I would like to hear arguments with the scripture manipulation remaved. It's unfortunate that the issue exist but as a man I can't even begun to understand the fear & confusion that some women feel when they discover they are pregnant. Therefore my arguement for or against is a moot(sp?) point to those women. As an agnostic I don't use any scripture to decide what is right or wrong. I am Pro-Choice but feel that abortion is unfortunately used as a post-coital birth control by too many. It's unrealistic to teach just abstinence. The question to carry the birth to full term is a result of other events not just a root cause of the Pro-Life/Pro-Choice argument. Preventing abortion requires prevention of these events that lead to the question, all of these events not just sex: teach abstinence, teach the use of the pill, the use of profalactics (sp?)and education about adoption options. Unfortunately even with this education the choice must, in my agnostic male opinion, be protected. The argument can go on forever. It is ultimately a moral issue. And morality should not be legislated. I think back to the difficulties my mother had raising 3 kids essentially alone I'm glad she was strong enough to due so. Had I, the youngest of her kids, been aborted perhaps she would've had an easier time. Either way I'm glad she had the choice. incrediblechuck2000 at yahoo
I'm guessing because there's no scientifically verifiable reason to be against abortion. In fact, there is no reason I've ever heard of to be against abortion that doesn't have roots that can be traced back to religious ideas. So if you're anti-abortion for "moral" (ie emotional) reasons, they are most likely a relic of the religious tone of your upbringing or society, even if you consider yourself an atheist. It's unlikely that anyone with no exposure to any sort of religion would come up with the supposedly non-religious anti-abortion arguments pushed by the Christian right, like "all life is precious" etc.
I'm not an agnostic/atheist nor do I have an opinion on abortion. I see many good arguments from both sides. There is a website entitled Atheists Against Abortion or something like that. I see why atheists would be against abortion though.
There are 6 billion humans on the planet and we're killing it, how many more do you want? The religious don't (generally) care because they believe that after their short life on Earth they'll be with their creator in heaven (or the appropriate equilivalent) but I would think atheists would care. People are not going to stop having sex - it just isn't going to happen. Access to affordable contraception and abortion are responsible measures to take. Contrary to what the fundamentalist Christians in the documentary state, there really is no such thing as a "pro-abortionist". No one likes the idea of foetuses being destroyed but that doesn't mean it isn't an appropriate and responsible thing for a woman to do in her particular circumstances. I think we need to take a leaf from the fundamentalist Christian's book (no, not the Bible, silly) and come up with a new term for so-called "pro-life" movement. "Pro life" sounds far too reasonable (and that's the trick) for the irrational personalities depicted in the documentary. How about the "pro-female-enslavement" movement? Or the "pro-overpopulation" movement"? Or maybe the "kill-the-planet-by-drowning-it-in-children-we-can't-take-care-of" movement? Hmmm? Not very catchy. We may have to settle for the "anti-choice" movement for the time being...
I believe in freedom of choice. Just as one should have the freedom to choose what to believe in, an individual should have the freedom to make a personal choice concerning moral issues such as abortion. No one—including individuals who have made their own choice regarding religion—has the right to intervene with other individuals' choices. This is especially so if this assumed 'right' to intervene is based upon a personal interpretation of the religion the individual in question believes in.
The fact that a fetus isn't a woman's body is addressed by of one of the most important pro-abortion arguments (which was a huge deciding point in Roe vs Wade if I recalln correctly). Because if you think about it, no person should be forced to support another person using their body. That's like forcing someone to donate a kidney or bone marrow. Yes it would be nice, and save a life, but in a truly free society you should be able to decide whether or not to let another being use your body for their own purposes. The alternative is disturbing.
I'm an agnostic and I'm a pro-life, I think we should save life as much as we can therefore I think at the moment abortion should be legal, there aren't any better solutions, people should fight for abortion not to be necessary, by helping others, by wanting better social security, but at the moment we don't have that, that's why women had to scratch their womb and hope that they wouldn't bleed to death!
I am a pro-life lapsed Catholic. I don't go to mass or read the Bible. I believe in God, but I am not pro life because I necessarily believe in hell or punishment from God. I believe that murder is wrong and I believe that life begins at conception.
"He's exploiting my white guilt, which should only be used for supporting Barack Obama" - Liz Lemon
I am a pro-choice anti-theist. Women should have the ultimate control of their body, not the church, not the government, not moral crusaders.
Support giving out condoms to everyone that needs them, support sexual education at the earliest opportunity, support social justice proposals that ensure that single mothers (and their children) will not live in poverty. If you do that... you will decrease the amount of abortions. Otherwise you are a puritanical hypocrite (and you might as well put a scarlet H on your forehead :) What is more important--antiquated morality systems, dogmatic religious hypocrisy, predatory capitalist rejection of human dignity... or ensuring that any child, and their parents, live a life free of want and pain?
Pro-choice all the way and a pantheist. I believe in a higher energy force in the universe but not a personal anthropomorphic deity, some would say that makes me an atheist. I don't practice religion but believe in reincarnation. The religious right sickens me. From people who recall the between life stage have consistently reported the soul enters to fetus shortly before, during or sometimes even immediately after birth. To me an unborn fetus is an empty vessel and destroying it while potentially quite rude, is not murder as it lacks any higher thought. Nothing being destroyed is utterly irreplaceable in my view. My spiritual beliefs and views on abortion are not related however, I was always pro-choice before ever comtemplating anything spiritual. For the record I'm also a socialist, anti-death penalty and oppose all wars and violence beyond strict self defensive ones.
pro-life and i'm not concerned about religious-related things...
if women who had abortions only had them when they were raped or from an incestual relationship (which is basically another form of rape if it involves a father and his minor daughter, then a huge portion of the 1 million+ abortions would go down. over 20% of pregnancies end in abortion. i'm not sure if abortion could really be fully illegal because of concerns about rape and incest though. rape/incest may only count for 1% of abortions so abortions could just be a whole million less. i do think that those who are raped can just put the baby up for adoption though, but except for rape, these people having sex know what can happen. even for teenagers, they're at a healthy age to be pregnant, like in the past young teens used to commonly have children, and they even know a pregnancy can happen from having sex.
people having sex should know that contraception isn't perfect (no contraception says that it is) and that sex can lead to pregnancy and sexual intercourse is the only way a pregnancy can happen, so if people were really avoiding a pregnancy then how can it be true if they're doing the one thing that causes it? that's why, unless you're raped, there is no such thing as an unwanted pregnancy if someone is having sexual intercourse. even with protection, a pregnancy can still occur. although a couple is really trying to lessen a chance of a pregnancy, they're still intentionally putting that possibility at risk. for something as serious as the creation of a human life, it's only ingornace that would call a pregnacy unexpected. was a pregnancy that was a result of sexual intercourse really that unexpected? how can a pregnancy be disturbingly unwanted when a couple was intentionally having intercourse, which can lead to a pregnancy?
many people have little family values, little relationship values and little sexual values and abortion is only a result of a breakdown on these values..people have many choices before a pregnancy, like the person you're having sex with, the relationship situation you're having sex in, your life situation that you're having sex in (which can involve age, money, work/school, etc), the type of sex you're engaging in (intercourse, the only method that can cause pregnancy, as compared to oral sex, anal sex, masturbation, bondage, other kinky things), to discuss consequences with a partner or not, and to use protection or not, and except for some laws involving a minor, no other laws involve many of these choices, so the only law pro-life people are basically "anti-choice" about is abortion, which shouldn't even be considered a logical choice and people have so many choices to make before that situation. and of course once a woman is pregnant, then other choices can be made, like how involved the father will be (which obviously he should want to be automatically) and how together the couple wants to be, and poor choices like the father not wanting to deal with it can lead to an increase chance in abortion. if people made better decisions about sex, then abortions and pregnancies in non-committing relationships would happen a lot less
obviously, at conception, there's a new individual cell with its own unique DNA that no one will have ever again. and what's more is that all human beings have been this unique individual cell and that we've all been unborn children. how can we say an embryo isn't as alive when we've been that too? how can a woman be allowed to end her unborn child's life when it's most likely she was basically putting herself in a possible situation to get pregnant? her own child? although many people don't want to get pregnant when having sex, they know it can happen and really should take that seriously. in modern times, sexual desires are of more importance than a possible child's life, and unfortunately laws help support these backward values. just because a woman views her own child as unwanted shouldn't give her the right to terminate him/her.
I am a pro choice atheist, however being atheist has nothing to do with my pro choice view points. I was raised a Catholic and was always pro choice. I think a lot of it has to do with being a woman and not wanting to have my rights taken away. I have friends who have had abortions and it is a very emotional experience and something they will deal with for the rest of their lives. I respect everyone's views on this matter, however it is a WOMEN'S ISSUE. It really bothers me when men talk about abortion like they're the one that has to go through it. I do not believe that abortion should be used as a form of birth control, but safe abortion should be legal in a free country. Especially when the number one killer of women was botched back alley abortion before it became legal. I think people who kill doctors are crazy, they are not abortionists as they are called, they are simply OBGYN's that perform abortion. But it is still a sticky situation and will gladly talk about the issue with anyone who has a level-headed viewpoint on this issue.