Have you changed your mind about ABORTION?

by nicolaou 171 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  nicolaou

  I'm not after a discussion on the rights or wrongs on abortion, what I'm asking is whether or not your views have evolved over time.

  Perhaps leaving the Watchtower was enough to allow your true feelings on abortion to find expression. Maybe abortion is one of those subjects where you still find yourself in agreement with your old JW self. Did becoming a mother change your perspective in any way or solidify your views?

  As a man my point of view will always be limited but I'm generally opposed to abortion, not that I feel I've any right to dictate to a woman what she can and cannot do. I don't see conception as the moment a new human being has come into existence - that is just too simplistic for me.

  Yes, my views have changed but perhaps only in that they've become less well defined and much more tolerant.

  You?
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  brinjen

  I used to be anti-abortion, now I'm pro-choice, so yes my views have changed.
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  Happy Harvester

  As a JW kid, I was, of course, anti-abortion.

  As an adult, I became pro-choice and have stayed that way, but I have had to face the complexity of the issue personally.

  Oddly, it was becoming pregnant that changed my feelings about whether or not I wanted children; I was pro-choice during both pregnancies; the first was terminated and the second was not.

  The attachment that occurs to the idea of having and nurturing a child early in pregnancy can be enormously conflicting for a young woman who thought she did not want kids, and suddenly realizes that it would be lovely - hormonal or what - I dunno!

  In any event, it is better for the individual and for society when individual women have more choices (and access) about the number and spacing of their children.

  It's better for families, for individuals, and for societies, than for women to have fewer choices. And abortion is only one of a very few choices available in the rather common event of unplanned pregnancy.
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  zeroday

  Lots of things have changed for me. I'm now a Right wing Republican prochoice Atheist...
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  prophecor

  Abortion is Murder
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  marmot

  It's a toughie, for sure.
  
  I'm still morally opposed to it because I think it's a very selfish act (consequences of rapes and incest notwithstanding). I mean face it, sex is an act of procreation. If you don't want to deal with the consequences of that act then take the appropriate measures to prevent it by using birth control. If there IS a pregnancy despite all that, I still think that there are many people who would gladly take that child and give it a good home.
  
  Another tough moral call is the case of abortions following in-utero testing that shows congenital birth defects. Not only is such testing not 100% accurate, but people with disabilities are just as capable of leading full and productive lives as the rest of us.
  
  With advances in genetic testing, this form of pregnancy screening could very well lead to selection based on mere physical appearance or potential personality traits. Already in India and China there is rampant abortion of perfectly healthy female fetuses just because male children are more socially desirable.
  
  To sum up, no I do not personally agree with abortion but neither do I believe in imposing my views on others. If such actions are truly harmful to society, then the effects will manifest themselves with time and the problem will correct itself.
  
  In a sense we can already see these consequences. Much of the developed world is tipping into a population decline because of fewer births and later pregnancies in life. Immigrant populations are exploding because of much higher birth rates and lower numbers of abortions, which is changing the very fabric of western society.
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  BurnTheShips

  No, the moral argument is the same. I still am pro-life.
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  Sad emo

  As a RC I also was very anti-abortion, no questions.

  Now I've educated myself more, I'm pro-life.
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  sweetface2233

  My feelings are the same. I was always pro-choice, I just kept my mouth shut and used b/c. I feel that not one person on this earth, besides ME, should have a say so in what I do and don't do w/ my body or life. These men on Capital Hill take on this issue when they will NEVER have to deal w/ an unwanted child growing inside of their body. It should be left up to each individual and on their conscience.
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  ex-nj-jw

  Pro-choice always so no, nothing has changed.

  nj