I think most people who say that "abortion is murder" are actually speaking hyperbolically; if you ask them "so does that mean that every woman who has had an abortion ought to be doing twenty-to-life for infanticide?" most will start hemming and hawing. I think the proportion of Americans who want abortion to be treated exactly like murder, as it is in El Salvador (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/09/magazine/09abortion.html), is extremely small.

You would think this. Bizarrely, though, most pro-life people do not act as though they believe abortion is murder, and when some do, the others get uncomfortable looks.

The majority of the pro-life movement's rhetoric, while clouded in religious dogma about how wonderful life is, and when it starts, is really about punishing women for having sex. They feel, or at least agree with, the notion that women should bear the consequences of an unintended pregnancy as punishment for their implied promiscuity.

> The majority of the pro-life movement's rhetoric, while clouded in religious dogma about how wonderful life is, and when it starts, is really about punishing women for having sex.

Actually, it's not. That's just what many pro-choice people tell themselves to feel superior to "those people" and to avoid thinking about hard questions.

I'm one of the people who supposedly don't exist - I'm pro-abortion. However, I find the pro-life people to be generally more rational, thoughtful, and not nearly as petty and nasty. Yup, the pro-life people tend to be better people.

In other news, the bumper sticker/statement "mean people suck" is often self-applied by mean people.

>Actually, it's not. That's just what many pro-choice people tell themselves to feel superior to "those people" and to avoid thinking about hard questions.

Actually, no.

http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2006/03/21/why-its-dif...

While many pro-life people mean well, let's look at the linked article and see how their policies really add up.

Also, I'm with you: I'm pro-abortion.

I'm adopted.

My opposition to abortion is much more practical and self-serving in nature than punishment-based. If my mom had chosen abortion (which, given her circumstances, would have been likely) I wouldn't be around today.

I think you do a disservice when you paint the other side of a debate with a broad brush. It's easy to assign some simple rationale to your opponent and then make fun of them. It's called a straw man argument.

Life is more complicated than that.

(By the way, I'm pro-choice. I just vehemently think abortion is immoral murder which a woman should have a right to do if she wants)

The problem is that the most vocal opponents of abortion frequently favor causes like abstinence-only-education. Of course, the average pro-lifer cares much more about abortion than abstinence education, but the ones we hear on the radio seem to care equally.

>(By the way, I'm pro-choice. I just vehemently think abortion is immoral murder which a woman should have a right to do if she wants)

I'm quoting you because I'm with you, in the sense that I would prefer to avoid abortion, would like to reduce the number of abortions in this country, but believe its entirely a woman's right to choose, and it should not be stigmatized or deamonized as it is in this country.

Also, please check out this link, where its much better argued then it could be by my, that pro-life policies make more sense at punishing women for sex, than they do at actually reducing the abortion rate:

http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2006/03/21/why-its-dif...

I think you're taking my position further than I do.

I have no problem with demonizing the procedure or the women involved. People have a right to do immoral things in this country. I would never take away their freedom to do so simply because they are immoral. But I also have a right to shout from the rooftops at how evil and twisted a practice it is.

The law is not about right and wrong. It's about the minimum number of rules we need to get along with each other. Simply because I think it should be legal and I would fight to the death to support it doesn't mean that I agree with it or promote it. In fact, quite the opposite.

I apologize if I seemed to be putting words in your mouth, then. Thank you for clarifying your position. I like how you state that the law is the "minimum number of rules we need to get along with each other". To me, that is an interesting concept I shall think on more.