You Said What?: US VS THEM

Women have the right to choose whether they want to carry their baby full-term and they also have the right to have access to safe legal medical procedure if they choose to end their pregnancy. Women also have the right to a doctor that can perform late-term abortions safely and compassionately.

The ethics concerning abortion does lie in a person’s belief system. If you are religious you will no doubt base your ethical view point on your religious belief system. If you are an atheist your ethical viewpoint will be based on facts and reasons.

There are two sides to the abortion issue: Pro-Life and Pro-Choice but in reality there is at least four categories and each category has a number of sub-categories to consider.

Pro-Life Movement.
The members of the pro-life movement want to reduce the number of abortions, or to totally eliminate them all together. (Which I cannot see how since they are also against birth control). They do reject violence against persons and property as a means of reaching their goals. They do oppose very strongly the assassinations and attempted murder of abortion providers and the abortion clinic staff.

Roman Catholics form a major section within the pro-life movement. Their church currently teaches the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death and thus rejects all abortions, almost all executions of murderers, and allowing terminally ill persons in intractable pain to obtain assistance to commit suicide.

Evangelical Christians and Fundamentalists form another major section of the pro-life movement. Their faith groups generally oppose abortions, favor executions of convicted murderers, and oppose physician assisted suicide.

They are direct opposites when it comes to Roman Catholics as they are pro-death on executions, however they see their position as consistent. They are in favor of preserving innocent life in the womb, while they favor destroying guilty life in prisons -- executing people who have been found responsible for the murder of others.

Most individuals in the pro-life movement share a single concept: that human life in the form of an ovum and spermatozoon becomes a human person at the instant of conception. From this principle, it naturally follows that a newly fertilized ovum, a pre-embryo, an embryo, a fetus, and a newborn are all human persons who should be granted the same rights, privileges and protections as a child or adult -- including the right to life. Some view an abortion clinic as the ethical equivalent of a Nazi death camp.

Within the pro-life movement are persons with conflicting views of abortion:

Some follow the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and advocate for laws and regulations that would not allow abortions even to save the life of the woman.
Most would allow abortions only if needed to save the woman's life.
Many would allow abortions to women who have become pregnant through rape or incest.
Some would allow abortions for women who would suffer serious or permanent disability if the pregnancy were allowed to continue.

The pro-life movement is sometimes referred to as "anti-choice." This is derogatory term that implies to some people that the main aim of the pro-life movement is to regulate women's lives and reduce their options. We feel that a group should be referred to by the name of their own choosing, assuming that it is not intentionally deceptive. To have two names referring to the same group is confusing to the general public.

The ANTI-ABORTION MOVEMENT

Individuals in this movement hold pro-life beliefs, and go one massive step further: They feel that acts of violence against abortion clinics are justifiable in order to lower the number of abortions. Some argue in favor of the ultimate violent acts: to attempt to assassinate abortion providers and clinic staff. The term "anti-abortion" has only been in common use since the Clinton years when it was first used to identify individuals and groups who employ violence and murder to attain their political ends.
The term "anti-abortion" is occasionally used as a derogatory term to refer to persons in the pro-life movement. We recommend against this use because it leads to confusion. Also, we feel that a group should be allowed to select the name by which they are known -- unless it is intentionally deceptive. Any time that there is one word or phrase with two meanings, the result is chaos.
A pattern has been observed in which U.S. anti-abortionists tend to be relatively inactive during Republican federal administrations and very active during Democratic presidents.

ANTI ABORTION GROUPS CONTINUED TOMORROW