I just cited a fact, a personal testimony, and you reduce it to nothing but a "sentiment?" It was reality, in fact.
Yes, you do. If the fire is comprised of thousands of people lighting a match and letting it go out, the proper response if you want to see less fire is to hold a fire prevention class. You are a major exception and you know it. Very few people wait until they are married and why should they if they do not share your morals and values? The real point is that they should be highly educated as to the most effective ways to avoid an unplanned pregnancy (and STDs too, /tangent). The key to contraceptives is using them PROPERLY. I would love to run an experiment in which high school aged boys and girls have to properly put a condom on. My suspicion is that a significant number of them would not be able to complete the task or would break the condom. In addition, there are so many good contraception options that are easy to use and highly effective that we should not have an unplanned pregnancy issue in this country. That leads me to believe that it is not the options that have failed, but the education as to what the options are and how to use them.
The sentiment I referred to was "If I can, anyone can." That's just not not true at all, by any objective measurement or standard or sensibility. Thus my statement, and my pragmatism.
You are right "criminalizing" is loaded but in this case it is apt as the fault between Pro-Choice and Pro-Life is whether having an abortion is a crime. I apologize if I have unfairly stereotyped your position and I can see that you have put a lot of thought into it and it is nuanced. There is a basic difference here though that has to come down to how much abortion is legal.
Is it ever tough being you? Like, are there a bunch of other people who think like you do, or are you totally alone in this? It seems obvious, but articulating is hard, and for some reason seems to fall on deaf-er ears than I would expect. Because I wish there was more like this in the public discourse. Thank you, as always. You represent 'faith' in a really dignified and morally grounded way. In an era in which faith has a really really bad rap, to my mind often justified, you make it seem like a noble and inspired mindset. Cornel West and others can write and think that. I never understand why more don't.
I don't know if I am pro-life, that represents a movement and I don't know what all they represent or how they behave. I am against abortion. But who couldn't say that if they could create a perfect world where there would be no need for or an occurance of abortion? I don't know any 'pro-choice' people who favor abortion for the sake of the procedure itself. It is usually supported in defense of the decision the mother makes. I empathize with that view in light of the cases of hardship, especially with the poor and the very young. I cannot imagine why a Christian would favor back ally abortions or women dying in pregnancy. I don't think a legalization of abortion or a ban of abortion is a good solution to this issue. But that is all we seem satisfied with. To me that makes it our fault. I once preached a sermon that abortion was the fault of Christians. The better solutions are in between the extremes. For years we had a ban. Now we have swung across to the opposite side and we have abortion on demand. Neither is a good solution. There is a nation that has a one child policy, they have heavy fines, they pressure women to have abortions and in my understanding force sterilizations. This could happen here in the US, and it would be a great tragedy. Yes, I believe it could happen here. Abortion is used as birth control already. I am standing in the middle willing to find a way to reduce abortions and improve women's health. My conscience will not let me see any good in terminating a live baby before birth unless it saved the life of the mother, and my conscience certainly won't let me turn my head away from the young mothers in our area who face severe trauma due to unwanted pregnancies. I am doing all I can about this where I live, but it is just a very little thing in the bigger picture. Though if we all stopped debating and each of us did a very little thing, we could make a bigger difference for the good of all. It probably can't happen in D&D, but I would like to see an organization of both pro-life and pro-choice work to develop a reduction in abortions for good reasons.
trust me, he walks the walk. i know i've been made fun of here for my love of madmax, but he's truly a great guy. having been around him for our little league season, the care he has for those less fortunate and the willingness to help them out was very inspiring. i'm a better person for knowing him and his family.
Of course but in my analogy the fire is compared to an actual pregnancy. After someone is already pregnant is not the time to talk about pregnancy prevention, it's time to talk about life and death issues if they are considering an abortion. People seem to want to sidetrack me from the life and death issue of abortion and would rather me focus on sex education. That's fine and dandy but babies are dying every day from abortion procedures so it's never improper to be talking about life and death as it regards "choice".
I daresay that none do. All we get from a back-alley abortion is the same number of dead babies and a few butchered or dead mothers. No one wants that, but is the only alternative to have state-sanctioned abortions?
I don't think it "improper," just ultimately unproductive. I believe that if we replaced the significant amount of time, effort, and money spent on this issue with a discussion about the best ways to reduce unwanted pregnancies, we would actually have an impact on abortion numbers.
I might add I know alot of people who do what you suggest and more -who are what we call 'church' often, 'church' is run down like they all are just like the millionaires on religious TV shows good points MM
Yes, it is. Every medical procedure carried out in this country must be done in a licensed facility by reputable medical personnel. What we should be doing is trying to reduce the number of abortions performed.
Not loaded at all. Do you think abortion should be a crime or not? If you do, then you really don't agree with my position that it is a decision only the woman and her doctor(s) are qualified to make.
I agree but babies are dying today, tomorrow and the next day... thus my focus on what I see as the reality of abortion. Pamphlets and seminars and free birth control won't stop those tragedies immediately before us.
I'm not even sure that you read this article Gladiator. If you had, I'm sure you'd agree at the absurdness through out this "study" by two econimists.
No, pamphlets, seminars, and free birth control will only stop the tragedies that have yet to happen, you know, the ones that can actually be prevented. Your statement here is a perfect example of what I point out to pro-lifers all the time. If your energy was spent on the unwanted pregnancies that have yet to happen, you would be making an impact right now.
