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PolarBlueberry t1_iwli6jg wrote

Reply to comment by musicdude2202 in Republicans' margin in N.H. House shrinks again, after recount flips 2nd seat to Dems by rockonritalin

Do you think women make it to the 3rd term of pregnancy and go “nah, I don’t want to do this anymore, kill it.” At the 3rd term you’ve gone through the worst of the sickness, you’re having baby showers and decorating the nursery. Then you find out your child has a heart defect and might possibly survive but will not live a full or healthy life and will probably require extreme and expensive medical care. People go “no, I don’t want this child” in the first trimester as they just find out. People who need late term abortions aren’t doing it on a whim, it’s medically necessary for the health of the mother or the child will not be born viable.

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gjcs14 t1_iwlj564 wrote

People like to run around with the narrative that at that stage it's about birth control as some sort of rhetorical cudgel. People who aren't even religious and if they were old enough to formulate an opinion 30 years ago, wouldn't give a shit about the issue at all. It's bizarre

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mackerdoots t1_iwlt6xr wrote

NH has a ban after 24 weeks and that ban is even lifted after 24 week in cases of life of the mother or child. It is probably one of the most reasonable approaches to a compromise and a moderate stance

Asking to lift the ban completely after 24 weeks would actually be in support of people just getting an abortion on a whim and not much more. I would argue 24 weeks is probably a bit too long to allow people to get one on a whim. Even in the case of rape you don’t necessarily find out you were raped 4-6 months after the fact and then decide whether you want to keep it. Even for some extreme outlier cases we can put something in place instead of just opening up abortions to a free for all up until conception

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PolarBlueberry t1_iwlxqqy wrote

That's quite reasonable and my response is directed at the "Oops I changed my mind."
Now, for the sake of looking at all angles, what would you think of this scenario:
A 33 year old mother of 2 is 26wks pregnant with her 3rd child and it is a healthy pregnancy. She has been at home for 8 years because her husband is able to provide enough for them to be comfortable, but paycheck to paycheck. Suddenly the husband and both children die in car accident. He does not have life insurance and now this woman who has been out of the work force will need to pay for the mortgage and all bills and still need to give birth and care for this child and she decides that it's too much and she doesn't want it.
I know this is made up, and many women would want to carry through as something to keep from her lost family, but for some it would be too much. Do you force this women you don't know to care for a child she does not want out of a moral obligation?
I'm not trying to change anybody's mind, or even push a single side. It's a difficult moral dilemma similar to the classic "Trolley Problem" and it's worth thinking about from multiple angles.

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mackerdoots t1_iwm69me wrote

Well that is certainly is a very particular circumstance that sounds really unfortunate all around. If we want to make exceptions we need to pursue those specifically though. Making abortions open season for the sake of women’s rights though is a road that can lead to pretty immoral circumstances pretty quickly

I’m partial and biased because my daughter was born premature at 26 weeks. I find a moral line crossed when people push for open abortions at that point. In the example you gave if a woman had a premature birth it would be murder if she wanted the option to terminate it. If the baby is in the womb it suddenly becomes well within the woman’s right in some peoples eyes. That’s where I start to lose understanding and a little sympathy with those that support open and late term abortion rights. A baby shouldn’t have to come out early for better chances of survival in the third trimester. That’s a functional human being fighting for its life like anyone else at that point.

My opinion on your example is to definitely try to convince her to have the child and then choose whether to give it up for adoption. Postpartum depression can be very harmful but for all we know once the baby is born she ends up living with no regret and it’s what she ends up living for. So it’s definitely tricky and those things should be talked about instead of telling people they have no say in setting limitations

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