"abortion is not a religious issue, as it is not a matter of faith or doctrine. Just because churches have policies on social issues such as abortion or Aboriginal affairs does not make these religious issues. Abortion is a human rights and women's health issue."

--- I wish people would accept that about Islam and Muslims too!

Big Al, presuming you are, as you say, 'pro-woman', would you/do you support abortion when the continuation of the pregnancy threatens the woman's life? Such as if she has a weak heart and the extra strain of pregnancy will damage her heart beyond repair?

Scout,
I support current NSW law:- abortions justified on the grounds of threatened health to the mother or baby. However the majority of abortions 20/1 are for matters of conveinence to abort perfectly healthy babies from healthy mothers.

Quote, "We all see things differently and there are those who believe that foetuses are more important than the well being of women..."

Big Al,
Good post! There are those that believe the prenatal baby is not human in an endeavour to salve their conscience from guilt after destroying a human life.
_______________________

It's surprising how many women joining the Church in their fifties +, who've had an abortion, come desiring a confession of feelings of guilt they have carried for that traumatic decision of their youth and want comfort and assurance of forgivness by God. They confess they have never forgiven themselves for that decision, as the child would now be 20 - 30 years old and part of their lives.

One Church my friends attend had one woman give her testimony how she found peace from years of carrying guilt. During those years she was antagonistic to the Church, had no contact with the church and did not want to either. Recently she joined that Church and that abortion experience was one thing she felt she had to confess to God as it had subconsciously worried her ever since.

Upon sharing her experience of finding reconciliation and peace 8 other women in that small congreation identified they had been carrying the same feelings of guilt but were not able to share. After shedding tears together they then asked for forgivness from God and through this shared experience was able to support each other and find peace.

Abortion is not a decision taken lightly that has no side effects on the self esteem of a woman. It is not the same as killing a cocaroach that we can easily forget. No! It's part of ourselves we are destroying, a part at the time we hated about ourselves. The result of our foolish decision or lack of judgment at the time.

Scout,

Just in case you didn't notice we are talking about abortion here, not about what damage humans do to the envrionment. That is a totally separate issue. No-one has the right to kill a baby just because there are too many humans around.

Here we are back on abortions.

People deciding what is and what is not human.

So lets cut the hyperbole and talk facts

Fact 1 an unfertilised egg and sperm are both of “human” origin and thus product resulting from the fusion of these two is likewise “human” but that does not make it a “baby”.

Fact 2 the unfertilised egg and sperm are not “dead”. They do not possess ”life” as such but they are active healthy cells capable of developing into a life form.

Fact 3 whilst it might be “human” and whilst it might be “healthy and capable of developing into a life form”, an egg unfertilised or a sperm, whilst being human, are not “independent life forms”.

When an egg is fertilised it is still not a “baby”.
It might be “works-in-progress” but not a "human baby".

Now an abortion debate based on the biology is not going to achieve anything.

Abortion is a conscious decision of human will intervening to override “biology”.

The question is at what point and who might have right to make that decision to intervene, or not.

We have a whole group of people who believe no one should have the right to make the decision. Unfortunately, these people are not held accountable for that opinion.

Then we have the majority of people who are supported by the law and believe

The decision is a private one, not a matter for public debate or inquisition.
The maker of the decision is accountable for the outcome of that decision.
Only those who are accountable should be involved in making any decision.

I don’t persecute anyone for their faith or view. However, I do not tolerate the idea that their faith or view should place expectations on me.

Supporting “choice” places individuals where they belong, at the pinnacle of the “social order” and not subordinate to someone else’s socio / political / religious view.


Philo “…result of our foolish decision...”

only through making decisions (good or bad and facing / living with the consequences) does anyone grow toward their potential.

hellothere

how is alan baker's article misleading??