As We See It: Abortion vote was misguided

Our argument is a simple one: that abortion is a personal decision and the government has no right to intrude. In 2003, the most recent date available, 848,163 legal abortions nationally were reported to the Centers for Disease Control. Estimates for the total number are higher, perhaps more than a million. According to the CDC, only one death resulted from a legal abortion. Those figures, as well as our belief that an individual's moral choice ought to be the deciding factor when it comes to abortion, argue that legal abortion ought to remain legal in the United States. So once again, we find ourselves agreeing with the intent of a City Council action, but in near disbelief over the way the council acted. We received dozens of letters to the editor last week reacting to the council's 5-2 decision.

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Abortion opponents rally in San Francisco to mark Roe v. Wade

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Thousands of abortion opponents are rallying in San Francisco today to mark the 34th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. The demonstrators began gathering at Justin Herman Plaza near the Embarcadero before noon to take part in the third annual "Walk for Life." Some carried black signs that read "Women Deserve Better Than Abortion." More than 100 abortion rights demonstrators rallied nearby and planned to shadow the anti-abortion protesters. Similar events are being held in other major U.S. cities to mark the historic 1973 Roe versus Wade court ruling.   ©2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Abortion: A male perspective

Abortion is a topic I have strong opinions about. Some may argue, however, that my opinions are unimportant, first, because I am male, second, because I have never impregnated anyone, and third, I don't have the worries of becoming pregnant. I want to banish these absurd arguments. Just because someone's gender is male doesn't mean that he's not intelligent or informed enough to pass judgement on the matter. If I were to be in a situation where my partner was pregnant, I would not be irresponsible about it. I would not tell her it's her fault and that she will have to deal with that problem. So the options are almost as much mine as they are the potential mother's. The term 'pro-life' is really laughable, if it is used in the context of simply being against abortion. To me, I am pro-life because I respect the fact that a child should only be bought into a world if it can be looked after and provided for sufficiently.

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Change tone of abortion debate

If Americans changed the abortion debate to a factual discussion rather than an emotional one, we'd be surprised by what we would discover. For example, why does not one U.S. pro-life organization support contraception, even though it is the only proven way to reduce abortion? Rather, pro-life groups lead campaigns against contraception. If our national discussion centered on policies shown to reduce abortion, we'd learn that the steepest decline in abortion rates happened during our first pro-choice presidency, Bill Clinton's. If this debate centered on results rather than remonstrations we'd see that countries with the lowest abortion rates have adopted the strongest pro-choice policies. Then pro-life Americans could discover that countries with the highest abortion rates have, sadly, the staunchest pro-life policies.

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2007 Legislative Session Could Be Abortion Battleground

With the 2007 legislative session still more than a week away, it's already shaping up to include a number of contentious issues -- including abortion. Groups on both sides of the abortion divide said this week they plan on backing specific legislative measures, and are looking to the new leadership in the House of Delegates for help. West Virginians For Life, an anti-abortion group, wants to revive the stricter parental notification measure that the Legislature didn't pass earlier this year. They also want to see limits on the types of abortions funded by Medicaid. Abortion rights group WV Free, though, will oppose both measures and is looking to endorse legislation giving more funding to family planning programs. New House Speaker Rick Thompson is considered an ally by anti-abortion groups.

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Guttmacher Institute, State funding of abortion under Medicaid ...

Nearly half of pregnancies among American women are unintended, and four in 10 of these are terminated by abortion. Twenty-four percent of all pregnancies (excluding miscarriages) end in abortion. More than 47 million legal abortions have occurred since 1973 through 2005. About half of American women have experienced an unintended pregnancy, and at current rates more than one-third will have had an abortion by age 45. WHO HAS ABORTIONS Fifty-two percent of U.S. women obtaining abortions are younger than 25: Women aged 20–24 obtain 33% of all abortions, and teenagers obtain 19%. Black women are almost four times as likely as white women to have an abortion, and Hispanic women are 2.5 times as likely. Forty-three percent of women obtaining abortions identify themselves as Protestant, and 27% as Catholic.] Over 60% of abortions are among women who have had one or more children.

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Abortion extremism exposed

Last week Planned Parenthood handed out about 1,000 free doses of an emergency-contraception pill at several locations around Iowa. The medicine, called Plan B, was recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for over-the-counter sales to adults. The idea was to draw attention to the availability of a drug that can reduce unwanted pregnancies. It did catch attention - of the Iowa Family Policy Center. The group sent out an e-mail asking people to "pick up a free package of Plan B, and then dispose of it." Among its stated concerns: The drug can abort an embryo. But how can the drug induce an abortion when there is no pregnancy? According to the FDA, Plan B is a "contraceptive drug" used to prevent pregnancy. Mainly it stops the release of an egg from the ovary.

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