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hilbert: do we sterilize rapists? i don't think so. and i wouldn't advocate cutting their penises off either. i find it somewhat disturbing that i'm being asked to compare a woman who gets an abortion to a rapist.
I am certainly not advocating abortion as a birth control method. I'm not even defending abortion, it's an ugly horrible thing that no one enjoys. but even in the worst case you cannot force someone to raise a child, force someone give a child up for adoption or force someone to be sterilized. such acts are counter to a free society and besides being extremely cruel would never be legally enforceable. we live in a country built upon a respect for personal freedoms even when individuals use those freedoms unwisely, i'm glad. I would agree that suggesting birth control option to any woman who gets an abortion is a good idea and most state require counseling which usually includes a birth control discussion.
i also find the argument that you should have a say in a woman's abortion because you're paying for it extremely questionable. i've been looking online trying to find a figure representing the percentage of planned parenthoods budget that is government money and what percentage of that money goes towards abortion but i'm having a hard time. however, i do know that lots of people who go to planned parenthood pay for the services -- it's not free, it's on a sliding scale, if you can afford to you pay and lots of individuals and organizations donate money to planned parenthood, they are certainly not only a governmentally funded institution. if you really want to bring financial arguments in i'm sure that forcing a woman to raise a child she can't afford would ultimate be much for costly to society than an abortion.
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