Naemanson "I'll start agreeing with the pro-life people when they start lining up at the clinics to claim the unwanted babies"

Therein lies one of the ironies of life. There are loads of people / couples who would love to adopt a baby, but find it such a lengthy and deeply bureaucratic task that all but the most determined are put off. If they were to hang around outside the abortion clinics offering to take the unwanted babies, I've no doubt they'd be hustled off by the cops as 'disturbing the peace'!!

Greg B: "I'm always astonished by the 'right to life' types' willingness
to hijack any conversation about reproductive health"

A conversation about birth control doesn't have to be 'hijacked' - the issue of abortion falls under its ambit quite readily.

"Look, if you believe that "life begins at conception" then don't
get an abortion"

I do. I'll try not to - or at least, my wife won't, I hope.

You imply *you* don't believe life begins at conception -

"But you can't prove it, no matter how many
little beats of developing hearts you show"

Odd, then. What kind of animal / cellular structure do those beating little hearts belong to? I think it *has* been proved, scientifically etc., But if you refuse to acknowledge proof there's not much I or anyone can do about it. That's up to you.

"So stop sticking your
nose into other people's reproductive organs (don't you think you're
supposed to be married to someone before you stick your nose into her
private parts, anyway?)"

So you don't agree with pre-marital sex? ;-))

"and finding every possible method, honest and
dishonest, to interfere with her right to do what she chooses
with them, should she happen to believe that "life" begins
with extra-utero viability"

What 'dishonest methods' have I used (assuming you're referring to my arguments)?

"to interfere with her right to do what she chooses
with them"

I am not trying to tell 'her' what to do with them. But once there's a new life there, well that's a different story. It's no longer only 'her' concern. And if I do not respect the right to life of the unborn child, why should I respect the woman's right to choose? Why should I respect anyone's rights for that matter?

Put it another way -

I understand a pregnancy that arrives when you don't want it can be a burden. I've seen it in my own life up close, as I've explained in previous posts. I've known women who kept their kids (and were delighted about it, their children filled their lives after all their apprehensions faded away) and at least one who didn't (and she prefers not to talk about it, so I've never been really sure how she feels about that).

Yes, it can be a burden. But I've seen what lots of positive help and a shoulder to cry on and so on can do to make the situation bearable. On the whole, in the two cases I mentioned above, having the child turned out to be a life-enhancing experience for the women involved. That's what pro-lifers CAN do: offer support, financial help (directly or through taxes etc.,) and so on, to make abortion less attractive an option.

But some people may feel it's just too much to carry (and maybe they're not getting much help from anyone).
But suppose I was a carer looking after a very sick old person. Now that would be a big burden to my life, in some cases a 24 hr job with little support and less thanks. Suppose I live in a place where the state doesn't give much support either, and no 'home' will take this person since I can't afford it.
So, I would be within my rights to kill off this decaying and hardly viable 'collection of cells' (even if it were my own mother and she herself didn't particularly want to go just at the moment) since they couldn't survive without me and medical attention anyway (all those pills) and I deserve a better life.
It's a tough choice, but people should be free to make the call themselves, and society in any case has no responsibility to either party, heck we're all just individuals free to come and go as we like.......right?