# Abortion hypothetical: Would you consider this a good situation? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 30, 2015, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-hypothetical-would-you-consider-this-a-good-situation/726558 "2015-07-30T04:23:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-hypothetical-would-you-consider-this-a-good-situation/726558/21 "2015-07-30T12:28:15Z")
I am pro-choice and I don’t support the hypothetical, because women choosing to die in childbirth, or to give birth to babies so severely deformed that they live short, meaningless, painful lives before dying as infants are _bad choices_. They should have that choice, of course, but that doesn’t mean one has to say it’s a good choice. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-hypothetical-would-you-consider-this-a-good-situation/726558/22 "2015-07-30T12:32:26Z")
Abortions aren’t had simply because the mother doesn’t want to carry the child. Often it’s because the fetus is horribly sick, or the mom is. Who will care for those children, who will watch them die hours after birth due to defects, who will ensure the health and safety of all the mothers? Your hypothetical seems to be buying into the argument that abortion exists to satisfy the mothers convenience rather than as a medical necessity. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-hypothetical-would-you-consider-this-a-good-situation/726558/23 "2015-07-30T12:33:48Z")
And there are other reasons women want abortions rather than just the fact that the baby is sick or deformed or whatever. “I don’t want to have a child” is more than ample reason. But, in a world where contraception is 100% available and used when needed, and everyone is educated, sure, it’s fine that no one goes to the abortion clinics. It’s not like I want women to undergo this procedure. I just want it to be there for when we need it. ---
**Author:** ![Hector\_St\_Clare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@Hector\_St\_Clare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hector_St_Clare)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-hypothetical-would-you-consider-this-a-good-situation/726558/24 "2015-07-30T12:34:00Z")
Pro life here. It’s a better equilibrium than today’s, but no, I wouldn’t support it. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-hypothetical-would-you-consider-this-a-good-situation/726558/25 "2015-07-30T12:36:58Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > In Candyland, where all fetuses are implanted in healthy bodies by suitable people and there is ample prenatal healthcare for everyone, and all involved have the income needed and/or the paid medical leave when it is necessary, and there is a good family for every single child born no matter what sex, color or _physical condition_ that child is, I would have no objection. Me too. But in a situation where even if you do everything right and the fetus still has a medical condition, in many cases, it seems inhumane to bring it to term–if it’s going to die soon after or endure agonizing pain. I guess a choice is a choice, though. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-hypothetical-would-you-consider-this-a-good-situation/726558/26 "2015-07-30T12:59:12Z")
Not all women possess the emotional and/or mental fortitude to surrender a child to adoption. It is incredibly naive to believe otherwise. Many women will never recover from such an experience. Some will crash their lives, become addicts, develop mental illness, etc. I posit that many more, will, against their own better judgement, keep their child. A child that could grow up, unwanted, resented, in abject poverty, wild dysfunction, ill treated or even abused. The cost to society would be extremely high, in my opinion. Straight up really, really, bad idea, for everybody involved, in my opinion. Reflects only concern for an ideology, with none for the women or babies involved. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-hypothetical-would-you-consider-this-a-good-situation/726558/27 "2015-07-30T13:24:17Z")
I would like it if abortion were safe, legal, _accessible_, and rare. A world with the hypothetical, where women who become pregnant and are safe (physically, emotionally, financially) in that pregnancy and don’t receive any discrimination during or after the pregnancy, or for giving up their child, would be nice. But I also can’t fill in enough holes in this hypothetical to make it easy to choose. I’m a cynic. ☹ > [@zweisamkeit](#): > > Sorry, but I have to fight the hypothetical, here. WHY does every woman suddenly voluntarily carry every (non-miscarriage) pregnancy to term? Is there a simultaneous gigantic medical advancement that instantly makes pregnancy and childbirth 100% safe for every woman? Or something else? > > Even as a hypothetical, I can’t treat this as just an idle thought experiment, basically. Because of some inherited stuff, if I were to become pregnant, I’d have a higher risk of maternal mortality and it’d be virtually certain I’d experience severe pain (and be at greater risk of physical injury) for ~the last half of the pregnancy to the point of weeks of mandatory bed rest. Ditto. I know many women who were healthy when they became pregnant and ended up on strict bed rest and in a high-risk situation. (I couldn’t talk to my best friend the last week she was pregnant other than a quick “hello” because she was hospitalized with major high blood pressure and we \*always \*end up giggling madly when we talk. It was terrifying, doubly so for her parents, and awful for her father, who’s a doctor and couldn’t do anything to help his own kid.) tl; dr – friends who were perfectly healthy have wound up with gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and cardiac problems. And that’s among an educated, affluent, social-drinking, non-smoking, non-drug-using population with excellent healthcare before pregnancy and prenatally. I’ve opted to not have children in part because my asthma was largely uncontrolled during my peak reproductive years, and my doctors really didn’t like the related risks to my health. Then when chronic migraine came along at the end of my reproductive years…yeah. I was afraid I’d give birth to a giant monstrous radish or something. ETA: I’m glad to see that other people feel the same way I do. I always worry that I’m in some weird minority on this issue. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-hypothetical-would-you-consider-this-a-good-situation/726558/28 "2015-07-30T13:35:08Z")
> [@Hector\_St\_Clare](#): > > Pro life here. It’s a better equilibrium than today’s, but no, I wouldn’t support it. Why not? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-hypothetical-would-you-consider-this-a-good-situation/726558/29 "2015-07-30T13:44:32Z")
Pro-choice, and it’s unacceptable because the author has constructed a fairy tale without getting me a magical pony that poops money. ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-hypothetical-would-you-consider-this-a-good-situation/726558/30 "2015-07-30T13:44:32Z")
If I have to fit into one box, I’m pro-choice, and they should be as safe and as rare as reasonably possible. I’d like to see them rare because we, as a society, take steps to prevent unwanted pregnancies in the first place, and when they do happen, that they’re handled as soon in the pregnancy as reasonably possible. That said, the reason it should be legal is because it’s about choice. People need options to make the most moral decisions, and as much as I do value life and would, in most situations, discourage someone I personally knew who was considering abortion, I also realize that it’s impossible to completely cover all situations, especially since the legislating something with so much specific knowledge and so many possibilities as medicine is just ridiculous. But this situation is ideal, because if we’re postulating that all women have the option of abortion, but are choosing through their own freewill to not have one, then we get the best of both worlds. This means that we have flawless birth control, no rape or at least not without birth control, sufficient advances in medicine to ensure that abortions are never medically necessary, and we have any other reasons a woman might otherwise choose to abort covered. So, really, unless there’s some other kind of unspoken thing going on, like brainwashing or whatever, I think it’s simple. I could still see some pro-life people perhaps still wanting to ban it though if, even though no one was choosing it, they still thought the idea of the possibility was too wrong. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-hypothetical-would-you-consider-this-a-good-situation/726558/31 "2015-07-30T14:04:05Z")
> [@](#): > > …and would, in most situations, discourage someone I personally knew who was considering abortion… I am always so taken aback whenever I hear these types of sentiments expressed. How can people saying such words NOT hear how arrogant and disrespectful this attitude is? (Not this poster specifically, I know it’s a widely held view, and have often heard it expressed!) ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-hypothetical-would-you-consider-this-a-good-situation/726558/32 "2015-07-30T14:32:19Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Abortions aren’t had simply because the mother doesn’t want to carry the child. Often it’s because the fetus is horribly sick, or the mom is. Who will care for those children, who will watch them die hours after birth due to defects, who will ensure the health and safety of all the mothers? > > Your hypothetical seems to be buying into the argument that abortion exists to satisfy the mothers convenience rather than as a medical necessity. That post made me wonder what primary reasons women give for choosing to abort. I searched until I found what I believe to be neutral sources (though most sites appear to use the same study data). According to available statistics, the primary reasons women gave for choosing to abort were, according to the [National Institute for Health](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16150658): > [@](#): > > The reasons most frequently cited were that having a child would interfere with a woman’s education, work or ability to care for dependents (74%); that she could not afford a baby now (73%); and that she did not want to be a single mother or was having relationship problems (48%). Nearly four in 10 women said they had completed their childbearing, and almost one-third were not ready to have a child. Fewer than 1% said their parents’ or partners’ desire for them to have an abortion was the most important reason. Younger women often reported that they were unprepared for the transition to motherhood, while older women regularly cited their responsibility to dependents. Health of the mother and/or fetus come in near the [bottom](http://womensissues.about.com/od/reproductiverights/a/AbortionReasons_2.htm): > [@](#): > > 74% felt “having a baby would dramatically change my life” (which includes interrupting education, interfering with job and career, and/or concern over other children or dependents) > 73% felt they “can’t afford a baby now” (due to various reasons such as being unmarried, being a student, inability to afford childcare or basic needs of life, etc.) > 48% “don’t want to be a single mother or [were] having relationship problem[s]” > 38% “have completed [their] childbearing” > 32% were “not ready for a(nother) child” > 25% “don’t want people to know I had sex or got pregnant” > 22% “don’t feel mature enough to raise a(nother) child” > 14% felt their “husband or partner wants me to have an abortion” > 13% said there were “possible problems affecting the health of the fetus” > 12% said there were “physical problems with my health” > 6% felt their “parents want me to have an abortion” > 1% said they were “a victim of rape” > \<0.5% “became pregnant as a result of incest” In taking the role of messenger, I am fully prepared to be shot… ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-hypothetical-would-you-consider-this-a-good-situation/726558/33 "2015-07-30T14:42:27Z")
I guess the scenario would be “good,” though I don’t think it would be better than if abortions were easily accessible and some people had them. Maybe I’m taking a bold stance here, but I think that having an abortion in and of itself is a morally neutral decision. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-hypothetical-would-you-consider-this-a-good-situation/726558/34 "2015-07-30T15:13:19Z")
Vehemently oppose. One of the reasons I am pro-choice is I am against adoption. Also, I believe sometimes giving birth is an option to be discouraged. We have enough people in the world. We don’t need to encourage the production of children that are born unwanted burdens. ---
**Author:** ![Hector\_St\_Clare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@Hector\_St\_Clare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hector_St_Clare)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-hypothetical-would-you-consider-this-a-good-situation/726558/35 "2015-07-30T15:24:47Z")
> [@pbbth](#): > > Why not? People believing they have the right to abortion is still an evil thing, even if they don’t make use of the ‘right’. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-hypothetical-would-you-consider-this-a-good-situation/726558/36 "2015-07-30T15:33:20Z")
So by total coincidence, a million women a year all make the same choice. How, by mass hypnosis? Sorry, gotta fight the hypothetical on this one. You don’t get everyone making the same choice. And even when the fetus inside them is dead, they still make this choice? They carry it inside them until their body finally pushes it out on its own, and then give the dead fetus up for adoption? Man, that’s just _sick_. Pathological. But you’re saying that all women in this situation make this choice. But let me stop fighting the hypothetical for a moment. Going with the hypothetical, you’ve got a million babies up for adoption this year. And next year. And the year after. And so forth. Is there any evidence that adoptive parents could be found for all those babies? I don’t think so. Guess we bring back orphanages? You tell me, OP. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-hypothetical-would-you-consider-this-a-good-situation/726558/37 "2015-07-30T16:28:20Z")
Do some pro-choicers argue that “abortion reduces overpopulation” - therefore that if all women choose adoption rather than abortion, it still increases population? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-hypothetical-would-you-consider-this-a-good-situation/726558/38 "2015-07-30T16:34:09Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Beats the hell out of _it’s 100% illegal, but every baby gets aborted anyway._ I laughed. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-hypothetical-would-you-consider-this-a-good-situation/726558/39 "2015-07-30T16:37:10Z")
I’m pro choice and i voted “good” with strong reservations, mainly that the hypothetical makes very little logical sense. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-hypothetical-would-you-consider-this-a-good-situation/726558/40 "2015-07-30T16:40:28Z")
As long as the option is there, I don’t care how few people choose it. I think sometimes abortion is the smarter decision, but I only get to decide when it’s my body. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-hypothetical-would-you-consider-this-a-good-situation/726558.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-hypothetical-would-you-consider-this-a-good-situation/726558.md?page=3)