1. #6981
    The Lightbringer tehdang's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chonogo View Post
    I don't really want a back-and-forth on abortion again, but you've brought this up multiple times and I'm not sure I got a sufficient answer from you.

    What bar can laws set that's fluid enough for doctors to make educated decisions about all factors involved, considering the plethora of issues a pregnancy involves? Keeping in mind that there's environmental, monetary, medical, availability, access issues that aren't uniform in the entire country.

    Basically, what guardrails/buffers/limits do you find acceptable, but also allow doctors and women to make decisions that fits each individual situation?
    Rape, incest, severe fetal anomaly, and the life of the pregnant woman. State representatives can debate on the various state aid programs to assist women that have environmental, monetary, and access issues. By all means. For medical and availability, have your state-funded programs to assist medically and with available clinics. Early labor and delivery, state aid for full-term delivery, and no obligation to keep and raise the child.

    Those are the surrounding laws to value life and protect the mother. The decision to kill should be confined to a period where the unborn baby doesn't have a chance outside; its rights being wholly overridden by mom's and justly so. Let's handle the other factors in ways that don't necessitate killing a viable life.
    "I wish it need not have happened in my time." "So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."

  2. #6982
    I Don't Work Here Endus's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chonogo View Post
    That's not tehdang's stance, though. He's admitted both to me and this thread that early-term abortions are acceptable.
    Then there's no argument for cutting them off at a later point. Not that there was anyway.

    He places an elevated value on the fetus at some point in gestation, as most of us do. I believe it's around 20ish weeks?
    Higher than the value of a 6-month old born-alive actual infant? Because denying abortion is giving that unborn fetus greater consideration than we give to any living human. That's the problem with the pro-life argument. There isn't any other circumstance where we ever breach someone's bodily autonomy for the purpose of protecting another's life.

    I think you're more reasonable, so I'll let you chew on that and try and figure out why you think it should, in the case of abortion specifically, and nowhere else. Consider, by way of counter-example, a father and their 6-month-old infant, who needs a kidney transplant for which the father is a clear match. Without the transplant, the infant will die within a few weeks (I only apply this to exclude other options, to make the comparison fit). As it stands, nobody would say the father can be legally strapped down and forcibly have that organ harvested against his will to save his own child. They might say he's an asshole if he doesn't volunteer, but we're not talking about "you're being a selfish and not-good person", we're talking about legally forcing it against their will.

    I'll also note this is actually a very unfair comparison, because the child here was born alive and is fully considered a legal person, which isn't even true of the fetus in the case of an abortion.

    I'd love "substantive discussion", but this is where that has to start; either we can agree that bodily autonomy trumps right to life, and you need to explain why abortion should be a special exemption to that principle, or we disagree and you think right to life trumps bodily autonomy, and will have to acknowledge that this means you're in favor of forced organ and tissue harvesting to save lives. I don't see a third option, here. By all means, try and find one. I've literally never heard anyone produce one that did not devolve into some form of either denying that pregnant women own their own bodies (misogyny) or some form of religious dogma that doesn't hold up to even internal scrutiny (it just brings us back to the main question again, inevitably). It isn't just here on these forums that I've never seen this defended; I've literally never seen anyone, anywhere, provide an explanation that holds up to defend the pro-life position.


  3. #6983
    Quote Originally Posted by Chonogo View Post
    At a cursory level, I would think the approach in the 1st paragraph would help outcomes in the 2nd paragraph. I do appreciate that it's not based on a gestational period, but, and even you can admit, I'm not sure we live in a country capable of this much compassion at the governmental level.

    It's certainly a better take than I'm used to regarding abortion laws. Bears some thought. I know you don't need my advice, but this micro-discussion should be something you can build into other interactions with posters here, rather than an antagonistic approach of pointing out incompetence/ignorance/malice that some pro-life folks fall into. The antagonistic approach gets more attention(and more vitriol in return), but not for the right reasons.

    /soapbox

    - - - Updated - - -


    Whether you want to admit it or not, every single person has a limit on what they consider an acceptable abortion. The mention of the law regarding abortion up until birth, while framed wrong, is a good example of this, from the other direction.

    You and I both scoff at that, and think it's absurd because it doesn't happen. But are we scoffing because we think it doesn't happen, or because deep down we agree that abortion at 40 weeks, while stupid to say, is past our limit. Doctors that perform abortions do turn women down, they have the same impression.

    The difference is that you and I don't purport to know more than doctors do. At least I try not to. We also aren't looking at it as a malicious procedure, filled with evil-doers just waiting for the next victim.


    The discussion should be about determining when bodily autonomy is overcome by right to life. At some point the baby in the womb has that right. Again, I rely on doctors to tell us that, not lawmakers.

    I think the main sticking point, if people on both sides would talk about it reasonably, is whether or not laws should be enacted to protect this fungible determination. I lean towards limited laws. Pro-life people find more offense to the procedure, and want more limits. I can't find the rationale for the latter. That doesn't mean pro-life people want women in chains, and certainly doesn't mean you and I are okay with aborting a 40-week old fetus.

    I thought tehdang's latest post regarding the framework of how he'd like to see abortion is a fresh take, and very low on the vitriol we're used to in this thread. Maybe it's just me.
    His flowery word usage is to hide the lies, misinformation, and the constant changing of the meanings of words.

    You're giving credit to a known liar and manipulator that revels in the pain he causes. Stop it.

  4. #6984
    I Don't Work Here Endus's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chonogo View Post
    Whether you want to admit it or not, every single person has a limit on what they consider an acceptable abortion. The mention of the law regarding abortion up until birth, while framed wrong, is a good example of this, from the other direction.
    My limits are defined by medical ethical standards, not arbitrary legal limits, though. I'm attacking the arbitrariness of those legal limits.

    You and I both scoff at that, and think it's absurd because it doesn't happen. But are we scoffing because we think it doesn't happen, or because deep down we agree that abortion at 40 weeks, while stupid to say, is past our limit. Doctors that perform abortions do turn women down, they have the same impression.
    Canada has no legal limits on abortion, dude, and it's basically not a political issue here at all outside of a very fringe far-right conservative set of nuts. Like, "no significant presence in the Conservative Party" level fringe.

    And sure; doctors can decide an abortion's not ethically justifiable. We aren't talking about medical ethics. We're talking about fundamentally arbitrary limits that ignore medical ethical standards.

    The difference is that you and I don't purport to know more than doctors do. At least I try not to. We also aren't looking at it as a malicious procedure, filled with evil-doers just waiting for the next victim.
    Which is why I rely on those ethical standards, not baseless opinions. And why I oppose any and all attempts to push arbitrary limits that ignore those medical standards.

    And "looking at it as a malicious procedure" is indefensible. That's where we're either talking religious extremism or straight-up misogyny. Again, never had anyone make an argument for that which didn't boil down to one or both of those things.

    The discussion should be about determining when bodily autonomy is overcome by right to life. At some point the baby in the womb has that right. Again, I rely on doctors to tell us that, not lawmakers.
    That's not at all how medical ethics work. If a fetus is viable, a pregnancy will generally be ended by inducing birth or otherwise removing the fetus healthy. If it's a question of the pregnant person or the fetus, though, they'll save the pregnant person. These kinds of things happen pretty regularly, unless there's bans on abortions. There, you just get needless suffering. No one benefits from abortion bans.

    I think the main sticking point, if people on both sides would talk about it reasonably, is whether or not laws should be enacted to protect this fungible determination. I lean towards limited laws. Pro-life people find more offense to the procedure, and want more limits. I can't find the rationale for the latter. That doesn't mean pro-life people want women in chains, and certainly doesn't mean you and I are okay with aborting a 40-week old fetus.

    I thought tehdang's latest post regarding the framework of how he'd like to see abortion is a fresh take, and very low on the vitriol we're used to in this thread. Maybe it's just me.
    The problem with the laws is they're always arbitrary, and ignore medical ethics, because they seek to supercede those ethical principles. The laws are either so limited they're unnecessary because no abortions that occur cross the line the law sets, or they draw the line too narrowly and create needless suffering. We already have laws covering medical malpractice and so forth; I don't see any even possible value in laws limiting abortions, beyond what laws we already have regarding medical ethics in general.

    Like, you still haven't given me a single argument that suggests there's any merit to anti-abortion laws, here. I don't see the basis you're operating from, other than vague emotional appeals that I don't consider worth discussing further. A lack of abortion limits under the law does not mean "anyone can get an abortion at any time from any doctor no matter the state of the fetus". It never has. That's a straw man. Medical ethical standards have always been the baseline you're arguing against.

    You have to try and convince me (well, the broader audience in general, I'm not the Great Decider of Things, but we're having this convo) that ethically justifiable abortions should be legally prevented from occurring. That's the pro-life argument, dude. That's what you're pushing for. If they aren't ethically and medically justified, they either aren't occurring or we already have laws that cover unethical medical conduct.
    Last edited by Endus; 2023-11-03 at 02:28 AM.


  5. #6985
    Quote Originally Posted by Chonogo View Post
    I'm not trying to give him a pass for prior treatment regarding this issue. But if he states something I agree with(regarding his framework), I have to be mature enough to credit him for that. Perhaps I'm getting played here, but a rational answer to a rational question is acceptable to me, motives notwithstanding. It doesn't end the conversation, but it at least puts us on a realistic level of understanding, right? The framework is a lofty goal given our current situation in this country, and one I'm not sure is realistic in my lifetime.
    The problem is it's an attack on women, period.

    That's their goal, to remove the rights of everyone that's not a wealthy white male.

    Can you give me one example of anyone else having to give up bodily autonomy for someone else?

    And motives not withstanding? Fuck outta here with that.

  6. #6986
    The Lightbringer tehdang's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chonogo View Post
    At a cursory level, I would think the approach in the 1st paragraph would help outcomes in the 2nd paragraph. I do appreciate that it's not based on a gestational period, but, and even you can admit, I'm not sure we live in a country capable of this much compassion at the governmental level.

    It's certainly a better take than I'm used to regarding abortion laws. Bears some thought.
    I think we understand each other.

    I know you don't need my advice, but this micro-discussion should be something you can build into other interactions with posters here, rather than an antagonistic approach of pointing out incompetence/ignorance/malice that some pro-life folks fall into. The antagonistic approach gets more attention(and more vitriol in return), but not for the right reasons.

    /soapbox
    You're certainly an optimist on the possibility of building up non-antagonistic discussions surrounding abortion. I'll note you can't even escape abuse for the offense of believing that I mean what I say. But we do need more optimists in this world, so I won't deny you that outlook.
    "I wish it need not have happened in my time." "So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."

  7. #6987
    I Don't Work Here Endus's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chonogo View Post
    My comments were from an medical ethics standard POV. Apologies for not being specific in that regard. I wasn't intending to make it political, far from it. I was intending to state that abortion at some level of gestation, with no other underlying complication involved, is unacceptable to even pro-choice people. Even if it's arbitrary, I don't think it harms our integrity by saying that a 40-week "abortion on demand" choice is wrong.
    Wrong in terms of medical ethics? Probably. Does that mean you need a whole separate arbitrarily-defined law to limit abortions at that point? Absolutely not. Such laws will invariably get things wrong on fringe cases and contribute nothing of value that wasn't already covered by the ethical standards. That's simply not what the laws are intended to accomplish.

    I don't think I disagree with you here. Probably just the tone of abortion conversations that we disagree on, especially when people are attempting to lower the tone. I'll also freely admit that I have the tendency to assume I'm not being trolled/played/baited into thinking I'm discussing this with rational actors. But until it becomes obvious or is admitted by the other party, my naivete tends to hold longer than it should.
    Let's recall that the tone is set by pro-life advocates starting at "doctors are murdering literal babies!"

    If the response is antagonistic, there's a reason.


  8. #6988
    Quote Originally Posted by Endus View Post
    Let's recall that the tone is set by pro-life advocates starting at "doctors are murdering literal babies!"

    If the response is antagonistic, there's a reason.
    This is the really important bit.

    You get back what you put in.

    Being nice led to how many COVID deaths and the slow erosion of rights for disenfranchised Americans?

  9. #6989
    Quote Originally Posted by tehdang View Post
    Rape, incest, severe fetal anomaly, and the life of the pregnant woman. State representatives can debate on the various state aid programs to assist women that have environmental, monetary, and access issues. By all means. For medical and availability, have your state-funded programs to assist medically and with available clinics. Early labor and delivery, state aid for full-term delivery, and no obligation to keep and raise the child.

    Those are the surrounding laws to value life and protect the mother. The decision to kill should be confined to a period where the unborn baby doesn't have a chance outside; its rights being wholly overridden by mom's and justly so. Let's handle the other factors in ways that don't necessitate killing a viable life.
    You say that, but I assume you don't actually expect medical experts to make that assessment on a case by case basis and instead base this belief of yours on a simple chart you found on Wikipedia that references a single study conducted at some of the most state of the art facilities in the US (AMC's that are designed to handle the most challenging and complex cases)?

    I imagine you have no idea how the age and health of the mother affect the development, and hence the viability, of the fetus? I'm guessing you have no idea the risks that extreme preterm babies face?

    But hey, let's put it at 32 weeks. The point at which things like the ability to breathe, eat, and to even just be conscious USUALLY have developed sufficiently enough. Half of babies born at or below this point die without proper medical care. It's also the point at which abortion becomes increasingly risky and even the most abortion absolutist doctor you yourself could find avoids the procedure without additional medically significant factors. Seems like a natural point where sufficient fetal development and a self-imposed limit for elective abortion meet. That SHOULD give you peace of mind without needing legislation to get in the way of the doctors and patients who face catastrophic medical issues and have to tackle the exponentially growing risks of abortion in those last couple of months.

  10. #6990
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chonogo View Post
    The discussion should be about determining when bodily autonomy is overcome by right to life. At some point the baby in the womb has that right. Again, I rely on doctors to tell us that, not lawmakers.

    I think the main sticking point, if people on both sides would talk about it reasonably, is whether or not laws should be enacted to protect this fungible determination. I lean towards limited laws. Pro-life people find more offense to the procedure, and want more limits. I can't find the rationale for the latter. That doesn't mean pro-life people want women in chains, and certainly doesn't mean you and I are okay with aborting a 40-week old fetus.

    I thought tehdang's latest post regarding the framework of how he'd like to see abortion is a fresh take, and very low on the vitriol we're used to in this thread. Maybe it's just me.
    The thing is this line of thinking must open up another. Where does someone else right to life trump the bodily autonomy of organ donation?
    We need half your liver to save the life of Billy over here, you are a perfect match. You don't need half your liver, it will grow back. Billy needs it or Billy will die.

    That is the obvious ethical question this opens up.
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  11. #6991
    Quote Originally Posted by Muzjhath View Post
    The thing is this line of thinking must open up another. Where does someone else right to life trump the bodily autonomy of organ donation?
    We need half your liver to save the life of Billy over here, you are a perfect match. You don't need half your liver, it will grow back. Billy needs it or Billy will die.

    That is the obvious ethical question this opens up.
    That honestly seems like a pretty straightforward question to me: when your actions were the ones that put that life at risk.
    If Billy's in the hospital and needs a liver because you poisoned him, intentionally and knowingly, it's wholly reasonable for someone to say 'hey this is your responsibility, your liver is now his'.
    Similarly, the conception of a child is (hopefully) the result of an action that was voluntary & with knowledge of the potential consequences.

    I dunno about other peoples' positions but for me that's where "abortion in the circumstance of rape & life" comes from. If you were raped, that responsibility isn't yours. If somebody's going to die, that's not a reasonable outcome to expect from sex.
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  12. #6992
    I Don't Work Here Endus's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by LilSaihah View Post
    That honestly seems like a pretty straightforward question to me: when your actions were the ones that put that life at risk.
    If Billy's in the hospital and needs a liver because you poisoned him, intentionally and knowingly, it's wholly reasonable for someone to say 'hey this is your responsibility, your liver is now his'.
    Literally no legal system on the planet agrees with you, here. It's a monstrous violation of basic human rights. You're advocating for atrocity. Literally Nazi type stuff.

    Similarly, the conception of a child is (hopefully) the result of an action that was voluntary & with knowledge of the potential consequences.
    Consent to sex is not consent to carrying a child to term. The existence of abortion as an option all by itself precludes that, because continuing that pregnancy isn't an unavoidable outcome. You're trying to make an argument to deny that choice, and your argument is only a pretension that said choice doesn't exist.

    Well, it does.

    I dunno about other peoples' positions but for me that's where "abortion in the circumstance of rape & life" comes from. If you were raped, that responsibility isn't yours. If somebody's going to die, that's not a reasonable outcome to expect from sex.
    Good news; there's no "somebody" who's gonna "die" in an abortion.

    Now, you're free to have religious views otherwise, but you're not free to force all of society to abide by your personal religious views.


  13. #6993
    Quote Originally Posted by LilSaihah View Post
    If Billy's in the hospital and needs a liver because you poisoned him, intentionally and knowingly, it's wholly reasonable for someone to say 'hey this is your responsibility, your liver is now his'.
    Enforced organ harvesting, even if from convicted criminals, is not reasonable in the slightest, and the way you confidently and wholeheartedly believe it is speaks volumes about how twisted you conservatives think.
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  14. #6994
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    Quote Originally Posted by LilSaihah View Post
    That honestly seems like a pretty straightforward question to me: when your actions were the ones that put that life at risk.
    If Billy's in the hospital and needs a liver because you poisoned him, intentionally and knowingly, it's wholly reasonable for someone to say 'hey this is your responsibility, your liver is now his'.
    Similarly, the conception of a child is (hopefully) the result of an action that was voluntary & with knowledge of the potential consequences.

    I dunno about other peoples' positions but for me that's where "abortion in the circumstance of rape & life" comes from. If you were raped, that responsibility isn't yours. If somebody's going to die, that's not a reasonable outcome to expect from sex.
    What if it was in a consensual relationship yet BC failed?

    Same as the laws made by GOP in the US don't allow for cases where the mother will die because of how they are written.
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  15. #6995
    Quote Originally Posted by Endus View Post
    Literally no legal system on the planet agrees with you, here.
    Other than China, maybe. But even for them, organ harvesting is illegal on paper.
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  16. #6996
    Quote Originally Posted by Endus View Post
    Literally no legal system on the planet agrees with you, here. It's a monstrous violation of basic human rights. You're advocating for atrocity. Literally Nazi type stuff.
    My point is that the "Billy needs a bit of liver" case where the second person is completely unrelated is not really fair, IMO. "Billy needs a piece of liver and Jimmy is responsible" is different.
    "Jimmy give him your liver" is certainly an extreme version, possibly excessively so, of the general principle that someone should try to fix the problems they cause.

    Also, yeah, China.

    Quote Originally Posted by Endus View Post
    Consent to sex is not consent to carrying a child to term. The existence of abortion as an option all by itself precludes that, because continuing that pregnancy isn't an unavoidable outcome. You're trying to make an argument to deny that choice, and your argument is only a pretension that said choice doesn't exist.

    Well, it does.
    I don't like this circular logic, you can just close the loop by saying "abortion isn't an option" and then bam, consensual sex is consent to carrying a child to term.
    Don't get me wrong, I understand that consent to sex isn't consent to carrying to term, but the logic doesn't work.

    Quote Originally Posted by Endus View Post
    Good news; there's no "somebody" who's gonna "die" in an abortion.

    Now, you're free to have religious views otherwise, but you're not free to force all of society to abide by your personal religious views.
    I'm not forcing anyone to do anything! I'm posting on an internet forum.

    Quote Originally Posted by Muzjhath View Post
    What if it was in a consensual relationship yet BC failed?

    Same as the laws made by GOP in the US don't allow for cases where the mother will die because of how they are written.
    I don't know about where all the specificities come down. The entire "rape & risk to life" argument fundamentally assumes that you have a crystal ball: that you can reasonably convict someone of rape before the child would come to term, when rape is notoriously hard to convict for; and that you can divine whether or not a pregnancy puts a woman's health at risk, when every pregnancy fundamentally carries with it some degree of risk.

    Very specifically in this case of 'consensual sex but the BC failed', this is a pretty good case for why 'rape' as the point where you draw the line is not going to work in practice. In this situation, the woman's incentivized to accuse their partner of rape, which would likely create drastically worse outcomes than an abortion.
    If you are particularly bold, you could use a Shiny Ditto. Do keep in mind though, this will infuriate your opponents due to Ditto's beauty. Please do not use Shiny Ditto. You have been warned.

  17. #6997
    Quote Originally Posted by LilSaihah View Post
    My point is that the "Billy needs a bit of liver" case where the second person is completely unrelated is not really fair, IMO. "Billy needs a piece of liver and Jimmy is responsible" is different.
    I'm unsure how or why it's different. Bodily autonomy is bodily autonomy. Period.

    A parent is responsible for their child, no? A parent cannot be forced, against their will, to offer an organ like a kidney to save their child's life. If the parent does not want to be a donor, the state literally cannot force the parent to become a donor. They cannot even force the parent to donate blood to save their own child, based on my understanding. They can sure ask and pressure and try, but there is no legal mechanism that removes the parents right to bodily autonomy.

  18. #6998
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    Quote Originally Posted by LilSaihah View Post
    My point is that the "Billy needs a bit of liver" case where the second person is completely unrelated is not really fair, IMO. "Billy needs a piece of liver and Jimmy is responsible" is different.
    "Jimmy give him your liver" is certainly an extreme version, possibly excessively so, of the general principle that someone should try to fix the problems they cause.

    Also, yeah, China.



    I don't like this circular logic, you can just close the loop by saying "abortion isn't an option" and then bam, consensual sex is consent to carrying a child to term.
    Don't get me wrong, I understand that consent to sex isn't consent to carrying to term, but the logic doesn't work.



    I'm not forcing anyone to do anything! I'm posting on an internet forum.



    I don't know about where all the specificities come down. The entire "rape & risk to life" argument fundamentally assumes that you have a crystal ball: that you can reasonably convict someone of rape before the child would come to term, when rape is notoriously hard to convict for; and that you can divine whether or not a pregnancy puts a woman's health at risk, when every pregnancy fundamentally carries with it some degree of risk.

    Very specifically in this case of 'consensual sex but the BC failed', this is a pretty good case for why 'rape' as the point where you draw the line is not going to work in practice. In this situation, the woman's incentivized to accuse their partner of rape, which would likely create drastically worse outcomes than an abortion.
    And there you see the problem when you open this up!

    This isn't a special case. It's a bodily autonomy case and the moment it stops being that it opens so many cans.
    Late-Term if there's a risk to the life of the mother induced birth or a cesarian are vastly more common than an abortion To such a degree that you don't abort a 36 week pregnancy if the mothers life is in danger and the now baby is viable. You induce birth or do a cesarian section. As those are the safer options!

    But if it's because the fetus died for one reason or another at week 36 you still need to remove it, or the mother will die. Then it would most likely fall under one form or another of abortion, medically speaking. And carrying it for 2-4 weeks more would likely be engangering the mother.
    - Lars

  19. #6999
    I Don't Work Here Endus's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by LilSaihah View Post
    My point is that the "Billy needs a bit of liver" case where the second person is completely unrelated is not really fair, IMO. "Billy needs a piece of liver and Jimmy is responsible" is different.
    The question of "responsibility" is completely irrelevant, because it can only be a factor if abortion is already off the table as an option.

    If abortion's on the table, getting an abortion to end an unwanted pregnancy is literally taking responsibility for your actions.

    You're trying to end-run around the central issue. You need to establish your premises first.

    I don't like this circular logic, you can just close the loop by saying "abortion isn't an option" and then bam, consensual sex is consent to carrying a child to term.
    There's no "circular logic" there.

    And no, you can't just declare that "abortion isn't an option". That's the conclusion you're trying to reach. Presuming your conclusion as one of your premises is the fallacy "begging the question".

    I don't have to justify abortion being permitted. Legal systems generally function on the principle that if a thing is not legislated against, it is legal. You pass laws to make things illegal, rather than presuming all actions are illegal unless specifically permitted by the law. This means the burden of proof is entirely on the pro-life side, here; you have to justify the existence of a law. All the pro-choice side is obliged to do is demonstrate the weaknesses in those arguments.

    In this case, the claim was "consent to sex is consent to carry to term". If a pregnancy can be aborted, however, there's no reason for that statement to be true. If you want to argue that abortion shouldn't be an option, you need to build that up separately, trying to just slap it in there is begging the question.

    I'm not forcing anyone to do anything! I'm posting on an internet forum.
    If you're arguing for law to be X, you're arguing for society to enforce X. If X is your religious views, then you're talking about forcing people to live under your religious rules.

    Pointing out you don't have the support to achieve that doesn't change what your argument is.

    I don't know about where all the specificities come down. The entire "rape & risk to life" argument fundamentally assumes that you have a crystal ball: that you can reasonably convict someone of rape before the child would come to term, when rape is notoriously hard to convict for; and that you can divine whether or not a pregnancy puts a woman's health at risk, when every pregnancy fundamentally carries with it some degree of risk.

    Very specifically in this case of 'consensual sex but the BC failed', this is a pretty good case for why 'rape' as the point where you draw the line is not going to work in practice. In this situation, the woman's incentivized to accuse their partner of rape, which would likely create drastically worse outcomes than an abortion.
    Rape exceptions are wildly irrational, to the point that it's legitimately infuriating when pro-lifers make them.

    Your premises are as follows, I presume (feel free to correct me, these are pretty standard);

    1> A fetus is a human life.
    2> Ending a human life without just cause is "wrong".
    3> Aborting a fetus ends a human life.
    C> Thus, abortion is wrong.

    Now, you say you want to allow exceptions for rape? The only premise that affects is #2; you're arguing that being the result of rape is "just cause" to abort.

    But it's still, in this structure, a human life. Can you freely kill a child who was conceived in rape when they're 5 years old? 30? Because the logic is identical to the rape exception.

    The only way it isn't is if you're going to tell me that obviously, a fetus isn't the same thing as a 5-year-old child or a 30-year-old adult human being.

    And if you tell me that, you've admitted you do not actually believe Premise #1 to be true. A fetus is not the same as any actual human life.

    And that's why this is infuriating. It's an explicit internal contradiction, which means you've either never put much thought into this and are just repeating bullshit rhetoric someone else fed you that you literally never thought critically about, or you're intentionally lying to me this whole time. In the case of the former, you shouldn't be engaging with discussion/debate unless you understand your own position, and in the case of the latter, you're engaging maliciously. And those are the two options. No third option.


  20. #7000
    Quote Originally Posted by Endus View Post
    Rape exceptions are wildly irrational, to the point that it's legitimately infuriating when pro-lifers make them.

    Your premises are as follows, I presume (feel free to correct me, these are pretty standard);

    1> A fetus is a human life.
    2> Ending a human life without just cause is "wrong".
    3> Aborting a fetus ends a human life.
    C> Thus, abortion is wrong.
    No, this is not correct.

    Abortion is in lieu of deprivation of resources. If we could remove a baby without killing it, we would, but we can't.

    Death by deprivation of resources is not ending a human life. It is failing to assist in the continuation of a human life.
    To use the Justin Bieber example, you're not killing Justin Bieber, but if he does not find assistance he will die. Key words: you're not killing Justin Bieber.
    The key issue is whether or not you are responsible for continuing Justin Bieber's life. You are not.

    If you're having consensual sex, knowing that a child can be the consequence of that sex, you are responsible for the children that come of it & you have an obligation to support them.
    This is not really contested either morally or legally; child negligence laws, child support, etc etc.
    The only thing we'd have to discuss at this point is whether that obligation begins at conception or at birth or at some other point.

    The distinction in the circumstance of rape is that the fetus is not, and never was, the responsibility of the woman because they did not voluntarily engage in the action that put it there.
    You do have Justin Bieber in your womb, and you can give him your liver or decide not to.

    Quote Originally Posted by Endus View Post
    But it's still, in this structure, a human life. Can you freely kill a child who was conceived in rape when they're 5 years old? 30? Because the logic is identical to the rape exception.

    The only way it isn't is if you're going to tell me that obviously, a fetus isn't the same thing as a 5-year-old child or a 30-year-old adult human being.
    The difference between the fetus and the 5-year-old is that you've made a conscious decision to not abort & to not give the child up for adoption.

    Your 30 year old manchild can get a job and buy his own chicken tendies. You can 'abort' him as much as you like.
    If you are particularly bold, you could use a Shiny Ditto. Do keep in mind though, this will infuriate your opponents due to Ditto's beauty. Please do not use Shiny Ditto. You have been warned.

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