And here comes the anti woman, misogynistic brigade yet again to tell women what they ought to do with themselves! Perhaps people like you Cora would do better to concern yourself with the rights of actual living children such as those receiving abuse at the hands of neglectful and monstrous adults than the perceived rights of a cluster of cells, yet to achieve a conscious state of being, to whom a woman can decide whether or not she wishes to give the potential of life to.

Spot on Cora

Man (or is he a mouse?) telling woman that she’s part of the “anti woman, misogynistic brigade.” Connor if you had brains you’d be dangerous.
Connor tells Cora that she would do better to concern herself with thr rights of living children. Apart from the fact that he has no idea what Cora does the fact that a man would tell a woman what she should do is, err, misogynistic?
Keep it up Connor!

I am afraid Cora you can’t stop someone from taking the trip to the UK. I have little doubt that these tests will add to such travel. It is bordering on eugenics but I would not ban the technology.

“We must ensure that such discriminations do not get a foothold in this country.” Wake up. They’re already here. And I love this idea that if you force a woman to have an unwanted daughter, the daughter will absolutely be treated wonderfully. Sex selective abortions are representative of the fact that in a lot of cultures, a son is valued more than a daughter. Maybe allowing women to control their reproductive systems might actually make a difference in that.

“As we know, basic biology teaches us that the unborn life is already alive and a member of the human race so there is no question if their being “given” rights by anyone. Those rights are inherent, it is only up to us to respect them.” – That is your opinion. Biology has a hell of a lot of conflicting ideas as to what life is and what it means. Nature is actually the biggest abortion provider, so I have no idea where this idea that it’s “unnatural” comes from.

And it’s anti woman for you to try to interfere in a private decision between myself, my partner and my doctor, thanks.

@Nick -

I share your disgust at the fact that in too many cultures, a son is valued more than a daughter. When this results in sex-selective abortion, it represents the most extreme form of gender discrimination and as such we should all work together to end its acceptance in any society.

I can’t see how allowing women to control their reproductive systems would make a difference to this. Sex-selective abortions are based on a false recognition that men are more valuable to society than women – the way to attack such notions is to emphasise the inherent worth and dignity of every human life, regardless of gender. Control of reproductive systems is really something separate.

My comment regarding biology is not an opinion – it’s based on basic embryology. A human life exists at conception. We may disregard the rights of that life through our laws or beliefs, but such laws cannot affect the fundamental fact that life exists.

Is Nature the biggest abortion provider? Well, not if you think about what an abortion actually is – an action on the part of a human being to bring about the intentional end to the life of a separate unborn human being where the sole intention is to end that unborn life. We don’t have any control over what “Nature” does so the ending of unborn life in that way can only be a miscarriage, not an abortion. There is no element of “intention” involved.

Finally, I would repeat that it is in no way “anti-woman” for me to advocate a position which seeks to defend the right to life of an unborn human life who may be at risk of having his/her life ended. An abortion is not the “private decision” that you would like it to be for the simple reason that a human life is at risk and is unable to defend himself/herself. In such cases, it is up to the rest of society to ensure that the life at risk is not arbitrarily ended.

Well, not if you think about what an abortion actually is – an action on the part of a human being to bring about the intentional end to the life of a separate unborn human being where the sole intention is to end that unborn life. – Ah, you’re talking about a termination, rather than an abortion. An abortion includes both termination and miscarriage. Have you actually ready any embryonic textbooks? The purpose of a termination is to separate the foetus from the mother, rather than to specifically kill it.

And I’m very sorry that you seem to believe that one of the basic tenets for women to achieve equality is not for women to be able to choose not to have children or to have more children than they’ feel able to deal with.

Nature is actually pretty specific about letting abnormal foetuses come to term. For example, approximately 80% of Down’s Syndrome conceptions are miscarried or “spontaneously aborted”.

http://miscarriage.about.com/od/congenitaldisorders/qt/downsyndrome.htm

As for “basic biology” defining life as beginning at conception, “life” itself is pretty loosely defined.

I think a foetus is a person, actually. But I do not believe that a person ever has the right to live off of another human being without their consent. I believe at any time, a woman has the right to have a foetus removed from her body. In our society, we do not force parents to give an organ or a blood donation to a child who needs it desperately and I see this as no different.

At least you’re honest. Abortion up until birth (and beyond, up until 18 years if you stretch the “live off of another person” definition).
I wonder, is “live off of” the only criteria that you would apply to justify abortion on demand?

Liam: the argument is about using another person’s body in order to stay alive, nothing else. They are not independent, they cannot survive without the woman’s body. There is no other instance when a person is legally compelled to use their body to keep another person alive. Why should it be different in this case? Especially when pregnancy is such a dangerous thing and alters a person’s body forever?

That’s the crux of the matter – it doesn’t matter if you believe a fetus is a human baby or not. It’s just about whether you believe a living, breathing person has a right over their own body or not.