SOTOMAYOR - Page 3

Abortion is a foundational issue. The foundation is a respect for individual life. This is the basis of a just society. The baby is always a human being, born or unborn. It is never going to be a fish or a kitten or anything else other than human. Disregard those "fetal change" diagrams you saw in high school biology class; they were faked by a man who later admitted he faked them because he was pro-abortion. Ignore the red herring of "choice"; pre-conception birth control is readily available for those who want it. Let's be blunt. Abortion kills a human being and partial birth abortion, particularly a late term one, kills a viable baby.

Back to the foundation of respect for life: if we do not respect life at the beginning, how well will we respect life at the end? Or at a mid-point when the medical prognosis is grim? Some slopes are slippery and this is one of them. Utilitarians and communitarians in our universities are already headed well down this slippery slope, having opined that it could be all right to kill by withholding care from the aged and infirm because it "benefits society."  Naturally, they don't expect ever to be on the recieving end of this "benefit."  I think many people in the US are waking up to what "choice" entails. At least I hope so.

Yes, there are other issues with Sotomayor: states' rights, 2nd Amendment (she held it has not been incorporated against the states, and I could go on about this but I'll refrain), judges as lawmakers (there's another branch of government that is supposed to do that), racial diversity, original intent vs "living" constitution interpretation, "separation of church and state" (did you know this isn't mentioned in the Constitution?), the primacy of US law vs international law. The list goes on.

Republicans could use her nomination to raise some questions to the US public. Will they? Who knows. Can they stop her being approved? No. Not unless public opinion turns against her and that may not matter to the Senate or Obama.

Sitasmom: shouldn't this have been OT? I knew it was OT, but read anyway.

pro choice people,  please read this and tell me what can be done here.
about a year ago, we had an enormous thread going on this board about abortion......maybe you remember the graphic pictures.  at that time, the pro choicers were stating all the reasons to support abortion:  incest, rape, deformities, age, retardation, downs syndrome, etc.  after doing some statistical research, it appears that these legitimate claims for abortion constitute somewhere between 6 & 7 percent of total abortions performed.  i don't believe that the vast majority of pro lifers would deny the need under extreme conditions.  however, if 93% are performed simply because someone failed to take responsibility for their actions, that is an outrage.  please tell me; what can be done to reduce the 93%?  what more can we do to educate people or to provide them with adequate birth control?  it would seem that allowing abortions unconditionally contributes to irresponsible behavior and a total disregard for life.  i would gladly contribute to non profit organizations that distribute various types of birth conrol or even sterilization.....if i thought it would do any good.  i think you would find that the pro lifers would do a lot less protesting if the percentages were exchanged - if 93% of total abortions were performed for rape victims, incest, downs syndrome, etc.  if only 7% were performed on normal, healthy fetuses it would still be a shame, but much better than where we are today.  please, please tell me; what can be done?  why do people allow conception to take place and then decide to terminate the pregnancy?  wouldn't it be better if the pregnancy never took place at all?  i am serious about this.  if i could do something to help reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies, i would.
pjp

I ask the same thing, why in this day and age in the US, with the availability of all kinds of BC, why is it that so many young women claim to be that .001% that defies the odds. And the one's who claim it is against their religion to use BC, hogwash, if they cared about following their religion they wouldn't be having sex without marriage. Mind boggling. It sure is easy to make a kid, raising one is a whole other story. Reasons? How about,  children begetting children. The vanishing role of "father".  Single parenting has been elevated to acceptable in our society and is touted as equal in status to the traditional mother as female and father as male, family. It is no wonder the selfish, and/or ignorant and irresponsible like to keep their options open. 

Like Octomom, who is now saying she made a "mistake". Thought she'd catch the daddy that way, much the way some babies are used to trap their daddy's by stupid girls. OH BROTHER, is that an understatement.

 Zeigen and bee,

I do not disagree, I really wish people were more careful.  Personally, I have three children, all intended, but the best birth control for me was seeing my older sister raise a child alone when her hasty marriage broke up after 18 months.  It does seem that in some cultures, people are more ignorant.  I tell my son that choice is the woman's choice, that he loses his choice when he takes his pants off.  I also told him that I only help fathers when they are married to the mothers of their children. He starts it, he takes responsibility for the life of the child.  So perhaps I am not as "liberal" as some here are assuming.

But, the other side of this is that I really personally know many pregnancies that occured when women were using birth control, and correctly.  Some women are very fertile, especially young ones.  Also, many of the same people with strong objections to abortion also strongly object to sex, and therefore to birth control.  They don't want it taught in school, they don't want it as an option, only abstinance.  This is not realistic.  People are animals, they have sex drive, they are going to have sex.  It is another example of people trying to foist their religious views on the general population.  So effective BC is not in fact freely available to many women, and many men refuse to wear condoms.

 IMPO octamom has serious mental health problems, and her doctor has very serious ethical problems

Sita's Mom:  When you quote from an article, could you also please include a link  to the article, or least provide the address?   People need to consider the source of an article to verify information  in it, in order to comment on it.

Since this has turned into a pro life, pro choice debate I will tell you my feelings.
Its none of your business, its not any business of the state, its not the right of the religious community to decide.
Its only the right of the family and a woman to decide what to do.
You can educate and you can council, but in the end the choice belongs only to those of blood.
Stay out of my home, out of my bedroom, out of my doctors office, and out of my personal life.
Some may argue life begins at conception and thats very true, but its not of this earth.  Cancer has life and also grows within its host.  Human or not life begins with the first breath and the separation from the womb.  Thats why its called birth, you are then born to this earth.  Life. 
Your views reflect your beliefs and culture, and you must respect others who believe differently from you.
Again its not your body, its not your family, its not your life to have say over.
Be careful what you wish for.  Someone may tell you what you can and cannot do with your own body.
Then what life do you have?  Who has the right to decide life over death?
You might even lose the right to debate these questions all together.

Moons.

Are you equating cancer and a baby, Two Moons? Cancer begins as a cell in the body that abnormally mutates and begins growing out of control, thus doing damage and eventually killing that unfortunate person.  A baby begins as a result of sexual intercourse between a man and a woman during the woman's fertile period and it is a perfectly normal thing to happen. Not the same thing at all.

I'm not saying you don't have a right to your opinion. You do, as do others who disagree about the abortion problem. Most people do admit it is a problem. However, be careful with that slippery slope argument you are making in favor of choice. Goverments (federal, state and local) can and do legislate and regulate behavior, usually along the lines of the 10          Commandments - stealing is wrong, murder is wrong - but also many times simply because they can. Think of taxes on everything you buy and everything you earn. Think of property zoning regulations. The government already regulates and controls much of what we can and cannot do.  And if one of us decides to rant in racist rhetoric in public, someone could sue that person according to laws that limit what we can say.  I'm telling you, they already regulate much of what we can and can't say and debate.

I think anyone who watches a video of a baby ( or as some call fetus) in the womb  while an abortion is being performed, usually the vacuum cleaner method, may change their mind as to wether or not that fetus is a feeling baby or not.  Sure changed my opinion.  I couldn't watch it all.

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