Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan I am wondering if you World Eventers think there is any way at all that as a nation we'll ever move beyond this devisive issue in politics? To me, this is the one issue that seems to have almost no middle ground, and for many people, it is their key issue, superceding everything else in importance. They use this issue in deciding which party to be affiliated with (or distance themselves from) and even at a local level, it is the issue that they use to decide who to support for the water board (I'm stretching the point, but not by much). Will this forever be THE issue in American politics? Can it ever be settled in a way that most people can accept? Is it the most important issue to you personally, and if so, why?
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<Will this forever be THE issue in American politics?>> Probably. <<Can it ever be settled in a way that most people can accept?>> I really doubt it. <<Is it the most important issue to you personally, and if so, why?>> No, it is not. I personally oppose it and think it is the taking of a human life. But I DON'T feel I have the right to impose my opinion on others. As long as there is no certainty on when an embryo becomes a human life, I feel my opinion is just that. An opinion.
Originally Posted By friendofdd I do not see it going away and it will always be devisive because there is no true middle ground between believing it is taking a human life and believing embryos are not yet human life. I do think it might be less divisive if the laws were on a state by state basis.
Originally Posted By TomSawyer I think the abortion issue can be resolved if there is ever a legislative decision to make it legal or illegal. I think a huge part of the problem is that it is legal because of a Supreme Court decision, not because of any legislative action or referendum. Polls consistently show that most Americans support the right for women to terminate their pregnancies, at least on some level - maybe not as birth control, but certainly in cases of rape or incest. Since the decision was made by a court, the view of a court nominee on abortion is very important to some because they think that the court can criminalize it again with the right mix of jurists. I think it will be settled at some point, either because of a general shift in society or because technology renders the issue moot. I think the idea of focusing on certain parties as being for or against abortion is a more a matter of whether or not you believe a party's own spin on the issue. There are a lot of GOP candidates who are pro-choice, and there are a lot of Democrats who are pro-life (including the Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid).
Originally Posted By wahooskipper I don't think that is a valid comparison though I hope you are right.
Originally Posted By jdub I don't see people ever coming together on this. Legislation one way or another hasn't so far changed what people feel in their hearts & minds about the issue.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>or because technology renders the issue moot<< I wonder, though. There is the "morning after" pill, and even that is controversial, and some view it as a form of abortion.
Originally Posted By tiggertoo <<Will this forever be THE issue in American politics?>> At least for a while. <<Can it ever be settled in a way that most people can accept?>> If they come to a point where tube tying or vasectomies are cheap, risk free, and easily reversible, the abortion issue won’t matter much anyhow (unless you’re Catholic of course). So yeah, I think it can be settled in some form. <<Is it the most important issue to you personally, and if so, why?>> Not really. The is a religious issue and I feel comfortable with working out my own salvation.
Originally Posted By schoolsinger >>>Will this forever be THE issue in American politics? Can it ever be settled in a way that most people can accept?<<< If abortion gets banned for a long enough time, I imagine the pro-choice people would eventually get over it. But as long as abortion is legal there will ALWAYS be people who hate it because it kills humans. >>> Is it the most important issue to you personally, and if so, why?<<< Yes! In a country where there are more people who want to adopt than people there are kids to adopt, I don’t get why anyone in their right mind would choose to kill their child over putting it up for adoption. Any society that thinks it is OK to kill humans for the sake of personal convenience is sick. This is also the issue the shows how stupid the Supreme Court is. The Forth Amendment says, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.†But the incompetent Supreme Court thinks that mean mothers have the right to kill their unborn children. Do you see that anywhere in the Forth Amendment? I sure don’t! As a matter of fact, I can’t find anything even close to that in the whole Constitution.
Originally Posted By FaMulan If abortion gets banned for a long enough time, I imagine the pro-choice people would eventually get over it.<< I think there are many women who view Roe v. Wade as a sovereignty issue. Women have and should have the right to decide what they want to do with their own body, not have it dictated to them by a male-dominated society. I fervently hope women don't use abortion as birth control, and use some other form, but women do and will have abortions. They did before Roe v. Wade when abortion was legal and died in droves in back-alley abortion clinics. Now, at least they can have the prodecure in a hospital where it's a bit safer than an illegal clinic.
Originally Posted By jdub Uhm, fellers? I don't think this thread was meant to be yet another circular is-it-or-isn't-it-okay discussion. The thesis of the thread is, I think, pretty clear. Not that we didn't just KNOW this was bound to happen...
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA <If abortion gets banned for a long enough time, I imagine the pro-choice people would eventually get over it> Interesting that you'd think they'd get over it. What would probably happen is we'd go back to the days of women having to get abortions at some seedy clinic with a 'doctor' who doesn't know what he's doing. Like what FaMulan describes. And it's interesting that those in favor of 'no abortion' will also add on that 'well, except in cases of...' and there's a list of what the inappropriate pregnancies are.
Originally Posted By TiggerRulz >>In a country where there are more people who want to adopt than people there are kids to adopt, I don’t get why anyone in their right mind would choose to kill their child over putting it up for adoption.<< Really, then why are there tens (hundreds?) of thousands of children in foster care and group homes? Now if you said when there are more people willing to adopt healthy white babies.... I don't think we will ever see abortion illegal in this country (it's my understanding that all that overturning Roe v Wade would do would be to turn the issue back to the states) as a result you would have some states allowing it, others not. Which means middle/upper class women would be allowed to have safe legal abortions, and poor women in states with a ban would resort to back alley procedures.
Originally Posted By TomSawyer I don't think you can ban abortions without increasing access to birth control options. That would be cruel and irresponsible.
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 "If abortion gets banned for a long enough time, I imagine the pro-choice people would eventually get over it. But as long as abortion is legal there will ALWAYS be people who hate it because it kills humans." Yeah, I'm not so sure about that. It's obvious that those who are pro-life have not gotten over it. I doubt pro-choice folks would either. Especially if it being illegal resulted in back-alley abortions and self mutilations. I do really hope that the country can get over this hurdle and not focus on it as the single issue in deciding on a candidate or political party.
