Here's an interesting article that should get the right's blood boiling: The Article I don't buy the entire point, but I think there is a kernel of truth in it.
Conservatives have always seen abortion as a win-win. They get to avoid discussing birth control methods in public schools, and then shame the people who could have benefited the most from birth control methods. Well, I guess it's actually win-win-win, considering a whole ton of the babies that would have been born if abortion was illegal would fall into that low socioeconomic category (future criminals and welfare recipients) are never born. You're right that some of the claims (or at least the author's way of portraying them) are flimsy at best. If another country has a law that abortion is illegal in any situation, and a teenager is forced to have an anencephaletic baby who won't survive, that still doesn't alter the overall outcome. Measuring psychological harms is nothing new for other aspects of society, like accidental deaths. So it shouldn't be different for accidental births.
Extenuating circumstances happen. However, if youre a man, or a woman, and dont want to deal with having a baby, just dont have sex. Its really that simple. If your career aspirations are so important that getting pregnant could ruin your life, then just dont have sex. Again, there are always going to be extenuating circumstances.
I think a better answer would be to at least educate oneself about birth control methods, including abstinence, rather than trying out cold hard luck and seeing how that works. Ordering young people to not have sex typically doesn't have the desired results. But telling young people about all the options (and risking that abstinence might not be the #1 option) is still better from a limiting abortions standpoint.
Abortion is just wrong, straight up wrong!! I will give a few circumstances, as ok, but those are very far and in between. In 100 years or 200 years our generation is going to be looked at as barbarians!!!
"In 100 years or 200 years our generation is going to be looked at as barbarians!!!" Maybe from an American standpoint, although it's doubtful. You can look at pretty much every other country in the world (outside of possibly Latin/South America) and their abortion rates are far higher. The abortion per live birth ratio in the U.S. peaked around 1990 and has been slowly dropping since then, and most of that is due to increased birth control knowledge and medical knowledge. But you still have about a 1-to-4 ratio of abortions to live births. Most of Europe has a 1-to-1 ratio (Romania has an estimated 2-to-1 ratio of abortions to live births). China doesn't keep the best records on it, but it's estimated to be about 10-to-1 (not including the undocumented infanticides). So if you're saying future people will look back and see in-utero baby killing as barbaric, I think we're way past that point. I'd love to see the reduction of abortions for many reasons, not the least of which is that you're ending a life. But I also think that conservatives need to get on board with the methods of reducing abortions, like supporting the government's decision to include birth control on the list of insurance coverages for private employers.
NJ, your point makes sense if you turn it around yes. However, in order to have an abortion, you have to get pregnant, and thus go through the trouble of going through a procedure that A., is not healthy, B., can cause emotional distress, and C., many people consider to be murder (whether they think its murder at 6 weeks, 12 weeks, conception etc.) So, it is much easier to just avoid the situation altogether, but point taken.
Im not saying everyone should abstain... I havent, but people need to be smart about it. Pregnancy can be avoided and you can still hump like rabbits. My feeling is that people need to be educated that if its really going to be a big deal, think before you act, and if you do act, be damn sure youre taking precautions. And for God's sake, if you get pregnant and want to get an abortion, do it as early as humanly possible. The longer you wait, the worse its going to be for the mother and for the breathing, heart beating baby inside of her.
Good comments 2003TexGrad. And not to be graphic here, but do people really think the only alternative to abstinence is to have unprotected sex and ejaculate into a vagina? If the girl isn't on birth control, put on a friggin' rubber. Yes, rubbers are gross and generally suck, but they're better than unplanned pregnancy and disease. You can also do "other things." Use your imagination, or listen to a ZZ Top song for specifics.
"The problem with the death penalty today is it has become ineffective as a deterrent due to the lack of use and restrictions on it." I've read some good **** on this board, but really? The death penalty was more widely used up until about 50 years ago in most civilized countries, when the violent crime rate was about 10 times as high as it is today. You're saying that it's not being used correctly, so it's not deterring more crime? Hell, it deterred less crime when it was more popular and public. The death penalty deters nothing. Never has. The only thing it possibly does is potentially remove the possibility that someone convicted could be released and become a repeat offender. If that's worth it, then so be it. But don't pretend like the threat of being killed stopped others from committing violent acts.
Deez, Rick Perry does a pretty good job of showing us what "else" we can do without using a condom to have fun. Dont think a woman has ever gotten pregnant from, well, thank you Rick Perry!
Abortion vs. Death Penalty You are so great at debate, man you really know how to compare subjects. You just made the abortion argument, thanks buddy!!!! smh at the stupidity, but thanks for making my argument!!!!