Is the "morning after" pill considered abortion?

[ophie]

Abortion is defined irrelevant of intent.

 

[totalia]

Pretty much anything but havig uprotected sex and having the baby without considering any other options can be considered abortion.

 

[ophie]

Pretty much anything but havig uprotected sex and having the baby without considering any other options can be considered abortion.

Sorry?

 

[Michelina]

I don't consider it to be an abortion because it is preventing pregnancy and not terminating it.

 

[HomeSweetDisney]

Nope, I don't see it as abortion.

 

[nocnurse]

Count me in the not abortion category.

And just to throw a little gasoline on the fire..................

I was watching The Daily Show last night (my favorite), and John Stewart was interviewing the auther of a book called Freakonomics. He was explaining in a very economist manner, how the principles of economics can be applied to all kinds of practical issues. The most controversial one was abortion (of course). After running data through all these economist formulas, he found that states where more abortions were performed had lower crime rates 20 years later. The conclusion he came to was that unwanted children were more likely to become criminals. Less unwanted children-less crime. After assuring John Stewart that he had factored in all kinds of other plausible reasons for this, he still was left with this correlation between abortion rates and crime rates 20 years later.

Now, I know this is a comedy show, not a real news show. I also have not read this book myself, so I can't sit here and pretend to know how valid the whole thing is, but it's an interesting point. It also led my twisted mind to think that if he is right, could abortions be considered just pre-emptive death row executions?

I can't help it. Thoughts like this just pop into my head. But, it's always seemed kind of weird to me that the places that are most fervently anti-abortion are just as equally pro-death penalty.

Just to let you know, I've been staring at this post for 10 minutes debating whether I should just x out of here, or take the plunge and submit. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, and I know I'm asking to be char-broiled but good. Still, I was just dumb-founded by what this guy was saying. It seems kind of obvious, but I would have never even thought of it.

Well here it goes.

 

[totalia]

Sorry?

Ok, let me explain. I can't believe this isn't obvious as it is.

ANYTHING that prevents pregnancy can be called abortion.

 

[Christine]

There will be no winner in this because everyone's idea of abortion is different. I think in order to have an abortion, you have to have a viable fetus. Other people believe that all you need is a fertilized egg. A fertilized egg is not yet a human--it is a "potential" human as is an egg and a sperm. Until the egg implants into the uterine wall, all the changes and stages it goes through to become a fetus cannot and will not happen. It's not as it the fertilized egg is traveling through the fallopian tubes doing anything. Nothing happens until implantation.

So, that's why *I* don't think it's abortion. As you know, from the embryonic stem cell debates, other people have different definitions.

 

[Maleficent2]

Many fertilized eggs are not implanted, but they aren't considered miscarriages. I would think that an egg needs to implant before an abortion can occur

exactly. NO it is not abortion

a·bor·tion (-bôrshn) KEY

NOUN:


Termination of pregnancy and expulsion of an embryo or of a fetus that is incapable of survival.
Any of various procedures that result in such termination and expulsion. Also called induced abortion .
The premature expulsion of a nonviable fetus from the uterus; a miscarriage.
Cessation of normal growth, especially of an organ or other body part, prior to full development or maturation.
An aborted organism.
Something malformed or incompletely developed; a monstrosity.

 

[yeartolate]

If used as a "morning after pill" - it will not likely cause an abortion because implantation is not likely to occured at that stage.

If we are talking RU 486 - of course it is an abortion - it can only be used once a pregnancy has occured.

 

[6_Time_Momma]

Ok, let me explain. I can't believe this isn't obvious as it is.

ANYTHING that prevents pregnancy can be called abortion.

How on earth do you figure that?

 

[JudicialTyranny]

I can't help it. Thoughts like this just pop into my head. But, it's always seemed kind of weird to me that the places that are most fervently anti-abortion are just as equally pro-death penalty.

But I would say that the opposite exists also - you have people who are fervently against the death penalty (for criminals), but pro-abortion (of the innocent).

Another contradiction I sometimes see are the people who are anti-smoking (of tobacco) but proponents of legalization of marijuana. Smoking is smoking, no matter what you smoke.

 

[BethR]

But, it's always seemed kind of weird to me that the places that are most fervently anti-abortion are just as equally pro-death penalty.

This may be true in some "places," but it is not in the Catholic Church. And that is what helped me form my opinions on this issue.

 

[Galahad]

How on earth do you figure that?

Sure. A good headache is an abortion.

 

[Lisa F]

You must be very popular with the ladies.

If he was, would he be spending all kinds of time on the DIS?

 

[mick67]

The thread asks "Is the 'morning after' pill considered abortion?"

Life begins at conception. You have to draw a line somewhere, and sperm entering egg is what starts the whole thing. Ending the natural process in a pre-meditated fashion, like taking a pill or having an abortion procedure, is abortion. I don't think the point at which the cluster of cells becomes a "human" is relevant to abortion. At the moment of fertilization, the woman is pregnant. Termination of a pregnancy is abortion.

The morning after pill can be taken regardless of whether the woman is actually pregnant or not, so an abortion could be the result without the woman actually knowing it.

It is reasonable to assume that, on occasion, the morning after pill is abortion.

 

[Beth76]

Pretty much anything but havig uprotected sex and having the baby without considering any other options can be considered abortion........

....ANYTHING that prevents pregnancy can be called abortion.

OK. Well that statement is just incorrect. This is not a matter of opinion. Preventing a pregnancy means not being pregnant. You have to be pregnant in order to have an abortion. Did you read the definition. I can fully understand the question/debate of whether or not the morning after pill is an abortion. But, what you just said is complete nonsense. I am currently not having sex, nor delivering a baby. Does that mean I'm also currently having an abortion? If I didn't know you, Totalia, I would call you a troll.

It also led my twisted mind to think that if he is right, could abortions be considered just pre-emptive death row executions?

This is very interesting because a friend of mine came up with this same exact "theory" a few years ago. She came into work one day and said she had an "epiphany" while sitting in traffic. And then relayed pretty much the exact thing that you said and what the guest on the show said.

 

[momo3hods]

Couldn't have said it better Mick67.....

 

[6_Time_Momma]

Sure. A good headache is an abortion.

 

[chadfromdallas]

If he was, would he be spending all kinds of time on the DIS?

over 4,000 posts and an active lifestyle. YOu can have a life and Dis you know

(you just can't get anything done in the mornings or at work )