OK. Here we go….

I think people who have their panties up in a bunch about abortion supposedly being used as birth control are missing a very important point: Abortions are for the most part, surgical procedures not covered by insurance. They have side effects which include bleeding, cramping, and general discomfort, not to mention the psychological effect it has on the woman. Even the most pro-choice person in the world would prefer to use birth control or the morning after pill rather than putting her body through an abortion. It’s as simple as that.

I personally don’t ever want to have children, and I’m religious about taking my birth control every day, so I leave very little to chance. However, you can never be 100% sure (unless you practice abstinence, and thank gawds that’s not me!), and if I were ever to find myself pregnant, I would like to have the choice of terminating. I can’t say I would do it for sure, because I believe many factors affect that decision, but I appreciate having the choice and not having someone’s beliefs imposed on me.

Now, to the person who mentioned abortions are $850 (I have no idea if this is true, since I’ve never had one) and that poor people can’t afford them; I say that’s a strong argument for government funded abortions! If a woman becomes pregnant, and doesn’t want to carry the pregnancy to term, she shouldn’t be forced to do so just because she can’t afford to terminate. It’s not only impractical for her but for taxpayers in general, who will have to fund that child’s upbringing through welfare, Medicaid and whatever other form of help they’re entitled to.

I'm glad you touched on that at the end, I was just thinking to myself about how people always talk about not using abortion as birth control (which I completely agree with), but at 500-800 bucks...who the hell could AFFORD to use it like birth control??

This doesn't surprise me at all considering that Planned Parenthood is on a sliding pay scale and a non-profit. I'm also pretty sure that by the time they get to the point of walking into Planned Parenthood, they're pretty sure they're going to through with it. And another thing, what makes most people think that choosing to have an abortion is some will-nilly decision? I've yet to meet a person who has had over one and has been THRILLED about it. Most always wonder, "what if...". I see more people abusing the morning-after pill than shelling out 600 bucks for an abortion. According to some pro-lifers, the morning after pill is abortion because you're preventing the chance of life, so be careful even using THAT one as well. Until the government starts regulating real sex education classes starting in middle school, I don't think you'll see any changes in abortion. Just because BC is available, doesn't mean that people are mature or smart enough to use it. What they need is a program where kids are sent home with a collicky baby for a month and along with that, give them something that gives them the symptoms of gonarrhea. I'm sure pissing fire and a screaming infant will make all those kids think twice!

At the end of the day, why are some people so very bothered about what others do? So the girl down the road has an abortion. So what? Does it affect you? No. Does it affect anything? No.
Live and let live. People should stop trying to dictate other people's lives.

Oh and also, what's this whole Stupak thing? It was trending on Twitter the other day but I don't fully understand it. I understand it's something to do with insurance not covering any elective abortion?

I could not agree with you more!!! I am a "live and let live" kind of person and if it doesn't affect you personally, then why DO you care? It doesn't make sense to me that people get so bent out of shape about Jane Doe, who they don't even know, having a baby aborted 5 states away. As if it's their baby. As if they would even know about it.

There are so many children in the foster system right now who go un-adopted. And if it was up to a certain political party in the USA (actually the one who is anti-abortion), we wouldn't take care of children who are put into the Welfare system at all anyway, because they don't believe in (as they call it) "government handouts". They don't believe in universal healthcare, but what about kids who have no families? They think that people should be responsible for themselves, but they don't want to give them the freedom to make decisions or take that responsibility. The very same people who would force you to have your baby if they could, would also let that baby die from health problems because they don't want them to be covered medically if something went wrong. They don't believe in welfare or food stamps or any kind of government assistance programs. BUT they think that they should have the right to force someone to have a baby, knowing that they can't take care of the baby, and they don't want to give them any help either. That is so illogical!

Exactly! These people are all up in arms because their tax money is going to ZOMFG evil abortions that will kill precious miracles; but when the kid is born and the mother can't support her child, then they can go fend for themselves because that "precious miracle" has just become a statistic in the long list of government handout recipients.

Completely baffling, IMO.

If the mother can't support her child, she can give it up for adoption. There are thousands upon thousands of people who wait for a baby to adopt...

That's a common misconception. If there were really so many "thousands upon thousands" of people waiting to adopt a baby, there wouldn't be thousands upon thousands of children living in foster homes, even with abortion being legal in the U.S.

No, it's not a misconception. Most of the kids in foster care are there because their parents either could not take care of them, and selfishly tried, or abused them in some way, did drugs, etc. I have friends that were or are social workers, and most of the cases they saw were not of infants from mothers who couldn't afford them, they were children taken away because of other issues. Most of the foster children are older, and lets face it, most couples want to adopt a baby. There ARE thousands of people who want to adopt infants. Ask adoption agencies... they wait for years and years.

And what happens when those infants grow up and they haven't been adopted? All of a sudden, those loving families dissapear and follow the next baby lead, leaving thousands of children to grow up in the foster care system.

According to the NYS Office of Children and Family Services, only 16 % of children in the foster care system eventually get adopted. 12% of them are released to their own responsibility when they turn 18. That reaffirms my point that there is more supply than demand when it comes to homeless children, and this is only aided by the fact that prospective parents only want babies.

But that's for another rant.

If you're interested in my sources, I got the statistics from http://www.ocfs.state.ny.us/main/fostercare/stats.asp

Lol it's all so fucked up.

To play devil's advocate for a moment here, that's akin to saying that you don't care that people are getting murdered across the street, because it doesn't affect you.

I mean, if it doesn't, then forget I said anything. :P

Lol but that would because that would mean the murderer is close and I could get murdered! But if a mother aborted her baby, then she can't very well abort mine, can she?

I guess if she were projecting enough and got angry at all women who are pregnant/have kids.

Okay...I'll bite on this one. lol.

If someone got murdered across the street, who was a perfect stranger that I did not know, then would I actually care that the person was dead? In all honesty: Probably not. I don't know them, never have met them, don't talk to them, etc. It would be more of those "it's a shame" kind of caring things. I would care, but not care deeply. If it was MY mother, then yes I would care. But would YOU care if my mother got murdered? Like REALLY, deeply, truly care? Or would you care more if it was your mother? See what I'm saying?

Would I care that there were people getting murdered that close to my home, and therefore putting me into danger, yes I would. But someone who has an abortion in their own body isn't actually going to put me into danger because unless the person was "forcing" abortions through bodily harm. But doctors who perform abortions at clinics don't normally go around forcing people to have abortions...The Chinese force abortions due to population control, but as far as I know, the USA has no policy like that - and probably won't any time in the near future.

Completely agree. A bloke died across the road the other night. Yeah, it's a shame, but I never even saw him. It's like when they talk about people dying on the news; it's not going to affect you.

Yo, so I only read 4 pages of this forum, and but I got a question, and it may have been answered in the 3 pages I didn't read, but hear me out.

So I've been reading about how we want to make birth control available and AFFORDABLE for everyone. So here goes.

When I was on the shot, the shot itself is 60 bucks. Since I got it on campus, I only paid for the shot. So 60 bucks a month. When I went to planned parenthood, they charged another 60 bucks for the "doctor visit" which I though was a little weird since I never saw a doctor.

I liked the shot, but tmi, I bled all the time, causing infections (it was a constant mess), so I went back to the pill. My pill, Ortho-Tri-Cyclen, is $9.00 at Kroger's. Like, yo, that is so cheap. And that isn't insurance price or whatever, that's just the price on their list of cheap meds (like my Celexa is $4.00).

How is this not affordable to even the lower class? Is it different in other states than TN?

We get it free, so it is possible! Woo NHS ;D
I'm on Yasmin which I've heard is the most expensive in the US. You have to remember that the cheaper ones may not suit every woman.

And condoms are way overpriced imo. Over here they have a luxury tax on them! I love how they are not considered to be a necessity. (The tax rate has recently been cut but condoms still cost on average £1 each.)

You can get them free, only stupid people actually pay for condoms.

Where from? Yeah from colleges and schools, but I'm out of education now, and my local Brook clinic is 14 miles away! And to my knowledge my doctors surgery does not give them out free. If they do they certainly don't advertise the fact.

Doctors, GUM clinics both hospital run ones and independent ones.

See I live in a retarded place where it would still be easier to buy them. The local GUM clinic is 7 miles away and has retarded opening hours; you need an appointment 3 out of 5 days. Not very accommodating!
But I prefer making sure your partner has no diseases and then being militant with the pill.

You don't need an appointment for condoms, you just ask the receptionist.

Yeah but like you can't get in without an appointment. It's all very stupid!