Abortion - Too Complex for Epinions
Apr 12 '00
Abortion is a complex topic. Anyone who claims otherwise is most likely not worth listening to.
There aren't many topics or issues in our current society where two things we hold so dearly - freedom and life - crash into each other with such force. Abortion is a topic where our assumptions about freedom and our assumptions about life need to find some way to co-exist. A well-formed opinion on abortion must take into account both sides of the issue, because I don't think any one of us is willing to give up freedom or life.
This is a topic that has been debated endlessly for many, many years. It brings out the passion in people. The anger. The hate. The compassion. The willingness to agree to disagree. And the unwillingness to tolerate differing opinions.
There are some very good arguments in favor of legal abortions. Freedom of a person to control their own body - one of the few things we have absolute control over - is important. The government telling us how we can and cannot treat our bodies is a scary concept. Holding a mother criminally responsible for how she treats the life inside her raises so many new issues that we can hardly begin to address the consequences and legal effects. It's difficult - if not impossible - to draw a line in the legal sand that treats mothers who abort as murderers yet also give them the freedom to act as individuals during their pregnancies. It is easy to see the complications of this whole situation.
There are also some very good arguments for why abortion is a very bad thing. First, we are dealing with a living being. Life is precious and should not be taken for granted. It is something we do not have the capability to understand and should view with awe. No one knows for sure if life begins at conception, but should we even risk it? If you saw a man lying on the street, would it be okay to shoot him because you weren't positive if he was alive? If you take the stance that an abortion at 1 month is acceptable, does your view change for a baby who is 8.5 months along? And if so, why? Think about it. If the developing baby is not alive and doesn't have the right to live, how can we hold mothers responsible for the effects of drinking, smoking, or drug use during pregnancy? Many women who choose abortion do not do so out of their own choice - they are pressured. Many women [certainly not all] also have terrible feelings about this throughout their life. Can we ignore this and simple say it's a choice?
Abortion is a very difficult subject to discuss. One's views certainly cannot be summarized in a relatively short page of text on a web site. The topic deserves more than that. It needs more than that.
Perhaps one of the biggest problems with the abortion debate, in my opinion, is that people express their beliefs in short summaries and are left with trite arguments and sweeping generalizations.
Short "summaries" of topics like this are a waste. You simply cannot discuss an issue like this with any intelligence in a forum such as Epinions or a BBS or newsgroups [see Usenet for years of proof].
This topic has no place on Epinions. If you really want to discuss it, do so with other people, in person, and keep an open mind. Only when you're willing to accept that both sides of the issue really DO have valid arguments will you come to a conclusion that is consistent with your beliefs, consistent with your life, and that makes logical sense. Until then, you're just going to be yet another person spewing rhetoric that we've all heard a thousand times before.
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Epinions.com ID:
mkruse
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Member: Matt Kruse
Location: Moline, IL
Reviews written: 17
Trusted by: 31 members
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