Abortion and the stance you take?

[godfrey n. glad]

Originally posted by MTSUGURL

I do believe however that you accept the risks of sex when you choose to engage in it, and becoming pregnant is one of those risks.

If you believe this, do you also believe that people who, by having sex, get an STD should accept their consequences and not seek treatment? Now, note that I am not saying a child is a disease, but as is characterized by the post I am quoting, getting pregnant is a risk, as is getting an STD. One may use protection, which may sometimes fail, and suffer the consequences of the risks they have taken. Yet, I never see anyone claiming that people should suffer through gonorrhea or crabs because they deserve it, having taken a risk they knew full well could lead to this consequence.

Similarly, there is the oft-quoted car accident analogy. Knowing that driving will often lead to accidents, you are only getting what you deserve, or taking on a consequence you knew was inherent in driving (or even riding in) a car, therefore you should not seek treatment. The point being that people will and should still drive, trying their damned best to avoid the consequences. All of life is about measured risk taking for rewards. Should we all quit doing anything at all risky because we may have an undesired consequence?

Also, what about those people who don't want to have children ever? What would you say to them? That it is not their right to choose whether or not to reproduce? That they should go through life as virgins? Keeping in mind that any ethical medical practictioner pretty much makes it policy that women that have never borne a child shall not qualify for sterilization and that men younger than 35 or so with no children still have a hard time getting sterilized, it would seem that there is no realistic solution to this problem. People will have sex. It's a natural part of a relationship, and in primates, is NOT just for reproducing. People, IMHO, should have the ability to choose whether or not they will bear children. There are many of us out there that practice safe sex and have been monogomous for about a decade, don't want children but no doctor will sterilize us. If I get pregnant, having done MY very best to avoid it, I don't think I should be punished.