Abortion - Convince Me

[HatlessHorseMan]

*ATTENTION* I know this is a rather touchy subject, but I think you guys are mature enough to handle it. I want to establish right now that I don't want any flaming, trolling, or raging in the discussion. Please establish your position and its contentions in your first post and argue for it, as if it were a debate you'd participate in a speak/debate team. *ATTENTION*

 

For quite some time now, I've been neutral on abortion. Both sides of the argument pose valid points, but none seem to be a break through. Here's basically what I've heard from each side:

PRO CHOICE:

+Right of the woman to decide

+Unplanned pregnancies can derail the futures' of the parents

+Children born from unplanned pregnancies are often mistreated, forsaken, and/or born into destitution

+Killing is not murder if it is the result of choosing not to provide for something; I can refuse to give a dying man my blood even though only I can save him. I have no obligation to him. (Argument from David Boonin)

 

PRO LIFE:

+A human is endowed with a soul at the moment of conception, therefor entitled to human rights

+Abortions have a lasting, negative impact on the woman in question

+Adoption is a preferable option to abortion

+Whether or not you can prove their is a soul present in an unborn child, it is in a way criminally negligent to terminate a pregnancy because you can't be sure there isn't one; if a hunter shoots a moving bush, thinking an animal is hiding there, and kills a fellow hunter, he was criminally negligent. He should have never fired because he wasn't sure. (Argument from Peter Kreeft)

 

A good debate, featuring Boonin and Kreeft:

ww.youtube.com/watch?v=9QcQGi1Wet8

 

Unable to make up my mind, I support the status quo - Let the people of each state decide whether or not abortion should be legal, which I suppose makes me pro-choice.

 

So, why should I join your side? Play ball!

[TRoaches]

http://pinealsqueegee.net/img/nopetom.gif

[JimboUK]

Oh no, this debate never ends well, I shall move swiftly along.

[Vagrant0]

Whatever potential value might be in this discussion, it is simply not a discussion which cannot be made without stepping into religious beliefs of one kind or another. Especially since you are dancing around concepts related to the soul, if souls exist, at what point do they exist, what has a soul, ect. These concepts cannot be dealt with without bringing religion into it, or promptly kicking religion out (and having a mostly 1 sided debate).

 

For this reason, the topic is locked.