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Rape is not a valid reason for abortion in my view. Not if your primary concern is the preservation of innocent life.
As to why many who otherwise claim to be pro life will support abortion in the case of rape, many do so as it is politically toxic to argue otherwise (as we are seeing today with the Alabama bill).
One of the stronger arguments for supporting the allowance of abortion in the case of rape is, in my view, the fact that a woman did not willingly engage in any behavior to get pregnant and the mental/emotional/physical health implications that such a pregnancy can have on the mother. Still, balancing the equities involved, I can only truly support the allowance of abortion if the life of the mother is at serious risk if she goes through with the pregnancy (I don't believe that you should have to give your life to save another) or is carrying the baby to term would result in excruciating pain for the child due to certain defects (like a baby being born without skin who will die within days after birth) . . . in the latter case, it can be argued that abortion would be an act of mercy.
I agree with you but just for the sake of debate in all but 7 states assisted suicide (an act of mercy) is illegal. How does one differentiate the pain and suffering of a defective fetus that will die with that of the pain and suffering of a terminally ill person.
And as far as the life of the mother being at risk, is it moral or legal to sacrifice one life over the other. I'm thinking cases of separating conjoined twins when the procedure would kill one of the twins. Should we let nature takes it course and let the mother die in order for the child to live or take the life of the fetus in order for the mother to live?
The bold is an example of using children as punishment for "sin". Especially when, as often goes in states wanting to outlaw or seriously restrict abortion, little to no effort is expended attempting to prevent unwanted pregnancy in the first place.
The rest of your post - while I disagree, at least I can respect your consistency.
To be clear, that argument doesn't win me over, but I think it is one of the stronger arguments put forward by those who would allow for an exception in the case of rape.
I agree with you but just for the sake of debate in all but 7 states assisted suicide (an act of mercy) is illegal. How does one differentiate the pain and suffering of a defective fetus that will die with that of the pain and suffering of a terminally ill person.
And as far as the life of the mother being at risk, is it moral or legal to sacrifice one life over the other. I'm thinking cases of separating conjoined twins when the procedure would kill one of the twins. Should we let nature takes it course and let the mother die in order for the child to live or take the life of the fetus in order for the mother to live?
You know that's a very good question regarding assisted suicide. While my opinion is not fully formed on assisted suicide laws in every situation (while I would be opposed to assisted suicide laws that allowed for the broad use of the practice for whatever reason, I could perhaps support it for those rare cases where the patient is in excruciating pain and death may be a mercy). For a similar reason, I could support abortion in cases where it would be a mercy to prevent excruciating pain for a fetus that is, say, born without skin and will literally feel like s/he would be burning alive if s/he enters the world after birth for the few hours/days that s/he will be alive.
For your other point, and acknowledging that morality is subjective, I think it is immoral to ask someone to sacrifice themselves to save another. While society may hold such individuals in high regard if they choose to do so, I think it is unreasonable to ask someone to give their own life to save another.
With conjoined twins, I am against those cases of separation where one of the twins would die or have a high likelihood of death. If there is a low risk of death for conjoined twins (and there will always be some risk with any medical procedure), that's a different story. But with a high risk or certain risk, I could not support separation as it would be sacrificing someone else's life to make another's life more simple and easy.
I think a more interesting case with conjoined twins would be if separation was necessary to save one life; if separation didn't occur both lives would be lost for whatever reason.
I think a more interesting case with conjoined twins would be if separation was necessary to save one life; if separation didn't occur both lives would be lost for whatever reason.
Even cases like this have been challenged in court.
To be clear, that argument doesn't win me over, but I think it is one of the stronger arguments put forward by those who would allow for an exception in the case of rape.
I agree it's an argument often used - because to not allow those exceptions does appear to be cruel - and who wants to appear cruel. But the fact is, if you are arguing that life begins at conception, either every life is valued or it's not. Regardless of the degree of "guilt" assigned to the mother. Otherwise the argument really is " you made your bed now you can lie in it" - punishment.
Personally I want every child born to be wanted, loved and supported. There is no way to force people to become good parents or to force people to provide a healthy pregnancy, abstain from drugs alcohol or abusive relationships, or to give up babies for adoption.
Last edited by maciesmom; 05-21-2019 at 02:29 PM..
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