman will be hurt and die than is necessary.

I also think that if proper funding and teaching of safe sex education was present in schools and in public health systems that the # of pregnancies would be greatly reduced, there effecting the # of abortions performed each year!

Start to solve the problems early and closer to the source and you'll see great results down the road.

We would also see a large drop in the transmission of STD's and this would be a great for the entire world!

CBoldt: You're welcome for the stats and thank you for sharing your thoughts. The unfortunate thing is, abortion is presently used as a form of birth control and many want to keep it available in case they are in need of it themselves for that very reason.

The other stats I read is the mother's-life-endangered cases combined with the rape/incest cases argument only account for 3% of pregnancies. Forgive me for not providing links but it's late and I read too much to find it again, quickly. I know you mean well by suggesting sex ed, but that has been going on for years and nothing's changed. Early prevention, like you said, is the key but that prevention is in the home of a responsible married couple raising their kids with virtuous values. It sounds boring, but that's the only effective way to reduce STD's and pregnancies is to reduce unwed sex. Elementary, huh? The only way to reduce unwed sex is teaching the values of such a lifestyle. - did I lose you yet?...

Ultimately, we shouldn't look for alternatives to abortion because 1) abortions will happen anyway, or 2) to keep it safe and legal, or 3) let's lower the stats so we look better. We should look for alternatives to abortion because otherwise we will be murdering an innocent human being...and shouldn't we care about that?...I know I've lost you now...

darino,

Again thank you for your response and forgive me for not touching too much at this time on everything you mentioned. Busy day!

I did want to agree with you really fast though on the responsibilities that parents have on raising their children with values and that you are right in that is where the first step in teaching these preventative methods on pregnancy, premarital sex and safe sex practices.

Unfortunately not all parents are that responsible and in those cases other education needs to be available and easily available.

I wish there was an easy way to hit this issue on both fronts but if that was the case, this wouldn't be such a huge issue and topic. :)

Thank you again, I appreciate you voice!

well now abortion is quiet obviously a hot button topic. I particularly love a man being pro "life". I myself have 5 children and I'm glad i can tell them that i had a choice and they were all very much wanted. I am glad that this young man married as a virgin or if unmarried is a virgin still. good for him! however this is not the case with anyone i know or know of. In a perfect world we would all wait for marriage. However the sex urge is one of the strongest we know. To tell a teen in "love" to wait is most times a losing battle no matter how long you preach or what your values are. I have to say that I'm sorry i would rather see a child aborted in the early stages of pregnancy then to be born unwanted. Yes i understand the issue of adoption. Yet another issue that many people do not have the courage for. Also i find it utterly abhorrent that the government should make any decision concerning my body. Also id like to know what DARINO is offering to unwed pregnant mothers in the way of emotional and financial support.

Karen,

You are absolutely right that the sex urge is one of the strongest. And it is just what you call it: an URGE.
It is wonderful that you have five children and that you have given them all the gift of life! You're awesome!! Thanks for giving that gift of those five children to the world and to themselves (I bet they love being alive!). But, I guess, as someone who teaches and who works with kids (and you must run into this as a mother)--I have to encourage and inspire young people again and again NOT to give in to their urges. And, actually, they love the challenge! We have urges and they are natural. But, when we compromise an ideal for the sake of an urge, we always end up feeling crumby. [A cheesy example would be: we give up our diet and our ideal of a nicer body by gorging ourselves on sweets and fatty foods. We feel crumby and so undisciplined afterwards. We know we've let ourselves down. We gave in to an urge we know we could have overcome for the sake of the higher value.] There are so many urges we can have as humans. Anger can urge us to want to kill or hurt someone (and there have been horror stories in the news of children killing their siblings, etc.)--but we would never tell our children that all these urges are okay to ACT on and follow through on. Same thing with the sex urge--and I think that is what Darino is trying to say.

Virtue is a way of life. It is choosing to do the right thing even when our instincts and urges push us in the opposite direction. I think few people would know this better than mothers: sometimes all you want to do is take a long nap and forget the kids running everywhere. But you DON'T. You stay up, and, tired as you are, you keep on giving to them--which is a way of loving your children and proving that love--and, of course, they will begin to see it, soak it in, and love you forever for it. {Again, what comes to mind are those stressed/possibly mentally-disturbed mothers who have killed their children. Could we see it as an urge they gave in to because they were too weak to resist?} The sex urge is strong because we all want to love and be loved--but just acting on it can bring much more pain (even STDs, a possible abortion, etc.). You yourself mentioned emotional pain. When you give yourself to someone in sex, you make yourself incredibly vulnerable to them. It is unreasonable to just make yourself vulnerable like that to someone just so that you can fulfill an urge. When we learn how to control our sex urge and direct it, using it only when it is right--that is when we discover GENUINE LOVE--a love that is willing to sacrifice. Love is all about self-giving; the opposite of love is selfishness. Selfish people don't love--they just take, take, take. Love gives.