also i see a lot of the prolife people making well thought out points with facts. many of the pro choice are like: you can't tell me what to do! sounds like spoiled teenagers

I'm not really either ... I personally believe that both sides of this argument miss the point ...

Abortion is one of the worst things in the world, not only are you denying life to something that is (or will become) a human you're also doing damage to your body (dramatically increasing the risk of several conditions and cancers) and performing an action which you will regret for the rest of your life. Abortion also adds no value to the world, unwanted pregnancies can be prevented by using a combination of birth control methods, and there are millions of loving couples (straight and gay) who are on long lists for the opportunity to love and raise a child.

At the same time there is nothing you can do to prevent abortions from happening. There seems to be an unlimited number of self absorbed people who will go through life making awful decisions in order to maximize their short term enjoyment; these people will become pregnant, use questionable "doctors" or personal techniques to perform an abortion if it becomes illegal. We live in an age where information on anything is readily available and it is likely that if abortion became illegal (or even difficult to obtain) thousands of scared women will do very stupid things in order to abort their pregnancy.

Basically, abortion is awful but we're stuck with it ...

That's the spirit!

I was just about to bash everybody in this thread for hiding behind pretty terms, but my beloved western neighbours showed their awesomess yet again. (Btw, please tell your countrymen to hurry up with Europa Universalis: Rome. Mine say they're almost done with Alan Wake.)

Anti-abortion people:

You're restricting a woman's right to do what she wants with her body, because you don't like looking at the pictures of something that might well be a retarded fish monkey.

Boo! Hiss! 

Pro-abortion people:

You're advocating the destruction of fetuses! Those things grow into perfectly good and adorable babies eventually.

Boo! Hiss! 

Anti-life and anti-choice are so much better terms for showing what a bad person you are. Pro-death works too, but you can't really be pro-no choice, can you?

What, a serious discussion? I view access to abortion as a fundamental human right. Sadly it seems to be in the same bin along with gay rights and the others that the rest of the world have trouble accepting. I'm shocked to see young educated people seriously debate such a basic matter, but then again this is the internet.

Foetuses =/= Babies. Get that out of your head. Foetuses share none of the things that make a baby have human rights.

No pro-choice person would ever advocate infanticide. The actual philosophy of pro-choice is to carefully examine each case to see what would be the bestchoice for all parties, not random killing.

Women do not have health problems merely from the act of having an abortion. Most foetuses spontaneously abort anyway.

One random professor does not consitute scientific consensus. Note he made a distinction that human life was precious. Foetuses aren't human and there is zero difference apart from DNA between early foetuses and animals. 

Because it is not evident that gods exist, there are no moral absolutes. Banning abortion would indiscriminately damage many lives, by being pro-totalitarianism.

I seriously doubt only 1/1000 abortions are due to real medical needs. Show me a scientically peer reviewed paper proving this. Designer babies by abortion is usually wrong, but again a careful examination of each set of circumstances is needed.

Actually it is true that only 1/1000 abortions are for a real reason but thats counting the whole world not just the U.S.

In countries like India millions of babies are aborted (mostly female) because there when a girl gets married her family must pay a dowry to the husband and they only benefit from male babies. In some towns in India the (surviving) Boy to Girl ratio is 100:75 or even worse in some occasions.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/01/09/news/india.php

I am pro choice, and that is not to say I am pro abortion as I would never push my girlfriend into abortion or advise anyone into it... either way I cant deny the fact that every person in the world have the right to decide for themselves, who am i to decide for them?

I also believe that context is important in deciding about this... for the teenage couple that were stupid enough to get pregnant (with all the birth control methods in the market) they should act appropriately and carry on with the pregnancy, but there are some cases, like high risk pregnancies of older women, cases in which there is risk of malformation for the baby, cases of risk to the life of the woman herself, cases of raped women all of those cases should have the right to decide if they keep on, or have an abortion. And if we give them the right, we cant deny all others... it would be sad to have an abortion for a birth-control-less one night stand but as I see it, only the people involved in it have the right to make a choice, not me that are writing behind a computer screen in a discussion forum.

 I said, peer-reviewed and scientific.

 That could turn into a bit of a sausage fest :(

Pro-life except for the situation that ArtofAngels described in his life. In that case, the mother and father would have to make the decision.

Otherwise, abortion is clearly murder if you ask me. The child, when it is implanted in the mother and starts to grow on its own, is a distinct being with its own genetic code. While it sounds heartless, I couldn't justify abortion when incest or rape occurs either. The baby is still a baby regardless of how it was conceived, so it's hard to say that murder of an innocent is then acceptable.

Also I would note that there is more common ground on this issue than there may seem. I think most of us would agree that preventing unwanted pregnancies is important, and thus things like contraception and the morning-after pill (which prevents any fertilized egg from being implanted). I think since there are such deep divisions over this issue that energy should be focused not on the disagreements, but on how abortions can be made less and less in demand - something folks on all sides of the issue can agree on.

you meant people in the united states, didnt you? from what i could see till now, most europeans here are a bit more liberal, but then the christian god only speaks to americans these days anyways. 

i just wonder why these topics. next up: for or against prostitution, for or against flag burning, for or against advanced questioning methods. with the last one actually funnily reversed in opinions (usa:lovin it, rest: not so big on it).