Comments on: Ireland Accused Of Lying To Women About Abortion

By: Berber Anna

Berber Anna — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 09:30:29 +0000

Paschal: Of course a human fetus is human. Its DNA obviously shows that. The issue is not whether it’s human, but whether it counts as an individual with rights and integrity seperate to those of the woman whose body it’s in. Personally, I believe these issues only start to come into play at the point where the fetus becomes a sentient being with the ability to survive on its own (i.e. around the 5 month mark). And even then, I’d still say that in some cases death without suffering is better than a life of pain.
But before that 5 month mark, I’d say a fetus is a potential individual, rather than an existing one. When a woman suffers a miscarriage, I’s say she mourns the loss of that potential, or something that could have been.

By: Paschal

Paschal — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 20:10:09 +0000

Ireland is actually a fairly progressive country. Ireland has civil partnerships for gay couples, admittedly not enough, we’ve had two female presidents in a row, Ireland is the eighth best in the world for equality for women, Ireland has the fifth highest level of human development, etc. Many people believe that a fetus is a human life and that it deserves protection. Why is it that when a woman has a miscarrriage people sympathise yet may still support the mother being allowed to deliberately end the same life? Who are any of us to decide that a fetus is not a human? We need to be very concerned about the issue of abortion.

P.S. I’m not a follower of any religion and am quite liberal on social issues in general.

By: Esther

Esther — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 00:18:08 +0000

Responsibilities !! And to fulfil a life of happiness !!

By: rent a car

rent a car — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 18:43:12 +0000

Is our duty as society to educate our young men and women to valorate themselves and to understand the responsabilities so they wont be find themselves in a position where they have to choose something that can be regrettable for the rest of their life.So education,education education from early teens.

By: i think

i think — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 11:45:53 +0000

Pro-choice /Pro women/Pro child

By: ZenMonkey

ZenMonkey — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 09:46:29 +0000

As someone who long ago made the decision not to have kids, I’ve found this comment from someone else has really stuck with me: “I’d rather regret the decision not to have kids than regret the decision to have them.”

That pretty much killed any lingering worries I had about whether I’d wish later in life that I had had children. I think it would be far easier to bear the first regret than the second.

By: Jess xxx

Jess xxx — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 08:37:10 +0000

@Joan E I’m trying to understand what you’re saying…Are you saying that it is a woman’s duty to get married and have children?

Sorry, but I don’t agree with that. While I’m sure you’re very happy as a married woman with a family, there are some people who don’t believe in marriage and who don’t want, or who would be incapable of caring for children, and it would be wrong to force them in to a marriage or in to having a baby. Whilst you might see abortion as women being feminists and not wanting to be ‘tied down’, a lot of people actually make the decision based on the life and happiness of the baby they might have e.g. Berber Anna has actually thought about how good a parent she would be, which is very responsible.

And I think you’ll find that the ‘risks of sex’ are greater WITHOUT birth control. Therefore it is important.

By: sonofsam83

sonofsam83 — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 22:30:45 +0000

Joan: i consider myself relatively liberal in my thoughts, as well as living by the philosophy of live and let die… never more appropriate here i guess… but id like to add my two cents if i may… the fact that someone is 30 and a virgin does not = inexperienced immature teenager so dont feel u have to lecture… having the self-esteem and respect to abstain until you find ur right partner is i think very mature – some of us cant really take back our bad experiences

also some cant procreate – are they less of a woman? isn’t this pain enough? or would u have them not experience “safe” intimacy – as this is not with the intention of procreating? and as much as it might pain me to see ppl abort healthy embryos, it pains me even more to witness more and more broken families, and messed up children. I believe in choice – one side or othr

By: Berber Anna

Berber Anna — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:08:16 +0000

Joan: With all your wisdom, you sure make a lot of assumptions. I’m actually in my mid-twenties (turning 27 next Wednesday), and I know full well who I am and what I want. I am a person who has Asperger’s syndrome and would not do well as a parent. I am a person who does not want permanent resposibility over another human being. I am perfectly content with my life as it is — my job, my cat, my friends — and have no desire to change that just because it is a common human habit to reproduce. I’m childfree. That’s MY nature.

I do not wish to marry, because I believe it is foolish to commit to one single person for the rest of my life. For one, you cannot predict the future — half of all marriages end in divorce, after all — and secondly, I do not strictly believe in monogamy (polyfidelity seems to be an equally valid system to me).

By: ScreamingGreenConure

ScreamingGreenConure — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 09:49:16 +0000

Do you just really not like sex? That’s absolutely fine and I sympathise, but it’s a minority view and most women aren’t going to agree with it. They tend to like sex. Birth control doesn’t actually have to be full of terrible side effects, some women take the pill while not even being sexually active in order to relieve menstrual problems. Sure, there are risks of STD and pregnancy, which is why options like birth control and abortion are important, along with education.
It’s a bit hypocritical to complain about others buying “some other fool’s rhetoric” then trying to put yourself in a position of authority by backing up all your points by saying you have the “perspective of age” and a “considerable intellect.”