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Debate Info

94
89
True False
Debate Score:183
Arguments:103
Total Votes:211
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 True (54)
 
 False (47)

Debate Creator

lolzors93(3225) pic



Abortion is a selfish action to alleviate an undesirable consequence

True

Side Score: 94
VS.

False

Side Score: 89
5 points

By legalizing abortion, we have crossed a very fundamental line - that human beings are not intrinsically valuable and value is assigned by the whims of an external institution (government) or is assigned by another person (the mother).

Abortion has set the precedent that it is moral to kill innocent human beings for the sake of preserving the convenience and alleviating the suffering of others.

Side: True
ChuckHades(3197) Disputed
2 points

The main point for abortion is that the fetus does not become a human being until the second or third trimester. Until it is sentient, the fetus does not receive the same ethical privileges the mother gets.

Side: False
VecVeltro(412) Disputed
5 points

Second or third? Which one is it then or is it just a matter of taste? And you do realize that this is a completely arbitrary way to define humanity as it's completely contingent on medical technology? As in, the more medical tech advances, the viability of fetal life also grows meaning that in 5 years we might be able to save 3 month old fetuses. If something like this happens, then we must conclude that we've been killing human beings all along as it turned out that fetal life could be saved well before the third trimester.

Secondly, explain to me why sentience is necessary to rights and privileges? A newborn child is not sentient in the same sense the mother is sentient - does that mean that the mother's ethical privileges are more important than the babies? When I'm sleeping I'm not sentient - for the duration of my sleep have I foregone my rights because I'm not utilizing my capacity for sentience?

Side: True
5 points

All right, I'm getting alot of crap saying,"What about rape?" "What if you father raped you?"

Well you know what? Does anyone out there know the percentage of abortions due to rape? I'll tell you.

0.88%. That's right! LESS THAN ONE PERCENT!!!! (I'll repeat that) LESS THAN ONE PERCENT! Don't use that argument anymore because I just want to vomit with disgust.

Side: True
3 points

Exactly. Pro-abortionists seem unwilling to accept that most abortions are done after careless, unprotected sex.

Side: True
iamdavidh(4856) Disputed
3 points

.88% is like 3,000 people (that we know of, most rape goes unreported... and ignoring your numbers are like 99.9% probably inaccurate given past sources you've cited). 1 person is too many. Rape is an argument. You've not answered the debate's questions and your sole point seems to be dismissing a single aspect of a larger issue.

Side: False
4 points

Ultimately.

Sometimes the undesirable consequence can be something like, a terrible life for the actual child. This in a sense is selfish, if yourself does not wish a horrible life on a child.

Sometimes it could be for reasons of disease, cost to society, health of the mother.

Anything can be viewed as selfish. It completely depends on the perspective and who the individual is.

Now, is it alwasy wrong?

No.

Many selfish reasons out weigh selfless reasons.

Sometimes selflessness does more harm than good.

There are too many variables to determine whether something like this is or is not acceptable.

Which is why abortion is no one's business but the mother and their doctor.

Side: True
JakeJ(3255) Disputed
2 points

"Sometimes the undesirable consequence can be something like, a terrible life for the actual child. This in a sense is selfish, if yourself does not wish a horrible life on a child."

If somebody want's to have unprotected sex, have an unwanted kid, and not be a good parent they are making that choice. I don't wish that on anybody. And that is when it's none of my business.

Selfishness is't always wrong but in that case and in the case of abortion for the sake of abortion it sure is.

It shouldn't be up to us to decide when somebody is human. Say we go by the third trimester augment or whatever. What's the difference between the day before that deadline and the day after?

Why can't the fetus have a say? Why isn't it the fetuses business?

If people don't want kids/ aren't prepared to have one it's not that hard not to have one but that's beside the point. Nobody talks about responsibility anymore.

Side: False

Yeah..., yeah..., I know..., I never dispute. But this time I think I actually agree with you when you say:

Sometimes the undesirable consequence can be something like, a terrible life for the actual child. This in a sense is selfish, if yourself does not wish a horrible life on a child.

Sometimes it could be for reasons of disease, cost to society, health of the mother.

I mean, think of the terrible life a homeless person must be living. I do not wish such a horrible life on that person. The cost to society alone can be unbearable (depending on how many must be taken care of). If you support me in dishing out retroactive abortions, I'll support you with regards to regular abortions. United we stand. What say you ;)

Side: True
4 points

I hate to say it, but a vast amount of abortions are NOT done because of rapes/danger to mother & baby. By no means are even these completely acceptable, but there's no excuse for all the others. Honestly, the stupidity of some people...

Side: True

Okay, I know that I won't win a lot of fans with this argument, but I feel like I need to be honest with you people. By now, some of you may have noticed that a lot of my views are quite liberal. And for people who like to buy into platforms, it could easily be assumed that I'd be pro-Choice. But I'm not. I actually came down more on the pro-Life side of argument for reasons considerably different than the typical. See, I don't really believe in God. And I think the arguments that we hear the most are kind of religious in nature.

The first argument that I never entirely bought is the argument that fetus IS NOT alive yet. That doesn't hold water for me and, if it does, then our laws are logically inconsistent. I never everyone says the fetus is not alive yet (they kind of regard it as a cancer). My first concern with that is that I don't believe that women actually believe that. Every pregnant woman that I have ever met has just been positively glowing, with this sense of "there's a little person living inside of me". I don't really believe that women think their fetus is dead or not living. Furthermore, most states have legislation on the books that recognizes the life of the fetus (and I'm not just talking about abortion). In most states, if some psycho kills a pregnant woman, he's charged with two counts of murder (the woman and the baby). In most states, if you do something to cause the fetus to die, you can be charged with that as well. I have never been able to honestly sell the argument to myself that the fetus is not alive yet. I don't think anyone truly believes that.

The existing foundation of our laws is based upon the right to privacy (Roe v. wade).

But I don't buy that either. Yes, I believe in the right to privacy, but emergency police powers supercede the right to privacy. That is: the police can't come waltzing into my house whenever they feel like it. However, if someone is in my house and they're strangling me in front of my window and the police can see it happening from the street, they can't just shrug their shoulders and say 'well, we don't have a right to go into his house." The fact that they have reason to believe (THEY CAN SEE IT) that my life is in real danger supercedes my right to privacy. Yes, they can come into my house, because they see a crime taking place. The right to life is above the right to privacy.

Privacy doesn't hold water in this scenario. YOu can't have a society that both recognizes the life of the fetus and yet refuses to protect it.

Like I said, it's not really a religious argument. If I become convinced that the fetus is not alive, then I'm likely to think differently. But like I said: I don't think anyone HONESTLY believe that.

Side: True
2 points

I'm going to have to say true according to most people's morality. Some people like to say "unless rape or incest," but even then you are admitting that there is something important about the life of a fetus.

To abort a fetus is selfish. It is for your own benefit, which is selfish. The consequence is the death of what most people consider a human being, which most consider to be undesirable.

However, selfish acts shouldn't be condemned. Selfishness is the backbone of progression. If we banned abortion just because it's selfish we'd have far more men and women enslaved to the system of child rearing, something that ruins most potential of greatness if that child was unwanted.

Side: True
JakeJ(3255) Disputed
2 points

It's great that you're thinking outside the box really it is. But why should somebody be denied rights just because they're inside of somebody opposed to being outside of somebody? Why is potential not a factor? Why should our constitution not apply to somebody because they haven't been pushed out yet? Is that not discrimination?

Side: False
2 points

Thats what Hitler did! Yay for Nazi America!

The minimum length for an argument is 50 characters. The purpose of this restriction is to cut down on the amount of dumb jokes, so we can keep the quality of debate and discourse as high as possible.

Side: False
GeneralLee(134) Clarified
1 point

Well, that depends. Is child rearing a blessing or enslavement? Dude, we should create that debate. ;)

Side: True
1 point

Well, it's enslavement if the person does not want this child.

A blessing if they do.

Side: True

Of course it is. But that does not mean the action is wrong by any means.

Side: True
JakeJ(3255) Disputed
3 points

But the fact that it doesn't necessarily mean that doesn't necessarily mean that it doesn't mean that. o.0

Side: False
1 point

Ha, I stood on the side of the road for half an hour holding up a sign that said abortion kills children and only got nine negative responses, mainly from people who were smoking and in beat up cars. The rest were positive. Honks, thumbs up, waves, and there was probably ten times more of them. there was also a large group of people who didn't respond. In reality, if just a few more of these people moved to pro life, abortion would be illegal. Your smaller than you think. There are reasons why sex is for married couples and clearly you people are too dumb to figure out why. You'll never get anywhere good if you live like that.

Side: True
2 points

In reality, if just a few more of these people moved to pro choice, abortion would be illegal.

If more people became pro choice, abortion would be illegal? I assume you mean pro life.

There are reasons why sex is for married couples and clearly you people are too dumb to figure out why.

Since when has sex only been for married couples?

Side: False
1 point

Abortion is selfish, you were thinking of yourself when you did it yes? Not of the baby. And people try to make themselves feel better by saying "Oh thats not a child that just a clump of Cells." Who says so?

Side: True
1 point

Having sex with someone your about to marry is one thing, but multiple people? Lots of people? Thats just discusting. I don't want to marry someone who has been everwhere and seen everything. I want to know what diseases your carrying and what your gonna pass on to me and my children. Plus, people like that? They never really love you, they just say they do so they can get in your pants and give you a baby you can't take care of. That poor child is most likely going to end up aborted, orphand, or abused. Yeah, he really loves you.....

Side: True
Cuaroc(8829) Disputed
1 point

Didn't take you as a point whore.

Side: False

That's a good way of describing the condition. Yes, it is a selfish decision.

Side: True
1 point

sometimes it is.

.

what is ALSO true, is that is it FAR MORE selfish for someone else to impose their choices onto another.

.

specifically old white MEN telling women what they can and cannot do with their own bodies.

.

GET OFF!

Side: True
3 points

That is true for some situation. It is FAR from true in all situations.

A woman who has been raped for example, is NOT removing a consequence of selfish actions. First of all, the baby isn't a consequence in that situation. It is a result of a crime.

It can also be done because of financial causes.

Also you need to know, that an abortion is not something you just .. do.

An abortion is not good for yourself either. There is a chance you're gonna be sterilized for life.

Some women HAVE to do it, not because they want to, and trust me when I say, that VERY VERY few women WANT to take abortions.

Side: False
Troy8(2433) Disputed
3 points

Some women HAVE to do it, not because they want to, and trust me when I say, that VERY VERY few women WANT to take abortions.

Then why not take measures to prevent them from having to make an undesirable decision?

Side: True
lolzors93(3225) Disputed
1 point

So if a woman who had been raped and had given birth wanted to kill her child because it was a reminder of the crime, should she be allowed? Thats like the father killing someone and the child getting the death penalty. Don't punish the child for the crimes of the father.

Should a woman and a man be having sex in the first place if they are not financially secure? If someone gets drunk and kills someone while driving does that automatically mean he/she is free of charges because he/she was not all there mentally?

People need to learn to be responsible. People are being less and less responsible and other people are having to take care of them and other people are having to pay the price. This is what America has come down to.

Side: True
_deleted0_(850) Disputed
3 points

Don't punish the child for the crimes of the father.

In a case like that, you're putting an innocent person, to be punished for 18 years for some crime the person was a victim to.

If you think that is fair.. you're a sick person.

So if a woman who had been raped and had given birth wanted to kill her child because it was a reminder of the crime, should she be allowed?

No, I don't think that should be allowed. That is called murder, not abortion.

Should a woman and a man be having sex in the first place if they are not financially secure?

Yes they should. Sex isn't just reproduction.

If someone gets drunk and kills someone while driving does that automatically mean he/she is free of charges because he/she was not all there mentally?

When did I ever say that? No, a person who kills someone while being drunk, should get the same punishment as a sober person.

People need to learn to be responsible. People are being less and less responsible and other people are having to take care of them and other people are having to pay the price.

This is what America has come down to.

Well.. I live in a country where abortion is illegal. I think it is stupid to force a woman to have a baby she doesn't want. I think it is stupid, that the government is forcing people to do things they don't want to do.

Side: False
VecVeltro(412) Disputed
1 point

Why don't we terminate the lives of already born babies that were conceived through rape?

Side: True
5 points

You're confusing two separate things, one is a fetus (or zygote or embryo, or what have you), and the other is a child. You're question is akin to asking "why don't we make scrambled eggs out of chickens?" When a egg is an egg it has certain uses and properties; the same holds true for a chicken. But although one becomes the other, they are not the same thing. You would have a very hard time trying to cut the head off of an egg, or scramble a chicken and fry it up in an omelet. Similarly, a baby is a baby and a zygote is a zygote. They are not the same thing. It is okay to terminate a zygote because a zygote is a zygote and not a person (just like sperm isn't a person, either), but a baby is a person, and therefore subject to laws we have against homicide.

Side: False
GeneralLee(134) Disputed
1 point

You got it mixed up. It's true for most situations, maybe not true for a very slim minority of situations.

Side: True
3 points

I think it's more selfish to convince yourself you can raise a child and give them a terrible life just to keep your concise clear of an abortion.

Or to put a child into a foster home.

Side: False
Troy8(2433) Disputed
3 points

I do not agree with this. I think its selfish to practice any kind of sexual activity without realizing the consequences/ knowing they can be taken care of later. Life is sacred, people ought to know this.

Side: True
Saurbaby(5581) Disputed
1 point

I agree that you should be aware of what can happen if you have sex. But you can use protection, and sex is a joy that should be allowed to enhance a relationship. Even if the couple does not want children yet. Otherwise, what's the point in us creating protection? But sometimes the protection we use doesn't work. And it's not fair to punish a child to a suffering life over that.

Side: False
GeneralLee(134) Disputed
2 points

Wait.....You think it's terrible to put a child into a foster home????

Side: True
1 point

I'd rather not be born than live a life where I am in perpetual suffering and only further a stigma based around impoverished and unwed parents.

Side: False
2 points

no mother on this planet would really go forward for murdering her child.

But this statement is exclusively true for ''mothers'' i believe and not the '' non mothers''.

Everybody possesses the right to get attracted towards opposite sex and make love with both of their mutual appreciation,

making love of-course do makes a difference in people's life.

Its the way how almighty created ur with millions of hormones which induces our sensuality.

If sex was something really wrong then god himself would have created some other alternative for expanding the human race.

Why would he created the desire which exists in every normal people.

The desire should have lasted only once or twice in a life as per requirement.

People we are living in a probabilty surrounded era where every mechanical and non mechanical things have some or more failures.

If precaution fails during love making, its just a matter of bad luck and abortion happens to be the best way to superceed it.

If a girl gets pregnant at an early age, would other people invest their time and effort to take care of that unexpected child,

just try and think that the girl might have got a life of her own where she might have expected a goal in her academics as well as non academics fields.

There's a saying that if right thing done at some wrong time, then it does more harm than good.

And if people still think that if precation fails, then a girl sholdn't go for giving birth to a child to whiom she is incapabale of giving a better life, should probably eradicate their cars if the fuel goes down unexpectedly.

Mehul talks..

Side: False
2 points

This is not always true, what about if a child got raped, and got pregnant? Does she deserve to have a baby? What if a smart grad got raped, does she deserve to possibly ruin her life? But if a woman just doesn't use protection and doesn't care about having a baby or not and just changed her mind about it then, yes that is unfair.

Side: False
2 points

If the child was born it could end up living a horrible life, so living in poverty and suffering is better than not being born? They aren't sentient when abortion happens, it's not like killing a human being, I don't think those people understand the science of developing into a hulan being and abortion, you have NO real arguments.

Side: False
lolzors93(3225) Disputed
2 points

Who are you to decide for another person whether or not they want life or not?

If they aren't humans then what are they? Look at Law of Biogenesis.

So should an infant be killed because he/she is still developing? If development is the determining factor then any person under 40 can be killed because your brain doesn't stop developing until then. If we decide its someone before then, then we become like Hitler who killed people based on them not being developed enough evolutionarily (Jews, Blacks, etc.). Are you better than Hitler?

Side: True
2 points

Okay. In most cases, by the time the fetus is aborted it is merely a clump of cells. No organs, no brain. Just cells splitting. That brings up the question about "souls" and religion. And the truth of the matter is we are a couintry with the freedom of religion (or NOT to have a religion). Remember. Seperation of church and state. If we based all laws off of religion we would stone people, have slaves (still), and not be aloud to go out on Sundays

Side: False
lolzors93(3225) Disputed
1 point

Actually, if we didn't have religion then we would still have slaves. A lot of the main abolitionists were clergymen and the entire movement was a religious movement to stop inequality.

But, nevertheless, so you are for murdering another human being?

Side: True
2 points

This presupposes that the "clump of cells" is a human being, this idea sounds ridiculous. Why is it wrong to "kill" a clump of cells, but it's perfectly fine to kill elephants, deers, and other game for sport? Those animals have a much more highly developed brain and ability to feel pain than this clump of cells does. This "clump of cells" is not a human yet, it is only a series of cells dividing, so it should not receive rights.

Side: False

I do not agree with the assumption that life begins at the moment of conception.

I do not understand why people believe the government can force a woman to continue a pregnancy against her will. This is merely opening the possibility for the government to force other medical procedures on people.

Side: False
1 point

Religious practice is a selfish act to alleviate an undesirable consequence, but you don't hear me bitching about other people partaking in it.

Side: False