Are abortions murder?

This is a very thoughtful post, and it's a shame that some have chosen to answer so flippantly, "it's none of your business". And really, WHO CARES what the statistics are? Do statistics determine what's right and wrong? Millions of people take illegal drugs. Does that make it right? Thousands find ways to drain you of your savings and take your home. If even ONE were to do this, it would be wrong. Correction: even if NO ONE did these things, it would be wrong! And here we are talking about eliminating life from this earth, and still some say it's ok?

What's so tragic is that if we were talking about a dog whose puppies were ripped from her body, that person would be on the front page of the paper and all over the news. And before anyone comments on this, understand the fact that NO common animal would foolishly cause the abortion of her own offspring. They are not that stupid.

My personal opinion is that a person does NOT have the right to do whatever they want with their own body. We are to act responsibly with anything that is charged to us, whether it be our own bodies or the bodies of those we have been given charge over. If I choose to cut off any part of my body or do anything that would harm myself, you KNOW that all kinds of people would be sending me to shrinks and judges to determine my sanity and take over my personal affairs. What a foolish statement, that poster should be ashamed.

I also have a big issue with people who say that "if it is not viable it's okay"; what about a child who is mentally retarded? That child cannot think for himself, and is not viable. What about those on respirators? They cannot breathe on their own. How about comatose victims, they are totally helpless, but to kill them we would be charged with a crime. Do we have the right to eliminate anything that we consider not "normal" ? And who makes the determination as to where to draw that line?

Hitler did the same thing back in the 40s. And yet we choose to forget the implications of what he did, and justify our behavior just as foolishly and thoughtlessly as he did.

I don't care what you call it, a cell, a zygote, an embryo, or a fetus; it is a life. It may not be breathing on its own, but it deserves the chance to live. If a woman doesn't want it, she should put it up for adoption at birth to those whose hearts are aching for the very responsibility she chose to relinquish. There is no excuse for eliminating the child just because the woman doesn't want it, no matter what the reason. IF that child is not meant to live, God should make the determination, not YOU.

Murder is a legal term, and it is defined strictly by state statute. A person could be charged with murder for the death of unborn fetus if the state law so provides. However, abortion is specifically excluded from the legal definition of murder since the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade held that any law criminalizing abortions prior to viability of the fetus is unconstitutional. The point is: if a state law says that someone who kills a box turtle can be charged with murder, then it's considered murder. If shooting your neighbor's dog does not constitute murder according to the language of the statute, then it is not murder.

But aside from the legal aspect of the issue, there is a significant difference between a woman causing the termination of her own pregnancy through an abortion and the death of an unborn fetus caused by the intentional misconduct of a third party. Think about it this way: someone who cuts off a woman's arm can be charged with assault and battery as well as a number of other crimes, but it is perfectly legal for a woman to cut off her arm herself. The distinction is the woman's choice as to whether she wants to lose her arm or not. Her pregnancy follows the same principle: if she wanted to carry the fetus to term, then the early termination caused by the actions of another can be punishable by law, but if she does not want to keep the pregnancy, then she can terminate it herself prior to a certain point in time.

Probably the most important thing to understand is that, legally speaking, a fetus is not a citizen of the U.S., since it has not been born, and therefore it has no inherent "right to life" guaranteed by the Constitution.

In those states that do recognize such actions as murder, the laws were put into place generally as a means to weaken abortion rights. By laying the groundwork for granting some level of rights to a fetus, they hope to get around the Supreme Court's ruling in Roe v Wade. You will note that none of these states have laws that say if a mother smokes, drinks or engages in any sort of dangerous activity that leads to a miscarriage, she is guilty of manslaughter. If they actually considered fetuses to be deserving of the same rights and protections as human beings, they would have to do this. But, of course, they don't.

Any level of logic should tell you that it cannot rationally be considered to be murder. For there to be a murder, there has to be a person as the victim. Where is the person? What was the person's name, birth date, Social Security Number, eye color, etc etc? The "victim" in such a circumstance has nothing that would allow it to be considered a person. It is assault on the woman, but certainly not murder.

Yes abortions are murder. At conception the egg and sperm join and the zygote has unique DNA of a human person. Within 35 days, that zygote has become a fetus and has produced blood circulating from a beating heart. That sounds like life to me.

We all do have choice though... but the problem is that people think that choice is after they get a positive pregnancy test. The choice is when you decide to have sex. You know the possibility exists that you could conceive a child so you decide whether to accept that possibility or not by your choice to have sex.

As to when it is punishable to kill the child... it all depends on intent right? If you go have an abortion you know you are going to kill a child, your child. But get kicked in the husband... was it to cause bodily harm to the child? If yes then prosecution is warranted.

NO , many mothers chose abortion because their lives are in danger (potential rape , not ready emotionally , medical reasons etc..)

" that only makes up 4% of All abortions."

How do you know ? where is your source/evidence ?

plus it should only be discussed with the mother and doctor .

edit :

"Science finds active living cells on Mars, they call it life. Fetus' are active living cells, science says it is not life. WOW talk about hypocritical "

Who said Fetus isn't life ? it's just isn't an individual person because it can't register any memory .

" My statistics are correct or I wouldn't have posted them "

LMAO , get a life

I don't believe it's murder until the fetus is viable.

Someone attacking a woman in early stages of pregnancy should be charged with assault, not murder.

If the fetus were viable and was most likely going to eventually be born alive, then I think it is fair to charge them with murder.

But we have to be very careful not to mix up legality with morality. There are no absolutes with morality, it's subjective. Legality there are absolutes, but we created them ourselves.

No they're not murder. Someone who causes an abortion by punching or kicking a pregnant woman during the first trimester should be charged with aggravated assault, not murder.

YES !! Absolutely and Positively. Life begins at conception, and if any person will destroy a fetus, they WILL be held accountable when they stand before God in judgment. According to my King James Bible in Isaiah 49:1 The Lord hath called me from the womb: from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. In the book of Job 31:15 Did not he who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us within our mothers? Finally, In Psalms 139:13-14 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb, I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made, that was from King David's mouth. So you see, you and I are right when we say abortion is murder.

Abortion is not murder. Murder, according to the dictionary is the unlawful killing of one human by another, especially with premeditated malice. Unlawful means what is not lawful; illegal. For abortion to be murder, it must first of all be illegal ( which it is not) and second of all be a premeditated act of hate ( which it also is not). A man who beats his pregnant partner should be charged with abuse. Not murder.

Because the man is not charged with murder, as it is not murder, your second paragraph is not logically sound.

The reasons behind an abortion are no ones business but the woman's'. I do not have the right to tell another human what to do with their body, or anything that resides inside of their body. The government does not have that right. You might not agree with abortion, but that does not make it murder. If you do not like them, if you cannot approve of them then you do not have to support them, but you do not have to try to push your opinions on other people or try to make them a societal norm.

ok well, this is a very iffy topic. for me, the baby isn't a baby until it's born, just because i've taken a lot of biology and i know that even if the fetus has a brain, lungs and physical aspects to a body, that's just a bunch of cells. for me a baby is a baby when it's heart starts pumping and it uses those bunch of cells and starts thinking for itself (which is after birth)

but saying that, i still think it should be illegal to have abortions for stupid teens who get drunk, have sex, get pregnant and then pretend like they never knew that egg+sperm=BABY!

abortions should only be for girls who have been forced into having sex or something else where they had no choice.