'Health' of the Mother

I've watched every debate, reviewed the position papers, read the autobiography & am very disheartened with Sen. McCain. After an illiustrous career & overcoming personal demons, he is determined to shoot himself in the face to pander to the GOP. As an Independant woman with friends that have had to make decisions to risk their lives to have a child, I was sickened by his dismissive portrayal during the last debate. As a mother of a young woman, should I value an unborn child more than my child, if that heart breaking decision is ever needed. Forget about "Joe the (non) Plumber" or Sara Palin, this is where I get off the Straight (Bulls#$@) Talk Express. I don't agree with some of the things that Barack Obama espouses, but I feel like he values women higher than Mr. McCain. I'm very sad that the man that I admired 8, even 4 years ago has somehow spiraled down to a caricature...

If a woman gets pregnant due to rape, if she does not want the child, abortion is up to her...
If she is spreading her legs for fun, both the mother and father are responsible for the child, therefore no abortion should be granted.
If she states that she does not know who the father is, she should have the child, then have a DNA test done on everyone she has been with to determine who the father is. And both are responsible for the child. No abortion should be granted.
If it is determined that the mothers life or health is at risk, she should have the choice to abort or not... based on the findings of the doctor and a CLEAR definition of her health issue.

As usual, McCain makes wild claims with no evidence...in this case that women routinely abuse the 'health' exception. The main issue with abortion rights is to what extent should we allow the government to control our lives. The current compromise, Roe v. Wade, is reasonable and workable. McCain and his allies want the government to have more control over our personal lives because of their religious beliefs. Abortion is a horrible tragedy that should be avoided, but giving the government the power to force a woman to complete a pregnancy is the wrong solution. Life is a continuum, it does not spring from non-life at any point during the conception process. The issue of when life begins is a personal and religious belief, and not the government's business

This is an op-ed, right? Oh, it is supposed to be news? I would think the news is that Senator Obama's position on abortion is to the left of both NARAL and Planned Parenthood and yet he continues to go un-challenged on the subject. Yet you use Senator McCain's choice of gestures while speaking of the health risk exception to drive the undecided to a candidate that you've never really exposed for his radical position on life issues.

FOCA will increase late-tem abortions. FOCA will provide a new influx of 14 year old young women who will influenced to abort thier children, without regard to their own personal health risks (breast cancer, mental trauma, etc.). FOCA will insulate the Statutory Rapist against law enforcement.

I am not a McCain supporter, but he is RIGHT about this, as a matter of fact. As an attorney , husband of a R.N., and friend of several physicians, I am very familiar with Roe, and the implementation of state law regarding abortion. "Health of the mother" is stretched to mean emotional angst over being pregnant, and no woman has ever been rejected from an abortion clinic because they couldn't find a way to make the "health" clause justify the procedure. I personally spoke to Bill Baird, who counseled over 20,000 women at his abortion clinics, and he advised exactly NONE of them that they could not or should not have an abortion. If you think killing an unborn baby is a bad thing, and this is more important to you than eloquence, then McCain is not only right about this; he is a better choice than Obama. I'm voting for Ron Paul, also pro-life, who doesn't want to kill babies or Soldiers. He's on the ballot in MT, VA, and LA. For the rest of you, "Live Free or Compromise!"

I am not a McCain supporter, but he is RIGHT about this, as a matter of fact. As an attorney , husband of a R.N., and friend of several physicians, I am very familiar with Roe, and the implementation of state law regarding abortion. "Health of the mother" is stretched to mean emotional angst over being pregnant, and no woman has ever been rejected from an abortion clinic because they couldn't find a way to make the "health" clause justify the procedure. I personally spoke to Bill Baird, who counseled over 20,000 women at his abortion clinics, and he advised exactly NONE of them that they could not or should not have an abortion. If you think killing an unborn baby is a bad thing, and this is more important to you than eloquence, then McCain is not only right about this; he is a better choice than Obama. I'm voting for Ron Paul, also pro-life, who doesn't want to kill babies or Soldiers. He's on the ballot in MT, VA, and LA. For the rest of you, "Live Free or Compromise!"

I have to agree on your point that the focus needs to be on the Mother. It's scary to think that some people think of a woman as simply just an incubator for reproduction with regard to her health! I

"When McCain had the audacity to do that, it wasn't just about the health exception; it was attacking a woman's ability to make private decisions with her doctor." Exactly how misogynistic and sexist is the GOP and McCain by suggesting that a female VP is ready and trusted to become President and lead this country if necessary however Women should not be trusted to government their own bodies and health!!! Not to mention that McCain & the GOP feel that equal pay/rights Lilly Ledbetter isn't necessary. I will not vote for McCain/McBush and GOP no matter how many "female" VPs they trot out. How can you say you are for less government in John Q Public's life then say its okay for States and government to legislate a women's private life. Oh now I get it....less government for Joe Q public but more government for Josephine Q public though we both work and pay taxes. Obama in 08 - he fights for equality for all of citizens of the US including women!

"When McCain had the audacity to do that, it wasn't just about the health exception; it was attacking a woman's ability to make private decisions with her doctor." Exactly how misogynistic and sexist is the GOP and McCain by suggesting that a female VP is ready and trusted to become President and lead this country if necessary however Women should not be trusted to government their own bodies and health!!! Not to mention that McCain & the GOP feel that equal pay/rights Lilly Ledbetter isn't necessary. I will not vote for McCain/McBush and GOP no matter how many "female" VPs they trot out. How can you say you are for less government in John Q Public's life then say its okay for States and government to legislate a women's private life. Oh now I get it....less government for Joe Q public but more government for Josephine Q public though we both work and pay taxes. Obama in 08 - he fights for equality for all of citizens of the US including women!

This is why I do not want McCain in the white house. After my second emergency c-section, I was told on the operating table by my physician that I should not get pregnant ever again as I could die. I had severe pre-clampsia with both of my pregnancies. I had two emergency c-sections not because there were problems with my baby's health. My health was in jeopardy. My husband and I are doubling up the birth control so we will not get pregnant again. If McCain gets into the white house and had Roe v. Wade overturned, who is going to decide whether I can have an abortion or not should I accidentally get pregnant? The Courts? I had a normal pregnancy until 28 weeks, when my pre-clampsia reared its ugly head. Would the courts look at my prior records and allow an early abortion or will they wait until my health is clearly in jeopardy? Or would McCain believe that I was ???stretching??? the health issue?

Abortion rates in countries where abortion is outlawed are the same as in countries where it is lega. Therefore, overturning Roe vs Wade will not impact the actual abortion rate. The one thing that would most decrease abortions is to make birth control readily and cheaply (or free) available. Yet the extreme right opposes that, also. What theyreally want is power and control over all reproductive decisions; nothing to do with actually stopping abortions. That is just a red herring for high control.

Amen nim, Im pro-choice and I adopted 3 in '86. When I hear a far right winger match that Ill listen to what he has to say. I may not agree, but at least he's earned the respect of my "ear", not before.

im getting really tired of the ultra right wing christian conervatives preaching about saving the babies...when such a small percentage of you are willing to adopt. until you have the courage to adopt a child that might not be the same color as you, or from the same background, or even "normal" or in "gods image" you hav no right to even open your mouth...you have the courage to sit here and judge women and families and they're own choices yet you would very rarely see at an orphanage, or trying to adopt from overseas, or even donating money to help these childeren. your not coming up with new ideas or plans to "save" these childeren once they are born, your not taking action yourself on any front beside preaching the good word. im sick of it. ive been to plenty of countries, and places in the united states for that matter, where people live in squalor and poverty. walking talking thinking childeren and kids need help NOW...and your the last people half the time to stand up and REALLY help. but your totally comfortable standing in front of an abortion clinic screaming at people you dont know or have any idea what they are going through in they're lives telling them they are baby killers... when did america lose sight of its freedoms? or ideals? this is not "one nation under 'God'" anymore, this is one nation under Buddha, Allah, Krishna, and too many others to name...our ancestors came here to escape prosecution for they're choices and here we are again, repeating history like we are still in the dark ages. do you know how midevil some of you sound???

i have propositions to every person opposed to abortion for whatever reason...go out right now on your high horse of morality and head down to your local orphanage, or "battered womans" shelter, or the rehab clinic and ask the women there if you could help take care of they're childeren, or adopt, or fly to india and watch 8yr old girls sleeping alone in alley ways and in gutters, go see the rural areas of 3rd world countries and see what those childeren are going through, try talking to a 5yr girl with full blown AIDS and save her in her last days of life...go to africa and save childeren from malaria and civil war...go help the childeren that need real serious help...your such stand up humanitarians than go out and practice what you preach. get off your soap boxes and make a difference now in a childs life.

i bet maybe 1% would. from what ive seen in my life and times... until you have the courage to do that, you should really just not open your mouth because there are soon to be over 7 billion people living on this planet, a large percentage of that being childeren. so go save 1. just one. then you can sleep easy at night and leave people and they're personal problems and choices alone.

why is our community mindstate in sad shape?? this is a huge issue for thousands of people on both sides? what kind of question is that?

What happens when doctor's are so fearful of laws that instead of doing what he/she knows is the best option from years of medical training and scientific background and is instead tied to the ruling of a group of people who lack both experience, knowledge and practice? Doctors perform late term abortions not by request, but by necessity and they do not enjoy it. henw: if late term abortions are being performed needlessly at your hospital then perhaps you should address it to the chief of staff. Losing both a mother and child when one could be saved is a tragedy that makes a late term abortion seem the lesser of two evils. While the "how" of the proceedure may seem cruel it is done as a best course of action, in many cases to improve the mothers chance of having the ability to carry later pregnancies to term without causing damage. Argue as you may, the issue is not black and white.

What happens when doctor's are so fearful of laws that instead of doing what he/she knows is the best option from years of medical training and scientific background and is instead tied to the ruling of a group of people who lack both experience, knowledge and practice? Doctors perform late term abortions not by request, but by necessity and they do not enjoy it. The "how" of a "partial birth" is not done to be cruel, but because other means would cause more damage to the mother. To the doctor who "knows", then perhaps it is something you should take up with the chief of staff at your hospital. You only need to have one mother and baby both die when one could have been saved to realize that there is a heavy amount of compassion involved in this procedure.


Let's mae

Let's

that this is even a presidential issue reflects the sad state of our community mindset.