>>44 It's not there to just run out and do.
Like hell it isn't. Sex has no meaning other than what we give it. It's the mechanism used to procreate, but just because procreation is inextoribly linked to sex does not mean sex is inextoribly linked to procreation.
It's silly to say that having sex means wanting a child. People have sex ALL THE TIME without wanting a child. In fact, half of all children are the result of an unwanted pregnancy. Sex is just a biological function. What we do with it is up to the individual.
OF COURSE it's irresponsible to have sex without protection and get pregnant. But instead of making the problem worse, deal with it! Take responsibilty for your fuck-up, and abort the fetus. Does an abortion primarily serve the (possibly selfish) self-interest of the mother-to-be? Sure. Trying to get out of it would be blaming others, trying to make somebody else (in most cases, the State) to properly care for the baby.
Who does the mother-to-be have a responsibility towards? First of all, herself. She needs to provide her own sustinance and well-being. The father-to-be? As far as a child goes, yes. But even so, law and biology have worked out to make it the mother who by far carries the burden of bringing a new child into the world and taking care of it. In any case, her responsibility to herself comes first. Society? Yes, a new life will consume resources from the community. Could it be worth the investment? Maybe, but it could also be a huge drain. Historically, it's by far the latter.
Anybody else? The fetus? No, the fetus is not an individual. It is a symbiant life wholy dependant on the mother for sustinance and survival. Until it is born, it is merely an extension of the mother. The mother has a right to determine how her life, which at that point is the same as the life of the fetus, is to go. She has to take responsibilty for herself, and if that means killing part of her, that's how it has to be.
Genetics is just as losy an arguement. Viruses are not genetically identical. Event the mitochondria in every single cell in your body is not genetically identical. And it's by no means "separate." It is fundamentally unable to be cared for by any other person than the mother.
In a more perfect world, I'd say every pregnancy should be caried to term. Since it's a more perfect world, there would be no problem having the rest of society care for an unwanted child. But in our real, practical world, unwanted pregnancies happen. Even if there were something fundamantally objectionable to abortion, it's a necessary option that outweighs the negative consequences.
"Pro-life" as a term is almost a joke. It's placing a potential being over an existing being. That's anti-life.
And geez, finally, even if an abortion is a "get out of jail free" card, so what? It's still the woman's right to use it. If you think it's morally objectionable, so be it. Lots of morally objectional things happen, but that's why we have rights. Even if somebody doesn't like what we're doing, rights protect all of us from eachother's subjective, individual zeals.