About one in three women in the United States - varying in age, race, religion, and class - will have an abortion by the time she turns 45.

Chances are you know someone who has had an abortion. It could be your grandmother, your mother, your daughter, your sister-in-law, your aunt, your niece, your friend, your neighbor, your fellow parishioner at your place of worship, your college professor, your child's teacher.
So, I was wondering, do you go around calling all these women murderers? Do you tell them each time you see them how lowly you think of them? Do you tell them they're sluts and whores? That they're irresponsible? That they're heartless and cold and uncaring? That they hate babies and children?
What do you say to the women you know who have had an abortion?

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Until every woman, everywhere is able to easily access safe, legal, private, affordable abortions, for whatever reason, at any time, on demand, without interference from outside parties and most importantly - without apology or shame.

The fact that is is widespread does not at all make it right. If you're upset because pro-lifers tend to say those things, that is acceptable. No side, not even one as good and correct as pro-life, is right when it is spitting.

The fact of the matter is, abortion is murder. Killing an infant is murder. If you killed an infant as the mother was giving birth to it. If you killed an infant just before the woman gave birth to it, it would be murder. A week before? Murder. When do we draw the line, and if we can't, why do we assume that there's no line at all?

As for me? If I knew someone had had an abortion, my first thought would be "are you sorry about it"? If they weren't, then my second thought would be "is it possible you're going to get yourself in a situation where you would have another abortion?" If the answer to that was yes, then I'd ignore them for the rest of my life. To think that abortion is morally neutral in the first trimester, while not correct, has some reasoning behind it. To think that one should be able to do it multiple times, and not learn from one's mistake? Simple foolishness.

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Because in the absence of certainty, when choice and life are set at each others' throats in their bitter and terrible struggle, there can be only one victor. Life is all.

Edited: 11/01/2009 at 08:10 PM by Billson

What are you talking about? And who are you talking to?

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All unborn children are persons
Abortion is NOT LEGAL
Read the Constitution
Defend the Child

She was talking about the 35% of women who have had or will have an abortion. The millions of women whom you equate with heartless murderers.

Their numbers would not protect them from the horrors of their actual deed. It's wrong, regardless of how many people do it. I live in Oregon, and conservatives are like unicorns here, so I can say with great conviction that someone can be pro-choice and also a good person in every other way. Attacking someone is not a good way to win an argument, and it renders good points completly useless because people won't, and should not, listen to the opinions of jerks, but it's silly to say that an opinion is wrong because it casts a group of people in an unfavorable light.

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Because in the absence of certainty, when choice and life are set at each others' throats in their bitter and terrible struggle, there can be only one victor. Life is all.

Edited: 11/01/2009 at 09:02 PM by Billson

I often wonder that, given some of the behaviour and name calling present here.

As it is, when someone tells me they've had an abortion (in personal life, in professional I just have to stand there and ask "any complications? do you require counselling et al?), but yeah, in my personal life I often say "Oh, that's terrible, are you okay?"

Several of my friends, work mates and people I know have had abortions, and they know what I think of it, but since I don't think women who abort are murdering whores or irresponsible, I tend to believe they just made a bunch of stupid decisions and then didn't get the support they needed - hence their reason to abort. Its actually worse rates in NZL, its about 48 - 50% of women will abort, and 60% of those are having a repeat abortion.

I actually knew someone who didn't tell me she was pregnant because she was worried I'd talk her out of an abortion, after she had the aboriton, she told me and wished that she had told me.

As for family, if you met my family you'd know that abortion is an unlikely event - its a grand honour, and something we all brag about, that our Sittee (grandmother) got arrested outside the country's biggest abortion clinic when she was 70! She has the arrest record framed on her wall and all us youngin's love to hear the story at every chance! Especially when she throws in her Lebanese curse words about the scum who man-handled her.

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Cannot unsee.

Know Rule 34.

Edited: 11/01/2009 at 09:10 PM by Shenanigans

"I would tell those women that I am sorry for their loss. " I have lost 3 chidren to miscarriage and I understand missing a child who never got to call you mommy. Maybe our children are even playing together in heaven.
I believe that women who have abortions are victims of greedy abortion clinic owners who do not educate women well prior to them making a decision. That is why the abortion providers ( who are the murderers) fight any laws that show fetal development pictures or any information on fetal development. They do not want women to make educated choices or they may not make their money.
If they wanted to talk about it, I may ask them what circumstances were there that they felt they had NO CHOICE and had an abortion. I may ask them if the clinic offered help if they chose adoption or parenting. I may ask if they went to a Pregnancy help center who offers free maternity cloths, diapers, formula, and parenting classes
Since 93% of women regret their abortion. I may ask them how they feel about their abortion and if they regret feeling that they had to make that choice. I would try to find out if they feel like they did something unforgivable and tell them if they are sorry that Jesus already forgave them and now they need to learn to forgive themself. If they are interested I woudl help them find a post ablrtion councellor.

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Let the babies live and let the mothers love.
Hosea 4:6 My people will suffer for lack of knowledge

My ministry is Heaven's Gain www.heavensgain.com

The statistic was not given as a justification of abortion. It was given to show that you, more than likely, know someone (possibly even several women) who have had an abortion. And since you know someone who has had an abortion, what do you say to them? The same things that are routinely spewed forth on this forum, i.e. "murderer" and "whore" and "slut" and "cold" and "uncaring" and "heartless" and "baby/child-hater" and many more.

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Until every woman, everywhere is able to easily access safe, legal, private, affordable abortions, for whatever reason, at any time, on demand, without interference from outside parties and most importantly - without apology or shame.

Oh. Okay then. I treat people as individuals. Do you? Do you lump all pro lifers into one big right wing extremist pile? When have I said that all women who abort are heartless murderers? Are you looking at me when you say that? An individual person? Or are you looking at the whole pile?

I wouldn't call someone a murderer, unless I knew them to be one. I see lots of advocates of murder on this board. To me that's worse. It's perpetuating crimes against humanity. That's pretty despicable. I can't find bad enough words to describe you. "Murderer" doesn't quite cut it.

I only met one woman who admitted to me that she had had an abortion. I didn't call her a murderer. I was a little too stunned at the time. I only thought to myself how selfish she appeared when she said, "could you imagine if I had had that child! It would have ruined my life!" She seemed to give no thought whatever to what her child's life might have been. Or what that child's siblings might think about their brother or sister having been intentionally killed by their own mother.

She was the first person who made me really think about abortion, though, so I guess I can thank her for opening my eyes. And who knows, maybe she has woken up a little since then, too. I hope so. I hope you guys do too.

Heartless murderers.

-------------------------
All unborn children are persons
Abortion is NOT LEGAL
Read the Constitution
Defend the Child

With that said, do you call the pro-lifers you know "women haters" and "fundys" and "morons" and "anti-choicers" et al?

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Cannot unsee.

Know Rule 34.

May I be so bold as to ask what you do for a living?


I apologize for being American-centric. Thank you for sharing your country's statistics.

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Until every woman, everywhere is able to easily access safe, legal, private, affordable abortions, for whatever reason, at any time, on demand, without interference from outside parties and most importantly - without apology or shame.

I do not refer to them as such, because insulting someone does not, and cannot win them over.

We're not hypocrites. We believe what we believe. If my sister had an abortion, she would be a murderer, true. She would still be my sister, and I'd still love her, but no matter who does it, it's evil.

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Because in the absence of certainty, when choice and life are set at each others' throats in their bitter and terrible struggle, there can be only one victor. Life is all.

This is a blatant fallacy.



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Until every woman, everywhere is able to easily access safe, legal, private, affordable abortions, for whatever reason, at any time, on demand, without interference from outside parties and most importantly - without apology or shame.

I personally believe that the "pro-life" viewpoint is misogynistic. "Pro-lifers" may not directly say they hate women, but your goal is to control women's lives and bodies and this is misogynistic plain and simple. I know you say that you are only trying to save "babies," but in order to do that you require that women relinquish control over their lives and bodies to a third party.
I know that not all "pro-lifers" are morons and I know that not all "pro-lifers" are fundamentalists, therefore I refrain from making blanket statements with these references.
I do believe that all "pro-lifers" are anti-choice as your main goal is to take away the choice of abortion from women.

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Until every woman, everywhere is able to easily access safe, legal, private, affordable abortions, for whatever reason, at any time, on demand, without interference from outside parties and most importantly - without apology or shame.

Very funny. Asking us to believe anything on WebMD is like us asking you to believe World Net Daily.

-------------------------
All unborn children are persons
Abortion is NOT LEGAL
Read the Constitution
Defend the Child

Studies within the first few weeks after the abortion have found that between 40 and 60 percent of women questioned report negative reactions.3,23,35 Within 8 weeks after their abortions, 55% expressed guilt, 44% complained of nervous disorders, 36% had experienced sleep disturbances, 31% had regrets about their decision, and 11% had been prescribed psychotropic medicine by their family doctor.3

In one study of 500 aborted women, researchers found that 50 percent expressed negative feelings, and up to 10 percent were classified as having developed "serious psychiatric complications."10

Up to 33 percent of aborted women develop an intense longing to become pregnant again in order to "make up" for the lost pregnancy, with 18 percent succeeding within one year of the abortion.23,22,29 Unfortunately, many women who succeed at obtaining their "wanted" replacement pregnancies discover that the same problems which pressured them into having their first abortion still exist, and so they end up feeling "forced" into yet another abortion.

In a study of teenage abortion patients, half suffered a worsening of psychosocial functioning within 7 months after the abortion. The immediate impact appeared to be greatest on the patients who were under 17 years of age and for those with previous psychosocial problems. Symptoms included: self-reproach, depression, social regression, withdrawal, obsession with need to become pregnant again, and hasty marriages. 29

Women who would otherwise appear to have been satisfied with their abortion experience, are reported to enter into emotional crisis decades later with the onset of menopause or after their youngest child leaves home.6,21


Women who have undergone post-abortion counseling report over 100 major reactions to abortion. Among the most frequently reported are: depression, loss of self-esteem, self-destructive behavior, sleep disorders, memory loss, sexual dysfunction, chronic problems with relationships, dramatic personality changes, anxiety attacks, guilt and remorse, difficulty grieving, increased tendency toward violence, chronic crying, difficulty concentrating, flashbacks, loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities and people, and difficulty bonding with later children.23,24

Among the most worrisome of these reactions is the increase of self-destructive behavior among aborted women. In a survey of over 100 women who had suffered from post-abortion trauma, fully 80 percent expressed feelings of "self-hatred." In the same study, 49 percent reported drug abuse and 39 percent began to use or increased their use of alcohol. Approximately 14 percent described themselves as having become "addicted" or "alcoholic" after their abortions. In addition, 60 percent reported suicidal ideation, with 28 percent actually attempting suicide, of which half attempted suicide two or more times.24

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Let the babies live and let the mothers love.
Hosea 4:6 My people will suffer for lack of knowledge

My ministry is Heaven's Gain www.heavensgain.com

There are simply some things that shouldn't be a choice. Instead of focusing on making women equal the quick and easy way that sacrifices millions of innocent lives, we need to do it the hard way. Better healthcare, better sex education, better laws for forcing the male to take responsibility for someone that he helped to make.

Please, don't pretend that this is a matter of one group being against women, and one group being for women. We can just retort that this is about one group being for life, and one group being against it, and it sounds just as ridiculous to you as your statement does to us.

The issue of abortion is about what you view to be a person. We don't secretly think that it isn't, but say so so that we can oppress women. Half of us are women.

Part of the reason both sides in the abortion issue are at each others' throats is that both sides refuse to acknowledge that their opponent really thinks the way they do.

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Because in the absence of certainty, when choice and life are set at each others' throats in their bitter and terrible struggle, there can be only one victor. Life is all.

I will try and find the reference for that stat

-------------------------
Let the babies live and let the mothers love.
Hosea 4:6 My people will suffer for lack of knowledge

My ministry is Heaven's Gain www.heavensgain.com

How so?

Our board-certified physicians, award-winning journalists, and trained community moderators are solely dedicated to your daily information experience on WebMD. Our content staff includes individuals who hold advanced degrees in journalism, medical illustration, health communications, clinical informatics, nursing, and medicine.

Most of us at WebMD Health have spent our entire careers dedicated to helping people find the health and medical information, support, and services they need -- even before there was an Internet! We are dedicated to providing quality health information and to upholding the integrity of our editorial process.

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Until every woman, everywhere is able to easily access safe, legal, private, affordable abortions, for whatever reason, at any time, on demand, without interference from outside parties and most importantly - without apology or shame.

Links?

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Until every woman, everywhere is able to easily access safe, legal, private, affordable abortions, for whatever reason, at any time, on demand, without interference from outside parties and most importantly - without apology or shame.