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Any Atheists Here Opposed to Abortion?

Started by LegendarySandwich, January 11, 2011, 02:49:23 AM

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LegendarySandwich

One of the many stereotypes held by theists is that all atheists are in favor of abortion -- and while it's absurd to say that we all are, from my experience, it is true that lots of atheists are pro-choice. So I just want to know: are any atheists here pro-life/anti-abortion? If so, why?


EDIT: Most recent thread on abortion merged here
http://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=6594.msg154882#msg154882 - Tank

Ultima22689

I am because women should not have any rights! /sarcasm

Whitney

I'm really not sure how any rational person could be against the right to choose.

I don't particularly like the idea of elective abortion but it's an unfortunate necessity since the alternative is rape babies and kids with babies.  If the religious right would let us teach proper sex ed there would be much less of a need for elective abortions.

Kylyssa

My dad is an atheist and is very, very, very anti-abortion.  He's also anti-feminist and anti-gay.

Thumpalumpacus

I'm anti-abortion on a personal level, but I don't see that my views should be pressed upon women by writ of law, particularly considering that that is a set of circumstances I will never in my life face, as a man.
Illegitimi non carborundum.

Cecilie

The world's what you create.

wildfire_emissary

I do not necessarily like abortion but I respect it as a choice.
"All murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets." -Voltaire

Wilson

Quote from: "Whitney"I'm really not sure how any rational person could be against the right to choose.

Well, I certainly think some rational people could be opposed to abortion.  If they see the fetus as a human being, they might well consider it murder to abort.  Personally I don't feel that way but it's arrogant to say that it's a ridiculous point of view.  For many people it comes down to whether or not they empathize with the fetus and to some extent that's emotional rather than logical.  For me, until the fetus has the ability to think, it's lacking in human qualities and is no more human - by my definition - than a dog or cat fetus, except by DNA - so the mother's rights and wishes take precedence.  Late term abortion, can't stomach that because of the yuck factor, so I draw the line at six months gestation.

history_geek

Quote from: "wildfire_emissary"I do not necessarily like abortion but I respect it as a choice.

Agreed.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Arthur C Clarke's Third Law
"Any sufficiently advanced alien is indistinguishable from a god."
Pierre-Simon, marquis de Laplace:
Je n'ai pas besoin de cette hypothése - I do not require that hypothesis[img]http://www.dakkadakka.com/s/i/a/4eef2cc3548cc9844a491b22ad384546.gif[/i

OldGit


Tank

Abortion is the result of a mistake, bad choices or rape. It should always be the alternative of last resort. But it is a resort that should be available. I am against any system that makes abortion necessary, but I would wholeheartedly support a woman's right to have control over her body. Contraception should be freely available to any person who requires it.  

However I would also, if it were my choice, create an environment that if a girl/woman finds herself pregnant and does not want to keep the child that 'at birth' adoption should always be an alternative to abortion.
If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

Whitney

Quote from: "Wilson"
Quote from: "Whitney"I'm really not sure how any rational person could be against the right to choose.

Well, I certainly think some rational people could be opposed to abortion.  If they see the fetus as a human being, they might well consider it murder to abort.  Personally I don't feel that way but it's arrogant to say that it's a ridiculous point of view.  For many people it comes down to whether or not they empathize with the fetus and to some extent that's emotional rather than logical.  For me, until the fetus has the ability to think, it's lacking in human qualities and is no more human - by my definition - than a dog or cat fetus, except by DNA - so the mother's rights and wishes take precedence.  Late term abortion, can't stomach that because of the yuck factor, so I draw the line at six months gestation.

Because there is no rational reason to apply personhood to a fetus is exactly why I qualified my statement with "rational" rather than "smart."

There is nothing arrogant about my view and I don't think it's appropriate for you to make that kind of accusation simply because you disagree (yet went on to provide only emotional reasons for disagreeing)....however, it's possible I could be mistaken and there is a rational way to argue that a fetus should be extended person hood which overrides the mother's freedom of choice; but I have never come across such an argument nor can I think of one.

Tom62

Quote from: "Tank"Abortion is the result of a mistake, bad choices or rape. It should always be the alternative of last resort. But it is a resort that should be available. I am against any system that makes abortion necessary, but I would wholeheartedly support a woman's right to have control over her body. Contraception should be freely available to any person who requires it.  

However I would also, if it were my choice, create an environment that if a girl/woman finds herself pregnant and does not want to keep the child that 'at birth' adoption should always be an alternative to abortion.
I agree.
The universe never did make sense; I suspect it was built on government contract.
Robert A. Heinlein

Wilson

Quote from: "Whitney"Because there is no rational reason to apply personhood to a fetus is exactly why I qualified my statement with "rational" rather than "smart."

There is nothing arrogant about my view and I don't think it's appropriate for you to make that kind of accusation simply because you disagree (yet went on to provide only emotional reasons for disagreeing)....however, it's possible I could be mistaken and there is a rational way to argue that a fetus should be extended person hood which overrides the mother's freedom of choice; but I have never come across such an argument nor can I think of one.

Sorry, didn't mean to offend.  There's a very good reason to extend personhood to a fetus - that it is literally a living human being with the potential for developing into a fully formed person, and there's no logical way to draw the line between personhood and non-personhood.  I assume that you would be opposed to killing a newborn baby, for the convenience of the mother, right?  Yet it isn't a full sentient person yet.  Me, I couldn't stomach aborting an eight-month fetus.  Presumably there are people who think of three month fetuses as real people, with rights.  So where do you draw the line?  A five-year-old isn't a fully developed person yet - physically, mentally, or emotionally.  A one-year-old hasn't had a thought of any complexity.  A fetus can feel pain.  So there's no easy dividing line, inconvenient as that truth is.  And so it really does come down to a matter of emotion - of where our empathy lies.  It's fine to say that we shouldn't have empathy for a four-month fetus, but if you do, it's hard to accept that abortion is all right.  

Some of those who oppose abortion do so on the basis of empathy, but most are driven by church teachings, and many of those people don't appear to have much empathy for other people, much less for fetuses.  I have no respect for someone who opposes abortion on the basis of the bible, but for someone who sees a fetus as a baby, I find it hard to disregard his or her opinion.

This, by the way, is written by a person who has been in favor of abortion rights for 40 years.

Asmodean

Against it..? I am known to actively encourage it on occasion.  :pop:
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on July 25, 2013, 08:18:52 PM
In Asmo's grey lump,
wrath and dark clouds gather force.
Luxembourg trembles.