I think the earliest surviving baby was actually 21 weeks, but it suffered mental damage (I believe due to incomplete lung development and lack of oxygen). It's very, very high risk, and very high cost.
Your friend is one of those lucky few.
Something else I thought of concerning the 24 week restriction:
It could be that abortion is legal up to this time specifically for the cases of early labor. To doctors, it's probably considered less risky to abort the fetus than to have the mother try to give birth. I'm not a doctor, but I'm sure serious complications could be involved... hence the need for the abortion option.
Just something to think about...
I'd like to say Pro-Life.....but in the real world, things like that don't actually work.
Pro-Choice for me
I voted Pro-Choice.
I am glad that as a women i live in a society in which i can freely choose to have an abortion. I am 100% in favour of keeping Abortion from being made illegal/banned. (to be honest, i didnt even think it would be! thats just how up to date the current news and affairs i am! lol!) If any of my friends, family, neighbours etc etc had or wanted to have an abortion, I would have no issues in supporting their choice. I know this because if I ever became pregant at this present time (even usuing contraceptives - obviously accidents can happen) I would definitly have an abortion. No questions asked.
I agree with people who have said its every womens choice - because lets face it, it is!
"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - Chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming WOO-HOO what a ride!!"
"I dream about being with you forever." - Twilight
I refuse to vote. Neither of these options is the right solution in my opinion.
I think that abortion should be limited to certain circumstances, but I also don't believe there should be a law against it.
So I'm not going to pick between two choices that seem to not go very deep into the issue.
They call it PMS because Mad Cow Disease was already taken.
Girls have unique powers; they get wet without water, bleed without injury and make boneless things hard...
Women are meant to be loved, not understood.-Oscar Wilde
I realize this is an older thread, but I still think it is very interesting so I am going to give my $0.02...
Oddly enough, I was just discussing this subject with friends on Monday after reading an article on CNN's website about a pregnant 10 year old girl in Mexico who was raped by her stepfather, and doesn't live within Mexico City where abortion is legal (most other areas in Mexico it is not). If you want to read it, I am sure the article is still available on CNN's website.
So how do we decide when is the life of a living breathing woman (or sometimes child) is more or less important than an embryo/fetus she may be carrying?
In my opinion, and it strictly is an opinion as this debate has been ongoing for ages, the life of the woman should take precidence over the fetus. Of course there are instances where women will 'abuse' the right to abort, using it as a backup to contraceptives.. however, I really believe this is not the norm, that in the vast majority of instances of abortion, the pregnant woman is in a situation where she can not sufficiently care for herself or her child should she give birth, or a situation where pregnancy/child birth are a major life risk for the woman.
I can't say that I would have an abortion myself, but then again, I am in a pretty good situation. Could I say the same if I conceived as a result of rape? Could I say the same if I lived hand-to-mouth and was in constant fear of being homeless, of not being about to feed myself? Could I say the same if complication arose from my pregnancy that made my death a very realistic possibility? No. So I can't at all expect any other woman to give up the choice of terminating a pregnancy. There are too many factors to consider, and irresponsiblility is about the lowest on that list.
Most of the shadows of this life are caused by our standing in our own sunshine.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Pro-Choice, without much further consideration.
I could have been aborted. My parents and the doctor were worried about my mother's health, she was in her early 40's at the time and my father was scared to death (which I fully understand, I'd feel the same). Mum wanted to take the risk. They thought she couldn't conceive anyway and the fact I was conceived made her incredibly happy as she wanted another child. When I was delivered the doctor told my mother that my father cried so hard he was shocked to see. He never explained why he cried that day, but my mother thinks it's because he was very afraid of something happening either to her, the baby, or both. I don't feel any hurt to the slightest knowing that my parents had considered abortion.
Life-story aside, I can understand why many couples consider abortion over either health reasons, financial reasons (I don't see why it's better to bring a child into the world if you cannot take care of it, and most women don't want to go through a pregnancy only to give the child away for adoption), and many other reasons. Women who have been raped must have the right to abortion, since pregnancy was not their choice. Young girls without sexual education also must also have this right. Why force a 15 year old girl to become a full-time mother, destroy her dreams, make her and her child's lives miserable?
Nobody must force a woman to have an abortion (besides, there are so many incidents of men who mistreat their woman to such a degree that they lead her to miscarriage), but nobody must make abortion illegal either. Young women must be better educated when it comes to sex, the law must be harder against rapists, and as for health reasons it has to be left up to the couple to decide. Not the law.
I'm pro-choice although I probably would not get an abortion myself. I believe that every woman has a right to do what she wants to with her body and it is not in anyone's place to say what she can and can't do. However, I agree with the 24 week restriction, that is enough time to decide whether or not you want to keep your child. An exception to this restriction would be if the mother's life would be jeoparadized if she were to continue her pregnancy.
I'm most definitely pro-choice. The most adamant pro-lifers all seem to be religious nut cases (shoving horrendous pictures of disfigured dead babies into people's faces on the streets, which, btw, are NOT actual representations of aborted fetuses). Reason enough for me to stick to the other side.
Having said that, I don't think an abortion would be a very EASY decision for me were I put into that situation. In the end though, I would be putting myself (and my partner) first, before the fetus.
But I do not support the abortion of fetuses in their third trimester, unless somehow the mother miraculously wasn't aware she was pregnant for the past several months.
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