Comment by John L-M on 6th mo. 5, 2009 at 12:25pm

I am prayerfully pro-choice but I know that everyone, both pro-choice and anti-choice folks, are interested in lowering the need or "demand" for abortion. I volunteer at my local Planned Parenthood; they help women get access to contraception. Perhaps, helping women get access to contraception is something that everyone can support and get behind regardless of their political and or religious stance regarding choice?

A good website on this topic: www.rcrc.org

Thank you for posting this, Friend!

Comment by Joanna Hoyt on 6th mo. 7, 2009 at 12:02pm

In the US at least I think that taking away the occasion of abortion would have to include a shift in how our culture portrays sexuality. Over here advertisements constantly play on people's wish to be sexually attractive, or fear of being unattractive, and it seems to me that sexual self-restraint is taken as a sign of unattractiveness. A communal understanding of sex as sacramental, relational and requiring discipline would probably result in fewer unplanned pregnancies.
I suppose reducing unplanned pregnancies is a goal most people could agree on--the divisive part only comes up when we consider how to handle unwanted pregnancies that have already occurred. Personally I don't find myself comfortable with either the pro-life or the pro-choice positions. I don't know if there is an adequate solution in the public domain. I think the kind of strengthened communities you talk about might be able to make this discernment better that government bodies or lone individuals.

Comment by Forrest Curo on 6th mo. 13, 2009 at 12:12pm

http://www.truthout.org/061209WA

Comment by marv ostberg on 7th mo. 13, 2009 at 10:44pm

a very difficult problem for sure is abortion. to put things in a historical prospective in my case: i had a mother who raised us two boys and was alway open and honest, sometimes to an embarrassing fault. when i was a young teen she told me that before i was born - in 1936 - she had "several" abortions. she said that in my case she was "going to keep this one". apparently then the issue was money as she was married. like most people they were very, very poor in those days. in any case all i could think to tell her was: "thanks mom". so you see this is far from a new problem. i did not probe how she got the abortion, but my understanding is that there have always been some willing doctors. it was not treated as a big deal until it became a big deal in roe - wade. some may not know that the filer for the legalization of abortions named there is now "pro-life" and claims she was pressured by women's activitists to pursue it.

what would i do? i want to make morning after pills very cheap, or even free and readily available without a doctor. and i would make them available to men as well as women. they have a say in this decision as well in my opinion. certainly the same should be true of condoms. however, making sex the dominating factor in a shallow or new relationship should be discouraged as much as possible. it is still the ultimate in special intimacy and should be given a lot of respect in that regard. and this is not about being a prude. it is more about treating people with respect and caring. then i keep going back to my mom's story. i never really pursued her motives, but birth control was difficult back then. my grandmother had 14 children and nearly had a nervous breakdown on several occasions because of it. mom was the oldest and had to be a "second mother" very early on. thus, she avoided having children until in her 30s. that she told me too.

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