I am pro-choice. I don't believe that the government nor protestors have any right to tell a woman what she can and cannot do with her body.
I will never forget when, about a year ago, I ran into an old friend of mine back at home. We had lost contact with each other after middle school. When her parents died in a car accident, she went from one foster home to another. Got into some bad drugs and was in and out of jail. She was a mess. She told me about how she had just gotten an abortion. Although she has since tried to get her life back in order with a part-time job at a retail store and she was going to junior college, she said she wasn't ready to have a child. Her reason why, "I hardly have the means to support myself nontheless a child. I ruined my own life. Why do that to my child?" Adoption was not an option for her. She couldn't bear the thought that there was someone out there who was biologically hers but belonged to another family. Also,her job entailed standing on her feet for 8 hours which something she could not do towards the last 3 months of pregnancy. For three months, she would have no source of income. She said that abortion was the best thing she ever did. She also said that if she kept the child, she would not be able to care for it 100% and the government would take the child from her and put it in a foster home....just as she was.
Maybe an abortion is not right for all people but it was for her. A girl who had already been through so much and was finally piecing her life back together did not need to go through it all over again.
If I were pregnant, I'm not sure what I would do. Pregnancy, although a beautiful thing, can be so scary for someone who is, quite frankly, a child herself. You never know what you would do until you're in a situation like that. And that is why I believe that every woman should have the option to have abortion if she so chooses.

I think my main belief about abortion is that it is just that - a belief of mine. What I feel and believe can (although it isn't) be proclaimed to the world, but I don't feel that it's my right to force my (mainly pro-life) views on the world. My morals and beliefs are mine alone, and I do not feel everyone should be forced to hold the same beliefs that I do. For that reason, while I consider myself pro-life, I do not think it is a bad thing for the government to have its current laws which allow legal abortions.

I do however, have issues with people who use abortion as a form of contraception or who condone partial birth abortions (that just makes me ill...) for non-medically critical pregnancies. Uch. I also have big problems with 'pro-lifers' who pick and choose when they support life. If you are pro-life, you should be pro ALL life...not just for fetuses. That means abortion doctors, too! Using violence to express your pro-life beliefs is twice as wrong as any acts you are protesting!! I am pro-life all around - I believe it's best not to have an abortion (if possible) and not to promote capital punishment either.

One thing I feel the need to emphasize, though, is that NO ONE things abortion is a 'good thing'. It's a choice reserved for people who feel they have no other options, people who are sad or scared. I doubt anyone walks away from a choice to abort skipping out of the clinic. It's a decision people should take seriously, but a decision they should have the right to make, even if people don't agree with it.

Thanks for clarifying Greek Girlie :D I think some people missed my point.

I completely agree with AggieAXO's stance on this. I am pro-choice. What choice would I make in that situation? Well it would depend on the situation. When I was in my 20's absolutely no way would I have even been able to handle a pregnancy, let alone a child. The older i get, the more I think I could and would have the child. But it is irresponsible to bring a child into this world that you are emotionally and financially unprepared for. I also believe strongly in a woman's right (a couple's right) to choose what is right for her own body.

That said, abortion is not a form of birth control and I am appalled that it is used as such by some people. Take responsibility for your own life and your own body, and if you cannot be mature enough to use birth control, you should not be having sex.

If this country went so far as to take away a woman's right to a lega l abortion-- what makes you think abortions would stop? They wouldn't, but instead women would go back to the "back-alley" and dangerous abortions they sought out before Roe v. Wade... And women would die.

Everyone is entitled to their view. But it is just that. Their view. Do not tell me what I can and cannot do with my body.

OK, getting down off my soapbox.

dzrose, if I may share the other side. In 1971 there were 5 of us who came to school as virgins. (Of course there were more, I'm refering to our circle) Within 2 years 3 had had an abortion. It was illegal then, and the risk was high. These girls NEVER got over it, never... They have since married-one has died but at those moments when you are just talking, it has been mentioned.
It's tough either way.

As far as the government not being able to have control over the body of a woman, why do we place more value on the "spotted owl" or the habitat of the snail darter than we do a human life?
If you think about it-I KNOW YOU WILL HATE ME FOR SAYING THIS-
a lot of this boils down to morality and premarital sex- kids having sex without the sense to protect themselves or knowing what to do if something does occur, young adults getting tanked OR swept up in the moment. Haven't you heard, it's the nice girls who get pregnant. There will always be those situations like dzrose mentioned, where they thought they were doing everything right, but by far the greatest number of abortions do not reflect that scenario.

Picture someone taking a sack full of puppies and drowing them.
Imagine taking your female baby and throwing it down the well, or taking the placenta from the late term aborted baby and selling it for food or hair products.
At 6 weeks, a baby will feel pain. Pain from a decision made by the very person who should give her life to protect him. Which of the above situations causes you the greater "discomfort"?

That's about all I have to say on the subject. I hope and pray no one finds themselves in this life altering situation. No matter what you woud decide, it would have a profound affect on the rest of your life.

This is perhaps the truest and most profound statement any of us have made thus far.

Whether you choose to have the unplanned baby, or choose to abort the unplanned baby...Neither decision is easy and each will have a profound impact on the rest of your life.

However, pro-choice--is a right to choose, that's all. I am not advocating abortion for abortion's sake. All I, and I think most pro-choicers are advocating is the right--the freedom--to do what you feel is best for you and your situation. Some of us would choose life. Some would not. But it is our choice.

I am 100% pro-choice. To me choice means just that a woman or a couple should have the right to make the best decision for them at the time. Does this mean that I would choose abortion for myself? At this stage in life no, but 6 or 7 years ago - probably.

For all the women out there who think that they could go through 9 months of pregnancy and place the baby up for adoption I applaud you. But, seriously think about what would happen immediately after the birth when you get to hold the baby for that short amount of time. Is adoption still something you think you can live with? I also think that adopting out is hard on the biological mother and/or father and you also have to consider that it will probably be hard on the adoted child. One day, no matter how great the adoptive parents are, they will probably go seeking their biological parents if only to get a since of who they truely are. - Carnation you probably could add a lot to this, as my only experience is with my old college roommate who was adopted. Adding to that my roommate was told by her adoptive parents that if she went looking for the biological ones that she would be disowned and not welcome in their house anymore. Nice huh?

A few other reasons for being pro-choice are that as long as abortion is legal society has a far better chance of these women going into a clinic and getting proper medical treatment. Think about all the back alley abortions and coathangers you heard about when abortion was illegal. Also, as long as we continue to close our eyes and ears and preach nothing but abstinance in schools how are we to expect that children will learn that there are many different reliable birth control methods, other than hoping their parents will have the guts to have a straight forward talk with them?

This may not sound like a great reason, but one of the biggest reasons I am pro-choice is because someone made a big deal out of a T-shirt I was wearing when I was 15. I was a cheerleader and we had people donate shirts for us to wear to cheerleading camp. One of our classmates father's was a politician and he donated shirts. I was wearing his shirt at the vacation bible school I was teaching at, and one of the ladies went to my mother and told her I had to change my shirt because the man was pro-choice. I was 15 didn't know what his political veiws were, and didn't care. I liked the shirt. My mom didn't appreciate the woman either, but in the interest of peace she brought me another shirt. Too bad I can't find the woman now to let her know that her strong armed tactics only served to shape my views against her.

Sorry this was long, but wanted to get it all out...

I can speak from experience.

and I am by no means making light of having an abortion. However, "profound" hit me hard. I think having an abortion to some people isn't as "profound" as some may think.

Please don't understand me. It's a decision I wouldn't want anyone to have to make but having an abortion for some people is the only decision and the best and the right decision to make.

I just don't think some women are thinking about their abortion everyday or walking down the street wondering "what if." I don't think some woman are devastated by the choice they made.

Adult, mature, republican, responsible, educated, lovely people in monogamous committed relationships have abortions all the time. Married women have abortions.

Condoms break. And the pill fails.

I don't think that abortion should be a form of birth control, i.e., it gives a woman an excuse to have sex while in the back of her mind she is thinking, "I can always have an abortion if I get pregnanct" but I thank God everyday they are legal and safe.

I could go on and on and on and on but I won't. but I could!

No, I never missed your point, you just didn't include the 24-48 hour fact. That was something I did not know, and also something you did not add.

Justamom, I respect your beliefs, and you do bring up some good points here. I realize that the decision to have an abortion is a very serious one, and is something that must be weighed carefully. You're absolutely right - It is DEFINITELY tough, either way. However, did these women you speak of ever say that they regretted their decisions -- that they could look back on the situation and say, without a shadow of a doubt, that they could have cared for their child well and provided him or her with everything that the baby would have needed back then? That they would have been able to be as good a mother back then as they would in later years?

I can tell you that none of my friends regret the decision they made. Of course, if you ask, they will mention that they think about how their lives would have turned out if they had decided to go through with the pregnancy. But there is not a single woman who has expressed regret to the point where if she could turn back the clock she would change her mind. All of them are content with the road they took and not a one feels that she made a poor decision...except for the girl who gave her baby up for adoption at the direction of her mother instead of following her own wishes and having an abortion.

The difference is simple: the spotted owl is an animal that is in danger of becoming extinct. That's why our government has passed laws to protect it. The human being is nowhere near extinction. If it were, then there probably would be laws against abortion because we would be doing everything in our power to keep the human race going.

I don't hate you for saying that at all! :) I really do understand what you're saying. However, you can't pass a law that allows one group of people to have an abortion and not allow the others. And if you ban all the abortions, there will be many, many women (including nice girls who got caught in a bad situation) who suffer because their right to choose has been stolen from them.

Quite honestly, the puppies and the female baby, who have both experienced their first unassisted breaths of life, cause me the greatest discomfort. Let me explain why I feel this way. First, a 6 week old embryo is so tiny that I find it difficult to even think of it in terms of a baby. Pro-life protesters place such emphasis on the pain that an aborted fetus suffers. They try to paint a picture of a child that is being tortured to death, but the truth is that any pain the fetus feels is so quick that it barely begins before it ends. A two year old child who falls off her tricycle and scrapes her knee will feel more trauma than a fetus who is scarcely the size of a butter bean.

But aside from all that, I personally feel that if a pregnant woman knows that she doesn't have the means to give her child the quality of life that it deserves, then it is better for that unborn embryo, who has never taken a breath or experienced real life outside the womb, to feel a moment of pain rather than a lifetime of unhappiness and suffering.

DZRose I have agreed with 10000% of what you have said so far.

JAM,

Let me say that I respect your views totally and everyone's opinion on here. Like I have said in my earlier posts I abort puppies and kittens all the time-while I am not thrilled about this I have to think of that puppy or kitten's potential life-roaming the streets, being hungry or standing in a shelter waiting to be euthanized while there are 100's of other dogs and cats barking and meowing-that is very traumatizing. I only bring up the animals b/c of your comparison in your earlier posts, most people say we can't compare humans and animals as humans are way more valueable (I am not sure I believe that). As far as throwing puppies into a well-this does happen but less so in this day and age b/c we have euthanasia-I would much rather euthanize a puppy then think of them suffering in their life or drowning in a well, just like I would much rather abort a fetus rather than child suffer like the ones I see on TV that have no food or clothes-was it fair to bring those children into this world??? If you want to compare animals in this scenario then I guess we need to include the suffering that pigs and chickens go through daily to feed us.
What Dzrose said is correct about endangered animals-we NEED to protect these guys because they are being eliminated-they willbe totatly gone, Humans are in NO WAY of becoming extinct in fact it is the opposite we are overpopulating.

AggieAXO,
I'm proud to call you a fellow Ag!
Good bull!
and to dzrose, I'm proud to call you sister!
DZLAM!

I can tell you that none of my friends regret the decision they made.

What a sad, sad statement.

I was militantly pro-choice until I became a mother. Having been through 3 pregnancies and had numerous ultrasounds and a miscarriage, I am now pro-life in almost all circumstances. I was amazed to find out how quickly that lifeless little ball of cells becomes a real baby that moves, feels, has a beating heart. I think late-term "partial birth" abortions are flat-out murder. I guess I can see both sides, having been on both sides, but having felt that little baby moving inside me and having seen a 7 week fetus with its little beating heart on the screen has totally changed my opinion. There are so many people out there waiting to adopt babies, so many who want children and can't have them.....I have a really hard time with the idea that the "inconvenience" factor of going through with the birth and putting the baby up for adoption justifies choosing abortion.

That's interesting. Most women I know who have had children became even more pro-choice after doing so, once they realized how huge and life-changing pregnancy and motherhood really are, and came to the view that they're not things anyone should be forced or guilted into.