It's used in legislation because, although incorrect and not the method used for all late-term abortions, it tugs the most at the ol' heartstrings.
I think that being able to consider your opinion as not written in stone, and possibly change it when new information is available, is the sign of an intelligent, thinking person.At this point, my belief system might be changing. I used to belive in pro-choice except late term abortions. Now, I am considering full abortions all the time, but I am a bit more on the fence with regards to that. It depends on how invasive the procedure is. Like I made an analogy earlier in this thread, I wouldn't support someone being forced to do a b lood tranfusion to save a life, so logically I think it mostly follows I wouldn't support a mother carrying a baby to term to save a life (the baby's). But as I said, my opinion on this specific subset of abortion is in flux.
The world is not black-and-white, either-or. It is nuanced and shaded, and in terms of moral dilemmas there is no one-size-fits-all answer. There are many legitimate reasons why a late-term abortion might be necessary. There are also many reasons why a society would be interested in protecting life via their legal system. As the NPR article I referenced stated, late-term abortions are extremely rare and a fraction of 1% less than all procedures. The vast, vast majority of them are done for legitimate medical reasons. I suspect that any woman wanting to abort a 7-month-gestational-age fetus would have an extremely difficult, if not impossible, time finding a physician to do the procedure.ok, thanks for clarifying. I still think that's a bit of a copout. One should either stand up for what they believe or not. If you truly think a baby at that stage is a baby and basically a human moments from being born, (remember my hypothetical), I am not sure why you wouldn't want to put a stop to it. (unless you take a similar position to myself, in that you think the womans bodily autonomy trumps all other considerations, which is a fair argument)
I think your take on body autonomy is very valid and I agree with it. You're right; we don't force ppl to donate blood or organs because we respect personal autonomy. Why then do some think it is okay to involve government when it comes to a female's body?
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