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Abortion Debate

One group, primarily motivated by their religion, seeks to prevent a diverse group, expectant mothers and their families (including those not even members of that religion), from maintaining control and responsibility for when to add a child.

Most people will agree that it is wrong to kill another human being. That simple rule has been manipulated by this group seeking a ban on abortion with the claim the unborn fetus, an entity totally dependent on its mother for life (unlike a human being outside of the womb), should also be protected by this common rule of behavior.

However claims of morality are just one way for a group to attempt suppression of others because a stance of right vs wrong is stronger than one of reason - though that does not mean that stance is justified.

Each expecting mother must have responsibility for her own body, and each family must have responsibility for the care and nurture of their children. This ludicrous  becomes obvious when a mother's health and life are in danger when allowing the pregnancy to continue, at which point the life of the unborn fetus becomes more important than the mother, so those holding this position assert the mother must die rather than harming the fetus. Similarly, a woman who becomes pregnant due to rape is told by those with this position that the emotional and physical recovery from that trauma of rape must be delayed by first being subject to the emotional, physical, and financial duress of carrying to term a baby produced by that rape.

The anti-abortion position is nothing less than one group asserting their personal stance of right vs wrong on others. Using morality rather than reason to justify the persecution of others does not help society, as was seen with the Prohibition movement (brought on by those seeking to stop recreational drinking) or even past bans on interracial marriage or the current attempts to ban homosexual marriage.

Most people take the practical stance that personal behavior that harms another person is wrong. That practical rule of behavior is corrupted when applied to a non-living entity (as the fetus is not an independent being when incapable of survival outside of the womb). Many people have an inherent tolerance of another's behavior that causes no harm to others, but this corruption of morality is obvious in those other cases like bans on interracial marriage or homosexual marriage, which are of course personal decisions. Whether to carry a fetus to term or to have an abortion is also a personal decision.


created - October 2013
last change - 10/20/2013
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