well, I was going to stay out of this, but I'm delighted yet again at how these crazy issues manage to stay mainly sane here on Mudcat...a big huzzah to all who have participated thus far!! well...with perhaps one exception:

KENDALL????? I'm tellin Calach you said I was too ugly to get laid--after he picks himself up off the floor (where he was rolling wi laughter) I'm sure he'd like to 'have a word'wi you--he disnae take too kindly tae prats wha insult his darlin'...go an look at his pic..he's a SCARY git, face paint an all ;-)!!

Little John..your wisdom is simple and pure...bunch o cells, or kicking, living entity?? That is my main concern. I think I should begin my 'rant' by saying that I don't believe that first trimester abortions should be against the law at all...there is however a point at which it is no longer just a fetus in there...

In Kansas lately we have been trying to pass a law concerning third trimester 'partial birth' abortions...now perhaps Kimmers could shed more light on this process, but it's my basic understanding that this particular type of abortion involves inducing labor, and once the baby is born performing some sort of procedure that actually 'kills' the baby, partly out of the womb. (the description I heard from the knee-jerk reactionaries was 'stab the baby in the back of the neck, stick a vacuum in and suck its brains out, but I tend to take all they say wi a grain of salt-or try not to take it at all if I can help it.) The point is, this late in the pregnancy, there is a chance that the baby could survive, and part of the procedure involves ensuring that it doesn't. I see NO reason on earth that justifies this sort of abortion. If a woman has carried a baby this far, then lets not spend money helping her kill it, lets spend money and effort helping her cope with bearing it, and seeing that it is provided with a good home!

My concern about abortion is that it bespeakes a very selfish attitude...every child is wanted by someone! The idea that we should have a right to take a life because it isn't convenient is a scary thought. I'm sorry, I've been pregnant three times, and from about the second trimester on, it wasn't in any way,shape, or form just MY BODY anymore, and if you read baby books and self-help pregnancy books you see this presented over and over again!

Kimmers, there are many organizations that offer help and support to women that want to avoid aborting their babies--even one here in Kansas that matches up single mums to be with loving families that take them in for the duration of their pregnancy and offer them counseling and support during the adoption process as well--which IS run by one of those right wing pro-life groups! Unfortunately its the crazies that talk the loudest...(those knee-jerk folk I mentioned earlier)and of course the ones who get the most press...

The most sensible pro-life 'slogan' I ever saw was EQUAL RIGHTS FOR UNBORN WOMEN...it sort of points out some of the dichotomy of the pro-'choice' position. As for agruing that we shouldn't make any laws that restrict our choices about our bodies...does your state have a SEATBELT law? Are you for it or against it?