in case no one else said this in this massive thread -- i don't think the poll should've been phrased more elaborately than "Should abortion be kept legal? Yes or No." Having sentences following the yes and the no put words in people's mouths and slant the whole thing, people have many different rationales for how they would answer that question, don't limit it to one for each answer.
Personally I am pro-choice, though I feel the issue isn't simple and I certainly don't feel like an authority on the matter.
Population control = good thing
Women's rights = good thing
People don't get abortions for fun.
Contraception is incredibly important and the more informed people are and the easier it is to access, the less people abortions will have to happen anyway. What kills me is that a lot of pro-lifers are anti-contraception. That is inexcusable -- a pro-life person could make an argument I might find somewhat legitimate, but as soon as they condemn contraception they flush their legitimacy down the toilet and their stance is revealed as anti-sex, anti-freedom, anti-women, and just plain unrealistic. The "abstinence education" programs the right wing (ie the us gov't) are pushing right now are horrendous malevolent works of disinformation. even the spineless democrats in office can see that.
Decisive moral issue: abortion
103james is a dick.
here's what he said to people donating blood because "it saves lives."
"you know there's an overpopulation problem right?"
here's what he said to people donating blood because "it saves lives."
"you know there's an overpopulation problem right?"
Decisive moral issue: abortion
104I apologize in advance.
However, there's a new study out that I thought was worth notice:
The Lancet Article via SendSpace
Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy report
However, there's a new study out that I thought was worth notice:
The Kaiser Network wrote:International News | Abortion Rates Similar in Countries That Legalize, Prohibit Procedure, Study Says
[Oct 12, 2007]
Abortion rates are similar in countries where the procedure is legal and in countries where it is not, and the number of abortions worldwide is declining due to increased access to contraception, according to a study conducted by the Guttmacher Institute and the World Health Organization and published Friday in the Lancet, the New York Times reports. The study also found that abortions were "safe in countries where it was legal, but dangerous in countries where it was outlawed and performed clandestinely," according to the Times (Rosenthal, New York Times, 10/12).
For the study, Gilda Sedgh of the Guttmacher Institute and colleagues from WHO examined abortion trends from 1995 to 2003 in developed and developing countries where the procedure is legal and prohibited (Cheng, AP/Google.com, 10/11). The researchers used national data for countries where abortion was legal and estimated abortion rates from countries where it is illegal, using data on hospital admissions for abortion complications, interviews with local family planning experts and surveys of women in those countries, the Times reports (New York Times, 10/12).
The study found that the number of abortions worldwide has decreased from about 46 million in 1995 to about 42 million in 2003. The majority of abortions, 35 million, occurred in developing countries, and 97% of all unsafe abortions -- those performed either by people without the necessary skills or in a setting that does not conform to minimum medical standards -- were performed in low-income countries, the study found (AP/Google.com, 10/11). About 20 million unsafe abortions were performed each year, and about 67,000 women died from complications from those abortions, mostly in countries where the procedure is banned, according to the study.
....
The Lancet Article via SendSpace
Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy report
Decisive moral issue: abortion
105I just read a review of the documentary, Lake of Fire. It sounds like a very intense documentary.
The New York Times review:
http://movies.nytimes.com/2007/10/03/movies/03fire.html
The New York Times review:
http://movies.nytimes.com/2007/10/03/movies/03fire.html
Decisive moral issue: abortion
106I give swiss army knife abortions out of the back of my honda if anyone is interested.
If only I had gotten to Bob Costa's mom early enuff
If only I had gotten to Bob Costa's mom early enuff
Decisive moral issue: abortion
109insert dead baby joke...
here.
here.
Madness waits for some. It creeps up on others.