"No one likes abortion, and I hope one day that no one needs to have one..."
In that case, why allow it?"

I don't much fancy chemotherapy or a host of other medical procedures either. I'd love the world to be a place where no one ever needed those treatments. In the mean time they are better than the alternative.

I've yet to meet someone who was strongly anti-abortion who truly valued all human life. The ones who not only valued the foetus inside someone but valued those already formed and born humans dying from a lack of basics that we could provide. I've yet to meet an anti-abortionist who gives and gives and gives to those who are already clearly human lives with a passion you want us to believe you hold for a foetus.

I suspect most of you who claim to believe that all human and potential human life deserves the right to life still decide a coffee or a trip to the movies or some other day to day trivia is more important than the life that $5 or $10 might save in other parts of the world. You may give but very few of you give as though you really believe that all "human" life is sacred.

Any reason why the foetus inside someone else's womb is more important that the person dying in another country for lack of an injection or clean water (http://filterpurefilters.org/donate.htm)?

R0bert

Quite right RObert.

If we can't even manage to feed and house all the children already born in the world right now, what hope would we have of dealing with the forced pregnancies and unwanted babies you want to 'save' Gadfly?

Far better we prevent unwanted pregnancies from happening in the first place...

The Catholic Church is the largest group that opposes abortion. It has a very good record for helping people in developing countries. There is a Vatican Cardinal in charge of these works. This is a very important work of the Church. Many pro-life people are also contributors to appeals for the needy.

But regardless of these things helping the most vulnerable people in society (infants in the womb) is a very important work also. If you are going to accuse pro-life people of being indifferent to the plight of needy people in Australia and overseas you are making a big mistake.

It's easy to get off on the wrong foot here and get too concerned about the pregnant woman in dire straits. Many abortion candidates are materialistic people who put their own convenience ahead of the right of their unborn child to live. Very often it is the person in dire straits who is most determined that her child will be born alive.

It's a woman's own choice Gadfly, no matter what her circumstances.
That's why it was voted in as legal many years ago.
You need to move on.

@R0bert
"I don't much fancy chemotherapy or a host of other medical procedures either..."
This mentality sees pregnancy as a disease. Interesting.

"Any reason why the foetus inside someone else's womb is more important that the person dying in another country for lack of an injection or clean water."
All sorts of people need help. See this:
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/pakistan/130310/arrests-made-pakistan-christian-neighborhood-atta

That word "choice" is a "catch all" in any debate about abortion. If a particular parliament can vote for "choice" now a future parliament can vote against it. Therefor one is in a "no man's land" where rights depend upon temporary majorities in a parliament. I think that it is best if one arrives at a position from fundamental principles. I believe that eventually a future parliament will vote to allow abortion as a last resort when there is some sort of serious physical condition in the mother. That may not satisfy both sides but be a compromise for both sides. Parliamentary debates are not decided by logic but by "the numbers". If you have "the numbers" you can do as you like. The late Senator Pat Kennelly said' "It's good to have the logic but better to have the numbers". In terms of any issue such a situation is a recipe for disaster. Any society that accepts that sort of situation for a long period will eventually get into serious trouble, morally, economically and militarily. Important questions of government cannot be resolved satisfactory if the outcome depends upon "the numbers"