thanks jessi, this article is great. and thanks for adopting a bunch of unwanted kids, because we know you wouldn't be a hypocrite who doesn't want them either. and thanks for supporting birth control, unlike most pro-lifers who think that birth control equals promiscuity, and prevent women from acquiring it on 'religious' grounds.

how would not adopting unwanted kids make her a hypocrite? They are not her kids moron.

While I agree that a National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers is going overboard, here is what I always hate about pro-lifers. They try to extend their morality on everyone else. Now it's one thing to extend morality to certain things that the whole of society thinks are wrong: Murder, robbery, rape, fraud, etc. But a whole lot of us don't believe that abortion is murder. While I do believe that having less abortions by encouraging people to be more responsible with birth control would be preferrable, at some levels of society it just has not taken.

My fellow pro-choicers have a PR problem as well, as they often seem to come off as pro-abortion. That's an image I like to distance myself from as well. As a male who is pro-choice, if I got a girl pregnant the choice would be hers. If she wanted to have the baby, I would support her and be a father to the child. If she wanted an abortion, I would support her as well. Not enough men, though, would take the responsibility of raising the child.

Also, while having the child and giving it up for adoption sounds great, our foster care system isn't exactly wonderful, especially if a child is not adopted within the first year or so of life. While some would say, "Well, it's better to give them a chance," I would respond with, "For many of them it might be better if they were not born." Especially if everyone went to term, our foster care system would soon become like our prison system. Overcrowded and a drain on resources that can be better spent elsewhere.

But shouldn't you think about the effects that having sex can have on your life? Why not be responsible and think about your actions instead of worrying about it later...I guess one who believes in abortion would just say that having the abortion is being responsible...but why should we have so many chances in a situation like this...compared to other things...How many chances do we need to set ourselves right? Most likely if you get pregnant, you didn't wear a condom, you weren't on birth control, and you had sex...3 chances you had, 3 you chose to ignore, why do you deserve a 4th?

Because you're assuming all those things. Do you actually know that most women who have abortions didn't use birth control? Of course not, but that doesn't stop you from saying it.
If I'm sexually active, it's within a committed relationship, with some sort of birth control. I'm aware of my cycles and know when I'm ovulating - most fertile. Choosing to have an abortion would be a devastating decision, and would have nothing to do with 'chances'.

But how many women who have an abortion can say that they used both birth control and a condom? I'd be willing to guess less than a percent...if you didn't use both, and you chose to do the deed, who's fault is that then? Be responsible for your actions instead of taking the easy way out.

"Abortions need to be minimized. Since Roe v. Wade, abortion has killed 46 million children."

Please desribe to me how a fetus is a child before birth.

Also, you desribe in your article that "choice" is more than just abortion, it includes adoption and child care. While this is true, it is hypocrytical to then impose your personal beliefs on other women. As a woman, I am personally pro-life. I do not know if I could ever have an abortion, no matter what the circumstances. But I am politically pro-choice because I do not have the right nor the power to make that decision for other women. Many women give birth to children that they cannot financially or emotionally support. And no, they are not "killing a child" because a fetus is not the same thing as a living, breathing child.

Question to the writer: if you are so against abortions, are you also against birth control pills that stop a fertilized egg from planting itself and growing into a fetus? Do you just never have sex or what? That sounds like a sad life to me, and women have the complete right to take control of their bodies.

I have a true example as of this year that can explain my point: I know a girl, a freshman at Madison here, who became pregnant. She refused to have an abortion, even though she has $240 in the bank (not enough to support a child) because she was morally against it. Being a premiscuous girl, she went out and drank every weekend at the bar. A week later, she miscarried because of the heavy drinking, and this was confirmed the reason at UW Hospital. So do you mean to tell me that this child should have been born, having been an alcohol-syndrome baby to an irresponsible mother, or should this young woman have gotten an abortion and gotten her life on track?

The abortion issue really has two fundamenal parts, both of which have been brought up here: whether the fetus deserves the status of personhood, and whether the government has the right to legislate a view on the first subject.

Above, someone wrote, "describe to me how a fetus is a child before birth." I would like her to describe to me how a fetus five minutes before birth is substantially different from one five minutes afterward. Why does location, in or out of the womb, determine personhood? From the moment of conception the developing fetus is a human life independent of the mother. It may not have the same intelligence, consciousness, size, ability to feel pain, etc, that a full grown adult has, but since when have these been criteria by which we judge another human's worth under the law? Is a murderer less culpable if their victim is mentally disabled, asleep, a child, or sedated? Every human being is a person, whether it's convenient or not.

Given this belief, how can I remain passive in the face of legalized abortion? If the fetus is a human life, then abortion is a violation of its civil rights, and comes under the authority of civil government. This is not simply about private morality. The fact that a large part of the population does not agree with me does not mean that my view should be excluded from politics. After all, not everyone believes in universal health care (which could be described as a "moral" issue), but the Democrats would pass it if they could. Moreover, the moral status of the fetus does not vary from mother to mother; either all fetuses are persons or none of them. Therefore it's an issue that can be publicly determined one way or the other, and put into law.

P.S. "Do you just never have sex or what? That sounds like a sad life to me"--and here I thought that was happiness i've been feeling these 20 years.

I didn't just hug my abortion doctor today, I made a $100 donation to Planned Parenthood in honor of Jessi Schober.

That young girl wouldn't have had to decide whether or not to have an abortion if she had been a responsible person and understood the consequences to her actions. As for drinking every weekend and the baby dying...put her on trial...seriously...irresponsibility at its worst.

i don't think a fetus can survive outside of the woman's body when it is a few weeks old. there is a big difference between 5 min before it is born and conception

Why has no one mentioned the fact that this discussion is putting all of the blame on the women. You are forgetting that sex when not rape is a consensual act and should be protected by both parties. Also to whomever said that a fetus is an independent life without the mother do you know anything about the birth proccess because obviously if you did you would realize that a fetus is completly incapable of sustaining any kind of life without the mother. It's also pretty funny that you all mention a women seeking support and counseling from these support groups when "pro lifers" also generally advocate for the defunding of organizations like planned parenthood which offer these services.
Im going to hug my abortion doctor today and say thanks for respecting mine and every womens right to chose what is done to her body

Why has no one mentioned the fact that this discussion is putting all of the blame on the women. You are forgetting that sex when not rape is a consensual act and should be protected by both parties. Also to whomever said that a fetus is an independent life without the mother do you know anything about the birth proccess because obviously if you did you would realize that a fetus is completly incapable of sustaining any kind of life without the mother. It's also pretty funny that you all mention a women seeking support and counseling from these support groups when "pro lifers" also generally advocate for the defunding of organizations like planned parenthood which offer these services.
Im going to hug my abortion doctor today and say thanks for respecting mine and every womens right to chose what is done to her body

Why has no one mentioned the fact that this discussion is putting all of the blame on the women. You are forgetting that sex when not rape is a consensual act and should be protected by both parties. Also to whomever said that a fetus is an independent life without the mother do you know anything about the birth proccess because obviously if you did you would realize that a fetus is completly incapable of sustaining any kind of life without the mother. It's also pretty funny that you all mention a women seeking support and counseling from these support groups when "pro lifers" also generally advocate for the defunding of organizations like planned parenthood which offer these services.
Im going to hug my abortion doctor today and say thanks for respecting mine and every womens right to chose what is done to her body