Part of what horrified me so much as to start rethinking my reluctantly pro-choice position was the realization that even though birth control is readily available, there are women who think that abortion is a better choice. A couple of choice tidbits from a Los Angeles Times article about an Arkansas abortion doctor:

His first patient of the day, Sarah, 23, says it never occurred to her to use birth control, though she has been sexually active for six years. When she became pregnant this fall, Sarah, who works in real estate, was in the midst of planning her wedding. "I don't think my dress would have fit with a baby in there," she says.

The last patient of the day, a 32-year-old college student named Stephanie, has had four abortions in the last 12 years. She keeps forgetting to take her birth control pills. Abortion "is a bummer," she says, "but no big stress."

"Fetuses are not babies"

They are in California. If you intentionally kill a fetus, except with the consent of the mother, it's murder. I know of a case where two sheriff's deputy were sent to prison after causing a fetal death, while blasting a pregnant woman with a shotgun in the belly. (They started this tragedy by calling in a false 911 call so that they would have probable cause to kick in the door to look for drugs. No drugs found.)

And we all know that California is run by the Religious Right.

Mr. Cramer, I am amazed to hear that argument from you. Every single liberty we have is abused by some people. Abuse by some is not a good reason to eliminate or restrict that liberty for everyone.

I believe abortions should be legal. I do think abortions should be rare, as every one is the loss of a potential member of society, but there are some cases in which an abortion may be the least bad decision. In aggregate, I think we're far better off with individuals making the decision as they go than we are handing over that decision to the federal or state government.

For an interesting exercise, Google Sunsara Taylor. You'll find that her work for abortion rights is just the tip of the iceberg. This woman is a world class asshatted moonbat.

No woman with a moral compass can have an abortion, and not be profoundly guilt-stricken.

Removing the 'stigma' of abortion requires a series of lies:
1. That you didn't make your choice to roll the dice when you had sex.
2. That no sexual restraint is ever necessary, anyway.
3. That the fetus they have vacuumed out would not become the same sort of child they see so many other people enjoying the company of.

There are more lies one would have to accept, but that's enough for now.

I have always said, like capital punishment, war and bankruptcy; abortion is an ugly thing, but it also sometimes a *necessary* thing. And so, to me, balancing all the various issues, the best public policy is to allow it.

But yeah, count me with those in favor of keeping the stigma, such as it is, and for it to be as rare as possible.

But, I am also a believer is wonders of technology in overcoming the many downsides of the "human condition". And I think that only way to escape this intractable debate is the development of artificial wombs. (In fact, this option was discussed in more depth in Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan books.) Basically, a fetus is legally a person from day one, and if the mother doesn't want to bear it, then it will be transferred to the artifical womb for gestation to full term - initially at the state's expense. Both the mother and the father (if he can be found) are on the hook for child support up to 18. Puts the men and the women more on the same footing, eh?

(more) Of course, a woman who abandons her baby this way is cut off - she has no custodial rights later - she has disowned this child. And the father has the option of affirming his intent to be a custodial father independently of whatever the mother does. Makes things more fair all around.

Dfenstrate, do you truly intend to argue that every single woman who has had an abortion and not been wracked with guilt is a sociopath? Women who have had abortions would typically reject all of the lies you presented. However, are the consequences of an abortion any greater than the consequences of birth control? Either way, sexual restraint isn't as necessary and there are fewer children in the world.

The only honest argument I've heard in opposition to abortion without also rejecting all birth control is that a fetus is a full person with all the rights that go with that. Sincerely pushing for that is very challenging, since it means 1/4 of American women should be in prison for murder. That figure alone suggests the majority of Americans do not believe a fetus is a full person.

Abortion should be alegal. That is, there should be no laws addressing it.

Failing that, it should be a crime to perform an abortion, inkeeping with the murder/pregnancy laws.

And yes, I know that people will still have abortions. And that these might be dangerous "back-alley" abortions. So what? If you can roll the dice with irresponsibility once, you can do it again.