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November 2011 Moms
Here's a hot button issue
Do you find that your opinion on abortion has changed as a result of being pregnant/having kids? How?
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Here's a hot button issue
My opinion on abortion hasn't changed. I don't feel like I can make those kinds of choices for other women. Although, I don't agree with people using it for "birth control" I can't say I feel comfortable telling them they can't.
However, I most certainly believe that life begins at conception. I wasn't sure on the conception/ birth debate until I became pregnant.
Being pregnant hasn't really changed my mind at all. I started pro-life and still am.
However, a good friend of mine had an unexpected pregnancy a couple months ago and decided to terminate it. I thought it was awfully brave of her to tell a pregnant woman (who she knows has always been pro-life) about her abortion, but I supported her because her mind was made up and she felt that was the best decision for her. The laws are the way they are, and I don't see them changing anytime soon, so I think the best thing we can do is to just support people regardless in their time of need. Maybe pregnancy has made me more empathetic to that? I'm not sure how I would have reacted pre-pregnancy so can't say for sure.
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Shawn and Larissa
LO #1 - Took 2 years and 2 IVFs ~ DX - severe MFI mild PCOS homozygous MTHFR (a1298c)
LO #2 - TTC 7 months, surprise spontaneous BFP!
I still believe that people should accept responsibility for their actions - being prepared for the possible consequences when they decide to be sexually active. I still believe abortion is morally wrong. I still believe early abortion should not be prohibited by law, nor should the morning after pill, etc. I still think there are few compelling arguments for late term abortions - if something is wrong and the baby won't survive, induce and let the baby go naturally, don't kill it inside the mom. Rape is still a gray area for me in some ways, though I am still certain that if I were raped, I would carry the baby and see it as the one good thing that came out of something terrible. I don't think I could even give it up for adoption.
That said, what has changed is that I can understand why some would choose it, at least a very early one. If you don't believe life begins at conception (for me, biologically, life beginning when the heart starts beating or when brain waves start flowing is a reasonable argument), I can now REALLY understand what pregnancy does to a woman, how very long that 9 months is, etc. I never could wrap my mind around that before. It seemed much more cut and dry. But be nauseous for 3-5 months (or more) and you start to understand that pregnancy can be a challenge, even when you want it badly.
I still disagree with the method that most [vocal] pro-life groups have chosen to go about reducing abortion. I think there are far better ways, and legislation is a terrible idea. Supporting young women in their choices, educating them (and young men) and even providing them access to affordable birth control are all good ways to do it. I think people on both sides of the right/wrong/legal/illegal debate agree that abortion is not the best way to prevent unwanted births. It's not a good thing by anyone's definition - just one that some find to be unavoidable given their circumstances.
My 2 cents!
Yes I've changed my stance on abortion and probably not in the direction most woman do. I used to be staunchly pro-life. I couldn't even fathom why someone would make that choice when there are other options. Since being pregnant and, more importantly, since becoming a mother, I am still 100% sure its not a decision I would make but I can see how others come to that decision. Being a parent has made me a lot more open minded about other people and their experiences in life.
It has only reaffirmed my position that abortion/pregnancy is a personal choice that our government has no business deciding on behalf of anyone. I've always been a very big supporter of the pro-choice movement, and will continue to be. Women never have been, and never will be, to me, just a vessel for human life. Every baby should be a wanted one.
This.
No, pregnancy/having a child has not changed my opinion on abortion. I have always been pro-choice. Like others have stated, I don't view abortion as a form of "birth control," but I do know there are many, many circumstances in which that route is the right one for certain people. I don't think it's any of my business what other women choose to do in that situation and I cannot fathom how anyone thinks it is THEIR right to choose for those women.
Also, I cannot in my wildest dreams understand why anyone would NOT support abortion in the case of rape. That is the ultimate nightmare crime (short of murder) for a woman. To tell her she should keep a baby after going through that is completely INSANE and even inhumane, imo.
All of this exactly. I fell madly in love with my baby the second I got my BFP. I could not have fathomed that feeling prior to getting pregnant. I was skeptical on the conception = new life idea until then.
No change. I have always been pro-choice and continue to be.
I am not sure what my opinion would be called. I believe that women have a choice and should, but I also get more than infuriated when a PG is terminated for no reason....just a form of birth control. But then again I am not walking in their shoes, so I keep my nose out of it, just cry quietly to my self.
My first PG was the result of a rape, she will be 11 on the 6th of November and being that we had and still have no idea what the genetic make up holds for her we have been blindsided by many issues. My beautiful blessing has several special needs issues, but she is my light in the dark. I was hounded repeatedly by family during the PG to terminate since I was only 19 at the time and had health conditions that were a threat to us both, but I didn't feel I had that right, She was given life, so I felt that she was meant to be part of mine and I couldn't imagine things with out her. I put my PG, and her life in God's hands and he saw us through all the difficulties we faced during the PG. I went to counseling early on and dealt with my feelings of violation, and after wards never saw her as anything but a product of God's love. She is an angel and every one in my family has apologized many times over for ever thinking she would be anything but a joy. I love all of my angels and wouldn't change any of my choices for any thing in this world. I have been told that each PG puts that much more strain on my heart and each one has been increasingly more dangerous, but they were all surprises yet welcomed happily. I have also worked in a public health department and seen 15 year old girls come in PG as the product of rape, and I totally understood where they were coming from when they chose to end their PG. I have seen women with health conditions that chose to end the PG for the sake of not risking their lives so they could be around to care for the LO they already had, I understand that as well. So as much as I hate the subject and the act of what it actually does, I think in some cases it is very much warranted if not necessary.
this is how I feel exactly.
This for me. Every baby should be a wanted one.
DS born via unplanned C-section at 40w6d
This!
DMoney will be a kickass big sister
Same as this.