Radical Abortion Laws

[Dr. Shane]

Quote:

This is something each individual needs to take up with God. Not Man.

Civil government has a right to regulate behavior between people. Civil government does not have a right to regulate behavior between a person and God. Once it is established that the fetus is its own person, as DNA science does, than civil government has the right to regulate behavior between the mother and the fetus. In a democracy "we the people" are the government so we should be the ones deciding how to deal with the issue of abortion.

Many of the Latin American nations are ahead of us in that regard. They are using their elected government officials to make abortion policy. From what I observe, the policy they are using is not curbing abortions any more than what they are here in the US. So, as a means of reducing abortions, I tend to believe that keeping them legal but RESTRICTING them is a more effective means of reducing them.

[gina i]

I have a problem with government, as you can tell. I am absolutely anti-government & I don't believe any figure would be making a right choice for 'me'. These elected officials mean nothing to me & I don't trust a single one.

Restricting abortion & outlawing it altogether is different. Restricting it to what??

I'm not shooting off pro choice rhetoric, I'm neither pro choice or pro life - I'm neutral.

[Dr. Shane]

Quote:

I am absolutely anti-government & I don't believe any figure would be making a right choice for 'me'.

So does this also apply to child-rearing. Does the government have the right to tell a person how they can or cannot discipline their child?

Restricting abortion is done in various ways.

• Only allowing abortion during the first 12 weeks
• Requiring mandatory pre-abortion counseling
• Requiring a 24 hour waiting period from the time a woman requests abortion to the time the abortion is performed
• Not allowing abortion providers to provide pregnancy counseling or sex education in public schools
• Not allow any government funding to pay for abortions (except for medical reasons)
• Require parental authorization for minors with a court waiver option
• Require spousal notification (not approval) for married women
• Apply a sin tax to abortions and use the money for a public awareness campaign to discourage abortion

Since abortion would still be legal, no black market would be created. The public awareness campaigns would work to change the people's attitudes so they choose not to have abortions. What we see in areas that legalize abortion but restrict it is that they have lower abortion rates than either areas that have legalized abortion with no restrictions or areas that outlaw abortion all together.

[gina i]

I think that people will do what they want to do, regardless of what the gov't says. There is something called common sense, sometimes people do use it.

Government laws to me are guidelines. Doesn't mean you follow them - but you can use them as a reference

[Dr. Shane]

That almost sounds like an arguement for banning abortion since that is a good guideline.

There are many laws that serve as guidelines.

• Speed limit laws
• Mandatory auto insurance laws
• Minimum wage laws
• Child labor laws
• Environmental laws
• Drug laws

Do any of these laws actually impact behavior? Why establish a speed limit unless it impacts behavior? Why require auto insurance or workers' compensation if it doesn't impact behavior? Why set a mimimum wage unless employers will abide by it? Why pass any law if the people are just going to do what they want to anyway?

As a general rule, laws do impact behavior. What makes abortion different is that a pregnant woman in bad circumstances feels a desparation to have an abortion that is not normal. Drivers do not generally feel so desparate to speed or employers so desparate to underpay their employees. A pregnant woman in bad circumstances can be compared to a drug addict. While drug laws prevent many people from using or becoming addicted to drugs, they do not prevent those already addicted from using them. Seen in that light, it becomes understandable why laws banning abortions, like those in Latin American nations, have little impact on the actual abortion rate.

[Naomi]

This issue has been publically debated for years. People have burned, murdered and done other unspeakable things to other people (some not evening having anything to do with abortion clinics, etc) because they become so radical and angry over the theory and pratice of abortion.

The exact time that a fetus becomes a life has been debated many times, many ways.

Honestly, I don't know if I could vote for or against abortion. But this I do know, God gave us free will and the choices are between the individual and God.

There is a definite difference between killing one's child who has entered the world through the birth cannel and an abortion during the first 90 days. Making that comparison hits a raw-nerve with me.

This issue is too personal, too sensative, too hot to handle.

[Dr. Shane]

Well there are different stages of life and one can argue that terminating a pregnancy within the first few weeks isn't the same as killing a baby after it is born or even once it can survive outside the womb. One can also argue that killing someone 80 years old isn't the same as killing someone that is 20 years old. I happen to think we need to protect all human life regardless what stage it is in. I am not strongly opposed to banning abortion but am not convinced it is the best way to reduce the number of them performed.