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Abortion Vs Terminally Ill Posted: 12-28-07 12:49pm
The question is this, if you are against
abortion based upon your religion and
oppose thoroughly the termination of
pregnancy in most circumstances (you may
hold your own special cases)
And if your argument is such that to
terminate a life is against your beliefs.
Then how do you feel about the extention
of life.
Should Dr's interfere with heart attack
and stroke patients etc.
Would it not go against the laws of your
god to not let the terminal cease to
exist?
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Tylanas
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Posted: 12-28-07 15:45pm
It should, because you're still "Playing
God". But because humans are selfish in
nature and frightened of death, any
procedure that allows you to stay alive or
allows you to keep your loved ones alive
is of course approved of. Picking and
Choosing.
OK, I see. Sorry, I had totally flew past
that. The Bible speaks of considering life
precious and Jesus himself taught that
laws may be broken to save life - he saved
a life by helping a man, despite the fact
that it broke the rules of Sabbath rest.
Hence I still cannot see the link between
ending and extending a life. Anybody with
a shred of biblical knowledge will know
how theists view life, as it is refleected
in their stance on abortion.
Having said that, I guess biblical laws
may also see abortion as acceptable when
both the mother's and
the baby's lives are at fatal risk. Saving
one life, rather than losing two (even
though one life had to be purposely
terminated to accomplish this) is surely
better? I would imagine that abortion
would be avoided wherever possible. Let's
hypothesise: a woman has discovered that
her pregnancy is a fatal danger to both
her and her child's lives if it continues.
I would imagine that the church would
advise her to continue the pregnancy until
some time after viability period and then
induce the birth. Therefore, even if the
chances of the child's survival are
relatively low, given that it is both ill
and premature, it is given the natural
chance to survive with modern equipment.
If the baby dies, then the woman has
pleased God by allowing the baby to live,
although for such a short time.
I guess ectopic pregnancies would have to
be aborted as survival is next to
impossible? Or they would encourage that
the foetus be moved to the womb (which
is,, as far as I know, impossible or at
least carries a miniscule percentage of
success? Enlighten me, learned ones!),
which, again, even though the foetus is
sure to die, it has occurred via natural
miscarriage rather than intended killing.
I've just realised this is sooo off-topic.
Oops!
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Tylanas
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Posted: 12-28-07 17:39pm
With that listed, I can see how "playing
God" to extend life is acceptable. Jesus
did resurrect himself and a few other
people from the dead.
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Carifairy
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Posted: 12-28-07 17:43pm
KYPROS- There is NO WAY we can move an
ectopic pregnancy into the uterus, there
are way too many issues to make it even
probable.
ONE being attaching a placenta to the
uterus, that would require TEDIOUS
microsurgery on blood vessels, which we
cannot do without open uterine surgery.
WHEN doctors operate or medicate an
ectopic pregnancy for removal, they are
intending to kill the fetus.
That is the point, to remove the
pregnancy, and fetal death is the only way
to do that.
KYPROS- There is NO WAY we
can move an ectopic pregnancy into the
uterus, there are way too many issues to
make it even probable.
ONE being attaching a placenta to the
uterus, that would require TEDIOUS
microsurgery on blood vessels, which we
cannot do without open uterine surgery.
WHEN doctors operate or medicate an
ectopic pregnancy for removal, they are
intending to kill the fetus.
That is the point, to remove the
pregnancy, and fetal death is the only way
to do that.
This is exactly what I thought. Thanks for
clearing it up, Cari. It still wouldn't
surprise me if pro-lifers and/or pious
theists would encourage women to attempt
to move the foetus into the uterus, even
though it would, without doubt, die, since
the death would be natural rather than an
intended killing.
Moo
wrote:
The treatment of an ectopic
pregnancy is not considered an abortion.
Even for maternal health problems a woman
can still choose not to abort, an ectopic
must be removed (I say this because I have
a friend who has had an ectopic and by no
means considers herself to have had an
abortion - which she is entitled to do -
it is a completely different situation to
any abortion
situation)
I may be ignorant on this issue, but how
can ending an ectopic pregnancy not be an
abortion? Treatment for ectopic
pregnancies cites it as abortion here and
Wikipedia cites ectopic pregnancies under
the category pregnancies with an abortive
outcome. Ectopic pregnancies are solved by
removing a foetus from it's host's body,
which is an abortion.
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Birch
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Joined: 07 Nov 2005 Posts: 4035 Location: Bliss,
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Posted: 12-28-07 19:31pm
I think it's yet another fun semantic
'social versus technical' definition
issue.
A sensitive doctor may be aware of this
and avoid using the term "abortion" in the
tx of an etopic pregnancy.
I understand the removal of an etopic
pregnancy is done differently than vacuum
curettage so perhaps that's another
difference as well. I could be wrong,
though.
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sillyakchick
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Posted: 12-28-07 21:12pm
I think that some view life to be
prescious and should be extended at any
cost. I support an individual's and
family's choice to terminate the life of a
terminally ill individual. I don't want a
lot of heroics gone to if something
unforseen happens to me. I guess I'm sort
of an all or nothing kind of gal. If I
can't make it back from the tunnel of
light on my own, or if i choose to go
toward it, I would be ticked off if
somebody interefered with my choices.
Since we don't know what happens on the
other side, I think we ought to leave that
choice up to the individuals involved.
I think it's yet another fun
semantic 'social versus technical'
definition issue.
A sensitive doctor may be aware of this
and avoid using the term "abortion" in the
tx of an etopic pregnancy.
I understand the removal of an etopic
pregnancy is done differently than vacuum
curettage so perhaps that's another
difference as well. I could be wrong,
though.
Perhaps, although bringing up semantics is
definitely not my intention. I genuinely
am baffled as to how ending an ectopic
pregnancy can be anything other than an
abortion, a therapeuic abortion, to be
precise ?
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Cambion
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
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Posted: 12-28-07 22:19pm
Personally, I don't think very very ill
people should be saved, especially if they
are capable of reproducing - not only to
prevent them from passing on their
defective genes to another person and
dooming them to suffering or death, but
also in the event that sick person dies,
they may end up orphaning their child. I
think it's okay to medicate people to be
comfortable if death from illness is
inevitable, but I don't think extreme
measures should be taken to prolong a
person's life. By extreme, I mean the use
of life support, transplantation of organs
with high rejection rates, years and years
of chemo (since I think that kills the
person as much as the cancer). And a large
part of me wishes those who are incredibly
mentally unstable could just get taken out
behind a shed and shot - people that nuts
serve no purpose and are better off
dead...and I mean the real nutjobs, not
someone with ADHD or chronic anxiety.
The reason medical care is so expensive is
because we save far too many people and
don't even offer those in the mose pain a
means of passing on with dignity
(euthanasia). When a person is beign kept
alive by machines, tubes, wires and
medical staff, they cross the line of
being a patient and enter the realm of
being an experiment and a cash cow for the
hospital. Most people do not want to let
their loved ones go, and I realize
that...hospitals do too and they will milk
a family for all they're worth when they
are most vulnerable. If we didn't save
people who were going to die regardless of
what was done, medical costs would not be
quite so high; I don't mean a dramatic
drop in prices, but at least a 5 percent
decrease.
I think if the person is capable of living
a fairly normal life after the heart
attack or the stroke or what-not, then
they should be helped be saved. But if
they end up being paralyzed from the neck
down, or they become retarded or anything
else that pretty much renders them
useless, then it is probably more humane
for that person and their families for
that person to be allowed to pass on or
undergo euthanasia (if it were legal for
people).
I know someone personally who suffered
numerous health problems and lives a
normal life. He was born with a heart
defect that could have killed him (it was
fixed), had a stroke when he was 14 and
was comatose for two months afterwards,
and he's blind in one eye and has severe
allergies that caused him the loss of a
lung. And yet, he does perfectly fine and
one would never guess he had so many
brushes with death. I think he is one of
the lucky ones to recover completely (or
as close to it as one can get) from a
stroke, and I would not advocate someone
who can mostly or totally recover being
left to die.
The fact of the matter is that people play
God every day. If you pop an aspirin for a
headache, then you're playing God. If you
get a piercing, you're playing God. If
your God wanted you to be headache-free
and have a bolt through your nose, s/he
would have given it to you. I don't see a
problem with people interfering with
nature a little, nor do I see a problem
with prolonging one's life if they are
healthy and physically capable of living
happily and to the fullest.
Abortion can be interpreted as a means of
prolonging a woman's life - her social
life, her mental stability, her paychecks,
her relationship or marriage, her physical
appearance, and so forth. By ending an
unwanted pregnancy, a woman can save
herself from the little death that
parenthood causes in every mother and
father.
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Moo
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Joined: 20 Feb 2006 Posts: 1066 Location: London
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Posted: 12-29-07 08:17am
Birch
wrote:
I think it's yet another fun
semantic 'social versus technical'
definition issue.
A sensitive doctor may be aware of this
and avoid using the term "abortion" in the
tx of an etopic pregnancy.
I understand the removal of an etopic
pregnancy is done differently than vacuum
curettage so perhaps that's another
difference as well. I could be wrong,
though.
Precicelsy, while the 'essense' of
removing an ectopic is the same it really
isn't comparable given that the woman has
no choice/the embryo has no chance of
survival therefore the whole pregnancy
relationship is different (and it's
usually treated by either injecting the
e/f so if is reabsorbed back into the
womans body or by surgery which usually
involves removing the tube in which the
embryo is situated). Whilst it may be
referred to as an abortion no doctor with
an ounce of compassion would ever refer to
it as such to the woman involved (and you
will notice ectopics are not included in
abortion statistics for exactly this
reason)
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sillyakchick
Supporter
Joined: 12 Apr 2007 Posts: 2690
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Posted: 12-29-07 11:56am
[quote="Cambion"]Personally, I don't think
very very ill people should be saved,
especially if they are capable of
reproducing - not only to prevent them
from passing on their defective genes to
another person and dooming them to
suffering or death, but also in the event
that sick person dies, they may end up
orphaning their child. I think it's okay
to medicate people to be comfortable if
death from illness is inevitable, but I
don't think extreme measures should be
taken to prolong a person's life. By
extreme, I mean the use of life support,
transplantation of organs with high
rejection rates, years and years of chemo
(since I think that kills the person as
much as the cancer).
The reason medical care is so expensive is
because we save far too many people and
don't even offer those in the mose pain a
means of passing on with dignity
(euthanasia). When a person is beign kept
alive by machines, tubes, wires and
medical staff, they cross the line of
being a patient and enter the realm of
being an experiment and a cash cow for the
hospital. Most people do not want to let
their loved ones go, and I realize
that...hospitals do too and they will milk
a family for all they're worth when they
are most vulnerable. If we didn't save
people who were going to die regardless of
what was done, medical costs would not be
quite so high
I completely 100% agree with you on this!
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diamond splinter
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
Joined: 12 Apr 2006 Posts: 611 Location: ,
Posted: 12-29-07 14:13pm
Moo
wrote:
Birch
wrote:
I think it's yet another fun
semantic 'social versus technical'
definition issue.
A sensitive doctor may be aware of this
and avoid using the term "abortion" in the
tx of an etopic pregnancy.
I understand the removal of an etopic
pregnancy is done differently than vacuum
curettage so perhaps that's another
difference as well. I could be wrong,
though.
Precicelsy, while the 'essense' of
removing an ectopic is the same it really
isn't comparable given that the woman has
no choice/the embryo has no chance of
survival therefore the whole pregnancy
relationship is different (and it's
usually treated by either injecting the
e/f so if is reabsorbed back into the
womans body or by surgery which usually
involves removing the tube in which the
embryo is situated). Whilst it may be
referred to as an abortion no doctor with
an ounce of compassion would ever refer to
it as such to the woman involved (and you
will notice ectopics are not included in
abortion statistics for exactly this
reason)
correct me if i'm wrong but doesnt eptopic
pregnancy simply mean misplaced pregnancy
and in some cases can be safely carriedto
full term in the abdomin?
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msrosie
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 02 Jan 2005 Posts: 360 Location: Ontario, Canada
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Posted: 12-29-07 15:16pm
diamond splinter
wrote:
correct me if i'm wrong but doesnt eptopic
pregnancy simply mean misplaced pregnancy
and in some cases can be safely carriedto
full term in the
abdomin?
Yes, ectopic pregnancy is a pregnancy
outside the uterus. If it's in the
fallopian tube, I believe there is a zero
chance of it going to term. I have heard
of rare instances of a pregnancy
implanting in the abdomen going to term,
however I do not think this means women
should not have the choice of having it
removed.
OT: would you believe Firefox's auto spell
check is saying 'ectopic' is spelled
wrong? I even double checked it with other
sources.
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diamond splinter
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
Joined: 12 Apr 2006 Posts: 611 Location: ,
Posted: 12-29-07 16:24pm
Lol i would trust anyones spelling but my
own
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Moo
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Posted: 12-29-07 16:45pm
diamond splinter
wrote:
correct me if i'm wrong but doesnt eptopic
pregnancy simply mean misplaced pregnancy
and in some cases can be safely carriedto
full term in the
abdomin?
Most ectopics are in a tube and there is
zero chance of survival for the embryo and
it can cause the death of the woman if not
treated. Even when ectopics are in places
other than the tubes they are not normal
pregnancies and need to be treated as it
would if it were found in the tube - an
ectopic pregnancy cannot, as a general
rule, be carried to term (although as
msrosie I think there have been
exceptionally rare situations where this
has happened, not 100% sure on that
though)
I think it's yet another fun
semantic 'social versus technical'
definition issue.
A sensitive doctor may be aware of this
and avoid using the term "abortion" in the
tx of an etopic pregnancy.
I understand the removal of an etopic
pregnancy is done differently than vacuum
curettage so perhaps that's another
difference as well. I could be wrong,
though.
Precicelsy, while the 'essense' of
removing an ectopic is the same it really
isn't comparable given that the woman has
no choice/the embryo has no chance of
survival therefore the whole pregnancy
relationship is different (and it's
usually treated by either injecting the
e/f so if is reabsorbed back into the
womans body or by surgery which usually
involves removing the tube in which the
embryo is situated). Whilst it may be
referred to as an abortion no doctor with
an ounce of compassion would ever refer to
it as such to the woman involved (and you
will notice ectopics are not included in
abortion statistics for exactly this
reason)
But abortion does not innately incur
choice. Under no terms do I think,
particularly as a pro-choicer, that
referring to the termination of an ectopic
pregnancy as abortion is offensive or
lacks compassion. It certainly fits
Wikipedia's description of what therapeutic
abortions are. I find it strange, more
than anything else. The pregnancy hasn't
merely dissolved. It has ended. Been
terminated. Aborted. The death of the
foetus is the intended outcome of the
operation in order to preserve the life of
the mother.
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Moo
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Posted: 12-29-07 17:14pm
Kypros
wrote:
Moo
wrote:
Birch
wrote:
I think it's yet another fun
semantic 'social versus technical'
definition issue.
A sensitive doctor may be aware of this
and avoid using the term "abortion" in the
tx of an etopic pregnancy.
I understand the removal of an etopic
pregnancy is done differently than vacuum
curettage so perhaps that's another
difference as well. I could be wrong,
though.
Precicelsy, while the 'essense' of
removing an ectopic is the same it really
isn't comparable given that the woman has
no choice/the embryo has no chance of
survival therefore the whole pregnancy
relationship is different (and it's
usually treated by either injecting the
e/f so if is reabsorbed back into the
womans body or by surgery which usually
involves removing the tube in which the
embryo is situated). Whilst it may be
referred to as an abortion no doctor with
an ounce of compassion would ever refer to
it as such to the woman involved (and you
will notice ectopics are not included in
abortion statistics for exactly this
reason)
But abortion does not innately incur
choice.
Think of the treatment the way that
miscarriages are sometimes treated -
support you will find for those who have
suffered an ectopic pregnancy is with
miscarriage support.
Kypros
wrote:
Under no terms do I think,
particularly as a pro-choicer, that
referring to the termination of an ectopic
pregnancy as abortion is offensive or
lacks compassion.
Try telling that to a woman who has been
TTCing and ended up with an ectopic
pregnancy - it certainly DOES lack
compassion and understanding for the
situation.
[quote="Kypros] It certainly fits
Wikipedia's description of what therapeutic
abortions are. I find it strange, more
than anything else. The pregnancy hasn't
merely dissolved. It has ended. Been
terminated. Aborted. The death of the
foetus is the intended outcome of the
operation in order to preserve the life of
the mother.[/quote]
I'm not wrapped up in these definitions
that so many of the posts on this boards
are succumbing to, I merely state things
from either my personal or professional
experience. If you wish to think of the
removal of an ectopic as an abortion
that's your choice but I will certainly
never tell my friend I think she aborted
her very much wanted pregnancy.
(eta - if we're going on dictionary
definitions ectopic pregnancies usually
have a separate entry to both abortion and
miscarriage as it is a completely
different situation)