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Is the question of abortion of public interest?

There is a common misconception about abortion because many men (and women too!) argue that the decision is not a private matter but it is of public interest.

Sure, there are a lot of things that are in need of social regulation because they are of public interest, like pollution or driving while drunk, or corrupt politicians, or the tax system...
But abortion is not one of them

Two hundred years ago people thought that masturbation was of public interest and needed regulation, that's why they tied boys at night so that they could not touch their private parts (BTW the main driving force behind this madness was not the Church, who considered masturbation a minor sin, but medical doctors).

Today many people think that abortion is of public interest, but it is not. It would be if, say, Americans were a little tribe on the brink of extinction, so that every women had to get as many babies as possible in order to save the community.

But there is not shortage of babies. Whether men or women masturbate is their private business (there are only few people left who would disagree with that), whether women have sex or not is their private business, and whether a woman carries a child until birth or has it aborted is her private decision alone. It is none of your or my business.
(unless you're her husband or boyfriend, and it's also your baby. If this not the case : shut up).

Matias 8 May 21
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10 comments

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1

AS I read in a meme recently.......If men got pregnant...abortion clinics would be as common as ATMs

@Matias Let me rephrase then........if the sex that held the power got pregnant, they would ensure abortions were readily available.

0

Personally I believe that this problem will eventually disappear with technological advances, and in particular effective male birth control. The disturbingly high number of unplanned pregnancies per year is a clear sign that something isn't working properly, and therefore another layer of protection is required.

If such a technology is developed this debate will be effectively solved because the number of unplanned pregnancies will drop sharply to levels low enough to not have to worry about the legality of abortion.

Several forms of male birth control are being tested, but due to the difficulty in making them effective without substantial side effects, it may be several years before we see anything on the market.

2

In America, 60% of pregnancies end in abortion.

White people will become the minority in 2045.

This has panicked white male Republicans, rednecks and racists.

Hence, their rush to stop abortions.

[brookings.edu]

60%? Acording to [abort73.com] that number is 19% and I see no reference to abortion in the Brookings article. Beyond that I totally agree with you.

Sixty percent is an insane number.I'm not any good in math but the statistics from Planned Parenthood list one in four women as having an abortion. Even with my undeveloped math that isn't close to 60%. And, as gearl stated, I see no reference to abortion in the article you linked.

@gearl

I posted the article to show white Americans will be a minority in 2045.

@Literate, where did you get the 60% figure? I'm curious.

@freeofgod

Washington Post article with survey results.

@LiterateHiker , thank you.

1

Eugenics was, at one time, thought to be of public interest. How on earth did we get from it being legal and desirable to erase whole categories of people to where it’s sinful and illegal to abort even a defective fetus.

What we need is a law requiring that any politician who voted for abortion to be illegal be made to adopt a proportionate share of handicapped babies born with birth defects. It’s Gods will.

The problem with your proposal is whether those folks would make decent parents. I do understand your sentiments though.

1

Im actually and seriously interested to hear what anti abortionists think about it from a non religious perspective. How is their stance not rooted in religion

Neenz Level 7 May 21, 2019

Their stance is rooted in fake religion. Genuinely religious people are not very concerned about bodies, viewing them as passing illusions.

Although I'm not really pro life, I think I can explain their perspective from a non religious perspective. Basically the abstract question asked by the abortion debate is: Should someone have the right to do what they want with their body, assuming that it will harm or kill another person.

They assume that an unborn child counts as a person. The reasoning is that voluntary abortion is murder, because the loss due to inconvenience to the mother is finite where as the death of the child is infinitely negative, and therefore should be avoided.

Many also believe that the emotional stress from guilt to the mother is permanently damaging, ( this is supported with scientific evidence ) should they chose to abort their baby. This is at least partially a product of cultural stigma rooted in judeo christian values, but we can't rule out that it isn't intrinsic to the human condition.

The final perspective is the conflict of interest between profit-driven clinics and potential mothers. These organizations have a fiscal responsibility to maximize their profit, and if their business model revolves around abortion, that means they need to maximize the number of abortions they preform. The concern is that they will attempt to make abortions socially acceptable and this would lead to all sorts of secondary side effects such as increase in STI's, cultural changes, and a breakdown in family structure, all very real concerns.

0

Matias is right. There are plenty of babies. All over the world. In every color. Maybe not yours, though.

2

No shit government intruding on your body and life go fuck yourself

bobwjr Level 10 May 21, 2019
3

I agree. But there are still too many damn interlopers that feel their morals need to spill over into everyone else's lives - and laws !

0

I wonder if there is an anti abortionists in the atheist community

Neenz Level 7 May 21, 2019

@Renickulous Have you posted your reasons elsewhere in this forum? I am curious as to what makes a person anti-abortion...personal experience? I ask this respectfully and in the interest of learning...

@Renickulous Thanks...I have changed my personal stance as well but still maintain that it is not my business or the business of our government...

Ben Shapiro who doesn't know that women can miss a period and be pregnant? oh wow...I am sure I am going to respect what he says...

@Neenz, since one posted a 60% abortion rate I would have to say yes. That's an ignorant number. The kind that would be posted by someone who thinks they have control over every woman would post.

2

Sadly, it appears to be of concern for those that think they can control moral behavior...none of it makes sense to me...it appears to be a mad dog response...I have yet to speak to one person who can give me a clear cut definitive answer on why it is of public concern

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