Excellent counterpoints... I'll have to look into the carnage propaganda angle. I knew I shouldn't have gotten involved in this one, but... if we all learn something... all the better. So I will forge on...
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Planning to kill another human being is always a horrible agonizing decision, but that shouldn't change the fact that it is illegal. Do we release killers because they made a tough decision or do we punish them because they carried it out?
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However, there is not malicious intent on the part of these mothers as there is with people that get locked up for shooting someone. And at the moment it's not illegal. To put these women in the same basket as the worst that our society has to offer is IMO, unconscionable. You might be able to make that argument in the case of the doctor... but to demonize young desperate women is taking things too far.
Also, to imply that ALL abortions are out of 'convenience" is a misrepresentation of the facts. I'm not about to suggest that it doesn't happen, but as with most things, blanket generalizations do a disservice to the debate. Not everyone lives in a perfect June Cleaver world. And for some who do, the pressure not to embarrass the family with a scandalous pregnancy can be overwhelming. For those that don't live quite that well, there are abusive fathers, husbands and boyfriends to contend with.
But the issue is larger than that. To my understanding, the neo-cons and Republicans would like to remove or defund most of the social programs that these less fortunate women will need to care for a child born to an otherwise unfit mother. So tell me, what would we do with the 40 million babies, a large portion of whom would be born to drug users and chronic alcoholics? Who is going to pay for their welfare? It's a case of wanting your cake and eating it too. There are many other social factors that feed into this issue and to isolate this issue from them is not realistic. Are there 40 million people ready to adopt these kids? If there aren't what do you do with them all? Orphanages? Who will make sure that the special needs of these children will be met and at what cost? The crack babies that ARE born are a huge drain on our social safety nets. How would we handle even 5 million more, 1 million... I'm not justifying the act, I'm saying there are many interconnected issues that need to be dealt with before or at the same time to ensure that these kids HAVE a social safety net when they do arrive. Not doing so would IMHO, be just as irresponsible. Perhaps we could have the abortion opponents sign a registry stating that they will be responsible for the life they've saved. If they are so passionate about this, perhaps it should be solely up to them to care for these unfortunate children. Are you willing to accept personal responsibility for 40 million children?
My concern here is that once it is made illegal that you all will dust off your hands, pat each other on the back and walk away. Problem solved, right? Given that most of the anti-abortion crowd are also the republican/small government crowd, you will then (perhaps unwittingly) elect Representatives that will systematically strip away the very social safety nets that these women and kids will need to become responsible, productive members of society.
As much as you would like to make this a simple cut and dried issue, it's not, it's systemic. It involves every sector of our society.
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And stop with the poor poor, tug at the heartstrings stories. They are for the most part lies and if a woman makes a decision that costs her her life, it is her decision. As you said, we can't stop people from making stupid choices.
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Fair enough, but what if the person is not a woman, what if it's a child of 15, 16, 17... They don't yet have the skills set to deal with adult decisions like this. So you condemn them to death and justify it as "they got what they deserved"? What if that child see no other way out than to commit suicide, taking both her and the baby from this earth? Did she deserve it?
If ALL human life is sacred as most who share your views claim... how can you just turn your back? It's her decision? Now you're treading back into a grey area again. Now I put to you that you are stepping near the line of hypocrisy. Speaking of which, did you support the Iraq war? Is it permissible to extinguish the life of tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis to bring down a dictator we had a beef with? And don't drag "he killed more of his own people than we did", into it. That blood was on HIS hands, not ours. How many children have died in the invasion? Where is your outcry for them? Is state sponsored killing ok? Should we outlaw alcohol because too many people are killed by drunk drivers who found it more convenient to drive home than to call a friend or a taxi? I know, I'm reaching on that one, but my point is, this isn't a perfect society, and it never will be. But these questions must be answered before we bring 40 million uneanted, at risk children into this society.
All I'm trying to say is, that if you want to tackle abortion, you had best be prepared to fix a HUGE range of other social issues that feed into it. Are you up to that task too? Believe me, I would prefer that no one died needlessly. But we must be realistic in finding a solution. My concern is that you are trying to solve a problem at it's final stage while ignoring all the all the factors that led to it. I just think your efforts would be better spent making sure those problems are dealt with so that the decision to abort doesn't even have to come up.
Now then, after I do some checking on your statement that the scenario I first proposed (and I have personal anecdotal evidence of girls dying from "back alley" abortions) are lies, I will, if need be, remove my foot from my mouth and bow out of this topic. However, if your assertion plays out to be an attempt to discredit that information for the benefit of your own propaganda, then I will stand by my reasoning.
Whatever the case, please don't present this issue as black and white. It's not. And that is why the debate rages on.