I'm with you up until you get to the point of excluding the baby's father. No way. Not unless he is estranged from the wife, or impregnated her against her will. He has just as much right to decide what to do with that child as she does. And in many, many cases, couples (married or not) make that decision together.
Thank you for your thoughts, milomorris. As I said, this has turned into a very heated discussion.
Perhaps I phrased myself poorly. When I had my abortion, my boyfriend and I discussed it at length. He had previously borne two children -- one of them given to adoption, one of them born to a married girlfriend he no longer saw, and then this one which would have been borne out of wedlock and just a few days after we had broken up, for what we thought was for good. I went on a rather wild rampage, drinking myself silly and taking migraine medication that would definitely not contribute to the health of a fetus. But at the time, I had no clue I might have been pregnant. I was on the pill and taking it just as the doctor prescribed. I only found out later that if you vomit sometimes, for whatever reason, the birth control pills become completely ineffective. I learned this when the nurse from my ultrasound said the word "viable" to me. I'd never heard the word before and had to ask her to explain. She said the life inside of me was "10 week's viable". Despite the fact that we were broken up, I did get hold of him immediately, saw him in person, told him the state I was in and how far along I was, and what my choice was, considering my/our circumstances, and asked him his opinion. He agreed with me, and took me to the abortionist a few days later. We were both torn up to pieces, but looking back, considering I was making next-to-no money, he wasn't my boyfriend at the time, he was living with his mom, and the very strong recommendation from my doctor that I not bring this child into the world, that's what I did. My girl lost her life, AT MY CHOICE, on Dec 27, 1988. She'd be 20 now, and there's not a day that goes by that I don't think of what she could have been to me and to herself and to this world.
It's NOT a simple choice. Terminating a life -- whether it's a fetus or a dying parent or anyone else -- is the hardest choice anyone ever makes.
But I chose, and I'll also never stop being thankful that I live in a state and a country where a woman can choose. I'm fairly sure I'm a bit too old to get pregnant again, but if I did, I'd be sure I lived in a country that let me make my/our choice.
Again, no offense for your opinion, Shasta, and I hope I made myself clearer, milomorris. I just have mine as well, hope you don't hold it against me.
