S.C. women now required by law to view ultrasound images before having an abortion

[KukriKhan]

It's just too bad there is such a disconnect between the ~1 million US abortions per year, and the ~1 million adoption-seekers and IVF couples. Both groups consist of relatively anguished women, seeking a different life than the one fate has currently handed them.

If passed in SC, I think it'll be on the 2008 SCOTUS agenda, near the top.

[Whacker]

I think something that many people are completely failing to take into account is the amount of emotional baggage forced on a woman by making her have the child. Not only is it extremely taxing to a woman mentally and physically to go through a pregnancy and all the pain and misery of the birth, BUT there's a well known, instinctual mother-child bond that forms during said process. So not only has she now had to go through the entire process, she now is going to give up the child that she has this bond with to adoption, that she didn't want to have in the first place for whatever reason. The alternative of course is that she now keeps the child, but there will always be those memories in the back of her mind that she did not want this child. There may even be some resentment, and the child may be mistreated as such. I have a friend who falls into this category, thankfully he turned out ok, but his mother actually tried to poison him when he was in his early teens, and eventually turned him over to an adoption agency then when his paternal grandmother stepped into to raise him. He once described to me how it felt to stand there in court with his mother saying in a stony cold manner that she did not want her child anymore. I can't possibly imagine going through something like that.

My stance for the record. I am fully pro-choice, WITH the caveat that it should be done within the 1st or 2nd trimester unless some extreme extenuating circumstances arise. I think that all abortions should be done as humanely as possible, some of the methods used do make me sick to think about. Sorry but I don't subscribe to the "but it's a life, think of all the people we've killed" outlook, this world has way too many people right now as is. I can guarantee you that these are all well thought out and very hard made choices when women choose to do this. Anyone who presumes otherwise is fooling themselves. The whole "it's a disgusting contraceptive version" argument is for the most part preposterous and used by hardcore religious types to try and push their pro-life agenda. I have had two women very close to me go through this process and I can tell you it's traumatic enough without hypocrits and disgusting religious zealots yelling at you and calling you a whore and a sinner.

Also Mr. Goof, I gotta disagree with you on the execution thing. Some people deserve to die for what they've done to others, especially those who violate children in depraved ways in my view. By forcing people on a jury to watch an execution would be the exact same thing in my view as what this despicable law is proposing, it is completely unnecessary, overkill, and intimidation. Before anyone goes here, I do understand and believe that our justice system is flawed in a number of ways... But it's not going to stop, and I still think that certain people don't deserve to live for the crimes they've done. I guess one of the things I'm in favor of is severe penalties for overzealous prosection that leads innocents to jail time, or worse the chair. Texas seems to be a very bad offender of this... But then again look what Texas has produced over the past few years (Bush Sr. and Jr.).

/shrug

[KukriKhan]

Just a point of order: Bush Sr is from New England, not Texas.

[Whacker]

I still blame Texas though.

Edit - \/ \/ \/ \/ The only thought I have right now is the famous line from Full Metal Jacket. You know the one I'm talking about.

[Strike For The South]

I still blame Texas though.

Do you have a death wish?

Anyway. I still stand by this when sperm meets egg that is when a human starts and in my veiw if you harm it you should be held accountable. Thats the idealist side of me however the realist side of me realizes this is just one of things I must sawllow. I will not bomb clincs nor hold any women who have had one as second class. As to Goof I know some kids who had mothers in some suitations in which people may have had an abortion and are very thankful they been given the gift of life, so women do not have a monoply on this.

[Lemur]

I still stand by this when sperm meets egg that is when a human starts and in my veiw if you harm it you should be held accountable.

If that's your belief, then you should be even more upset about rhythm method contraception than abortion. Current science shows that the rhythm method does not prevent conception, but rather allows the blastocyst to form under unfavorable conditions. Should be noted that this is the only method of birth control permitted by the Catholic Church.

In other words, sperm meets egg, they make a dividing cellular structure, but due to the conditions of the womb at that time of the month, the implantation usually fails. We're talking about massive numbers of spontaneous abortions, allowed and encouraged by one of the most conservative bodies on the planet.

I think what this reveals is that the issue is a tad more complicated than "sperm meets egg."

[Rodion Romanovich]

Interesting. I wonder if this will lower abortion rates, or if it'll keep the abortion rates constant but make those people who watch these images to get less concerned over killing something that they have seen moving, and result in increased brutality.

Also it's a bit too late to try and moralize when the couples have already come to the abortion clinic - perhaps this thing should be shown to highschool kids instead? Preventive measures usually work better when done beforehand.

Finally, this suggestion seems to be a traditional attempt at humiliating and pointing accusing fingers towards people and calling them spawns of Satan. It will be rather contraproductive to show this to women who often out of difficult social situations are forced to make this decision - which is already quite difficult for them - to face such accusations and discrimination because of their ideology and situation.

Show these videos at high school instead, not at the abortion clinic...

This suggestion is more about wanting someone to call evil, than about seriously trying to decrease the amounts of abortions. That is at least what consequences it will have.

[Goofball]

I think something that many people are completely failing to take into account is the amount of emotional baggage forced on a woman by making her have the child. Not only is it extremely taxing to a woman mentally and physically to go through a pregnancy and all the pain and misery of the birth, BUT there's a well known, instinctual mother-child bond that forms during said process. So not only has she now had to go through the entire process, she now is going to give up the child that she has this bond with to adoption, that she didn't want to have in the first place for whatever reason. The alternative of course is that she now keeps the child, but there will always be those memories in the back of her mind that she did not want this child. There may even be some resentment, and the child may be mistreated as such. I have a friend who falls into this category, thankfully he turned out ok, but his mother actually tried to poison him when he was in his early teens, and eventually turned him over to an adoption agency then when his paternal grandmother stepped into to raise him. He once described to me how it felt to stand there in court with his mother saying in a stony cold manner that she did not want her child anymore. I can't possibly imagine going through something like that.

My stance for the record. I am fully pro-choice, WITH the caveat that it should be done within the 1st or 2nd trimester unless some extreme extenuating circumstances arise. I think that all abortions should be done as humanely as possible, some of the methods used do make me sick to think about. Sorry but I don't subscribe to the "but it's a life, think of all the people we've killed" outlook, this world has way too many people right now as is. I can guarantee you that these are all well thought out and very hard made choices when women choose to do this. Anyone who presumes otherwise is fooling themselves. The whole "it's a disgusting contraceptive version" argument is for the most part preposterous and used by hardcore religious types to try and push their pro-life agenda. I have had two women very close to me go through this process and I can tell you it's traumatic enough without hypocrits and disgusting religious zealots yelling at you and calling you a whore and a sinner.

Amen, brutha...

Also Mr. Goof, I gotta disagree with you on the execution thing. Some people deserve to die for what they've done to others, especially those who violate children in depraved ways in my view. By forcing people on a jury to watch an execution would be the exact same thing in my view as what this despicable law is proposing, it is completely unnecessary, overkill, and intimidation.

That was exactly the point I was trying to make.