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> …the entire time? Umm ... well, maybe. My views on this are definitely coloured by having three kids, but watching the process of creating new humans starti

> …the entire time? Umm ... well, maybe. My views on this are definitely coloured by having three kids, but watching the process of creating new humans starting off with a discussion about "shall we try and start a family", the next bit <cough>, a result on a test kit, the highs and lows of pregnancy, feeling your unborn first child kicking along to music in my wife's almost comically round tummy while we sat in a concert hall a few weeks before the big day .. .. through to revising algebra and geometry at the breakfast table with my eldest this morning prior to an end of term maths test. > The fetus’ body is not the mother’s body Indeed, although the fetus survives due to the cord that connects them. I've personally been in the room for all our three kids' births, cut the cord for two of them. #1 needed the doctors in a hurry after his birth, I just sat out of the way, watching in awed and stunned silence. Life is wonderful, and complicated, and at times messy and confusing. Sometimes just downright awful. Pregnancy is some or indeed all of those. Like everything we do there are edge cases and I don't think we should design our societies to leave anyone feeling they are left with no choices. "Look after those who can't look after themselves" is something that goes beyond the technical discussion of when is a fetus viable, I've spent enough time feeding and changing babies to know that just because they can breathe unaided it doesn't mean they can survive unaided. TL;DR: I would be just as uncomfortable with a complete ban on abortion as I would be with unlimited easy access to it without any time limits.

divided 4y ago
I admire that you have such a loving connection to your children. And I get what you mean with survival, it’s a commonly discussed point in these debates. I think for the pro-choice side, if the technology existed to incubate outside the womb or to transplant from one person to another who wanted to give birth, we’d be for it. We are not pro-termination. But when it comes to the pregnant person’s autonomy, that takes precedence. After viability and birth, others besides the mother and father can care for the child. And society owes its children that. I believe the vast majority of pro-choice supports a limit at viability except when the mother’s life is in danger. Only 1% of abortions happen in the third trimester and nearly all of those are due to a threat to the mother’s life. On the other side, I believe the majority of pro-life supporters want a complete ban. If your beliefs are between the extremes, I think only one side represents that.

divided 4y ago

I admire that you have such a loving connection to your children. And I get what you mean with survival, it’s a commonly discussed point in these debates. I think for the pro-choice side, if the technology existed to incubate outside the womb or to transplant from one person to another who wanted to give birth, we’d be for it. We are not pro-termination. But when it comes to the pregnant person’s autonomy, that takes precedence. After viability and birth, others besides the mother and father can care for the child. And society owes its children that. I believe the vast majority of pro-choice supports a limit at viability except when the mother’s life is in danger. Only 1% of abortions happen in the third trimester and nearly all of those are due to a threat to the mother’s life. On the other side, I believe the majority of pro-life supporters want a complete ban. If your beliefs are between the extremes, I think only one side represents that.