Abortion

Overview

Abortion is the killing and removal of a fetus before birth. It is generally only an issue with regard to human birth, where it is forbidden by many religions and opposed by others. It is also illegal in some countries, and more countries make it illegal as the fetus comes closer to term.

In the United States, proponents of legalized abortion generally describe themselves as "Pro-Choice", while those who seek to restrict or criminalize abortion generally describe themselves as "Pro-Life". Feelings on both sides tend to run very high, but extremists on the "Pro-Life" side are known for terroristic and harrassing behavior in their attempts to prevent women from obtaining abortions. [Editor's note: yes, I know I need some documentation for this; this is based on repeated news stories about pro-life groups picketing abortion clinics, making threats against doctors who perform abortions, and even occasional acts of bodily harm or murder. You never hear about pro-choice groups doing anything even remotely similar. If this is because of bias in the media, I'm open to hear about it, and to document any examples of bad behavior on the "pro-choice" side.]

Reference

• Wikipedia: |Abortion| |Abortion debate|

Related Articles

• reproductive issues
  • birth control
  • sex education
  • extramarital sex

Effects

• 2005-09-11 Orson Scott Card reiterates an argument (originally posed in the book Freakonomics) that the legalization of abortion in the U.S. has led to a dramatic decrease in the crime rate two decades later: http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2005-09-11-1.html
  • Obviously this does not prove a connection, but the evidence deserves further examination.
  • If a connection can be established, then there also remains the ethical question of whether a decline in crime is worth the cost of the increase in abortions, to which some groups might well answer "no". (Most groups would probably base their answer on the questions of how much crime and how many more abortions, while hardliners will tend to be unwavering.)

Positions

• 1995-03-25 Pope John Paul II restates the Catholic Church's position on abortion and other "life" issues, with links to keyword indices

News

• 2006-06-21 Anti-Choice Legislators Have Gone Too Far (should eventually go in anti-abortion article)
• 2006-01-27 Abortion-rights and anti-abortion groups share some values

Humor

• 2006-08-01 Thinking of the children (D.C. Simpson, I Drew This): right-to-life vs. early childhood welfare