Can we talk pro-life and Pro choice...

That whole "quiverful" movement disturbs me. And I had four children. But I had them because I chose that and was completely prepared for all the responsibilities that came with a larger family. Not because someone else ("god") made the decision for me. Just as I don't think anyone else ("the government") should make the decision for me either.

Thank you muggins for sharing your very personal experience with this. It helps illuminate the discussion.

I don’t understand those who claim they are for smaller government and religious freedom but also anti abortion. How it OK to impose your moral values or religious beliefs on others?

I am pro choice. I became pro choice at a pretty young age (12-13), when my parents took me to church to learn about the evil of killing babies. It was a presentation by an organization with rose or roses in the title. They showed us a movie where a discarded fetus is tossed into a trash can, after an abortion. The trash can tips over and this bloody "thing" comes crawling out, with a faint cry. It was the most ridiculous D list horror movie I had ever seen, and I knew I would spend the rest of my life with that kind of fiction trying to poison peoples minds about a medical procedure. Roe had been decided in '73, and this was probably '78. I knew all kinds of things my parents would have never approved of thanks to my hippie babysitter turned friend when I no longer needed a sitter.

I had six miscarriages that I know of, before DS was born. After the 4th one, I stopped taking tests until I was 3 months late. I was still a practicing Catholic at the time, and believed if God wanted us to have a child, it would happen, so we did not seek medical intervention. To the best of my knowledge, none of our pro birth family or friends ever questioned if I killed our unborn babies. I know for a fact not a single one ever said they were sorry for the loss of our child. Just the standard it wasn't meant to be, next time will be different, God needed another precious angel, blah blah blah. My personal favorite was it probably had something genetically wrong, so it's a blessing the baby is with Heavenly Father, and not burdened with earthly limitations. WTF? Things that make you go hummmm? for $500 Alex. I've always felt abortion (medical necessity aside) is no different than artificial insemination. Both are science playing God for your own purpose.

When I see the folks who say it's "killing a baby" start voting in favor of making sure every child in the country is fed, housed and educated, and when there are no more kids aging out of foster care, I'll believe it might actually be about concern for the life of a child.

Until then, it's obviously just a desire to control and punish evil women who have sex outside of marriage. And there's also a strong but unspoken feeling that these women have an obligation to birth a child they can't afford so it can be adopted by a deserving family.

I got into a screaming match with one of my brothers around the time of the Brett Kavanaugh hearings and I simply repeated again and again that it is a privacy issue. I’m a mother of two daughters and I am terrified about what could happen to their rights to privacy and decision making about their own bodies if Trump is re-elected. You can tell me until you’re blue in the face why you’re pro-life or what Jesus thinks or how so many people would love to adopt the babies and I’ll simply respond that you have no right to interfere in the relationship between a woman and her doctor. It’s as simple as that. At least for now...

I am pro-choice all the way. If anyone tries to engage me in a “pro-life” conversation on the subject, I tell them if men could get pregnant, there would be a drive-through abortion clinic on every corner. That usually shuts them up long enough for me to get away.

That is it in a nutshell for me. I can't even count the number of times over the years that people on this very board, who I know are staunch Republicans, have vehemently said they are against food stamps and Medicaid and subsidized day care and mandatory maternity leave etc because "No one told you to have a kid!" Well, if some people have their way, yeah, women will indeed be forced to have a kid. It's mind boggling to me how those who claim to be pro life are against every single program that would actually help a mom in difficult situations be able to raise a happy and stable child who grows into a productive adult.

I am a puzzle of a person, and I know this. I was raised Catholic, went to Catholic schools, etc. But I knew from a pretty young age that I was pro choice. As an adult who started to raise her children in the Catholic faith, I was torn. I live in a conservative city/metropolitan area where I had friends with bumpers stickers on their cars that said "You can't be Catholic AND pro choice." But I was. And I am embarrassed to say I never spoke up.

I am embarrassed now to say that I mostly voted Republican, too. While I knew that Republicans were pro life, I honestly felt like since abortion was legal, it would stay that way, and I leaned conservative for other reasons that were more financially motivated and states rights motivated.

I so very much wish I had paid more attention. Since I was raised in such a conservative family, I just sort of "adopted" those views for myself. Again, I am embarrassed to say that. I have never been a registered Republican, but that is mostly how I have voted. Now, I can't imagine there is a Republican candidate for any office that would make me want to vote R.

There is so much more I could write, but I am struggling to put my thoughts into words. Abortion is such a complicated issue. And those who have them late in the pregnancy don't just blissfully decide one day they don't want a baby and go off to find a doctor to kill it. That is so ridiculous. I work for an organization that supports parents who lose a baby during pregnancy or as a newborn, and I have met and talked with so many parents who found out their baby had a profound problem and ended their pregnancy later. It sure as hell was not done gleefully as some politicians like to imply. And like someone else mentioned, it is expensive and insurance doesn't always cover it. Depending on what state you live in, you may have to travel out of state to end a pregnancy of a baby you want and fiercely love. The stories are so heartbreaking. This should not be a political issue. I wish that every politician that rails about the evils of late term abortions should have to sit down across the table from someone who is sobbing about how they couldn't sleep or eat or even function because all they could think about was their baby suffering inside of them. When they are able, these parents are induced, deliver their baby and spend precious hours with him or her. It is absolutely nothing like what it is often described as.

I will get off my soapbox now. Sorry for the rant, this is just a topic that is near and dear to me.

Yes, some people can be quite obtuse about the economic realities of the working poor. It’s a shame they won’t look outside their own bubble of reality at how others might be struggling.

To answer their questions, I’d reply with, “Why should a woman have to bear a child because of your personal morality?”

I'll be honest with you, I am pro-life. I do absolutely believe abortion is killing a child. I also believe that Roe vs. Wade is settled law. I see no reason to impose my belief system upon others. I 110% support birth control.  And I 110% support policies that help women be able to raise the children that result from unplanned pregnancies. I support Planned Parenthood.  And I also support my local Catholic social services that counsel and aid women on abortion.  I donated all my baby things back in the day to their organization because their mission is to aid women who want to keep their babies despite being poor.  They help women navigate Medicaid and WIC.  And that's a mission I can support.  

In other words, I want to help women have a true choice because I believe in my heart that that's what I need to do to save babies.  I choose not to put my time and effort into overturning the law and taking away the right to choose.  In my mind it is a matter akin to behaving in the right way because it's the right thing to do, not just because your mother is watching.  In other words, I want women to make the right choice because it is the right choice, not because the government has mandated they raise kids they didn't plan for.  I  fully believe that even if abortion were illegal that desperate women would find a way and that would be dangerous. And I don't want women harmed.  I want abortion to continue to be safe and treated like a medical procedure.  

I just don’t bother discussing it. There is no point. I am pro choice, always have been. I am even more pro birth control. Overturning Roe v Wade will not stop abortions; it will only make them more unsafe.

I'm a Christ follower. Here's my take on religious freedom: It gives me the freedom to practice my faith, not a mandate to tell you how to live your life.

That said, I don't like abortion(I don't think anyone LOVES it), but I'm not anti-choice. It's not a black and white situation. I don't buy into the BS that evangelicals spout off about it. I've known too many people with absolutely valid reasons for the choices they've made and I don't think I've heard anyone express regrets about that choice.

I could go on and on, but per the usual, most peas say it better than I could.

I do believe Trump has likely paid for his share of abortions. If he's pro life, I'm a super model.

Unless they are disabled in some way. Or black or brown. 

I appreciate you sharing your story. The pro-choice movement needs to help remove the stigma.  

That said, I will never call the forced birth faction, pro-life. There is nothing pro-life about their movement at all. They are in fact trying to force women to give birth. We need to label them what they are!

This is me to a T. I think it's really most pro-choice people.

My issue with many people who claim to be pro-life is that they are really pro-birth. They don't care about immigrants trying to make a better life/ They don't care about DACA recipients. They don't care about BLM. they don't care about peaceful protesters. They don't care about athletes trying to make a statement.

I am a Catholic and I am against abortion but I don't think it's my right to judge anyone about the issue. It is a decision that must be made between her, her donctor, and her god. And the government and I don't have a right to judge.