How would you respond to somebody comparing circumcision to abortion?

[BlackSkullRacer613]

I have imagined myself in a debate with somebody regarding circumcision. In this imaginary arguement, the person asks me "What about abortion?"

This is an important issue because pro-circumcision people will try to find holes in your arguement and/or expose you as a hypocrite. Saying that you are pro-choice but anti-neonatal circumcision may be viewed as hypocritical, and your viewpoints will not be taken as seriously.

My response to this would be that I believe that proper sex education and the distribution of contraception will reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies and therefore the number of abortions. Raising a child takes a lot of money and responsibility, so the woman may be doing this for financial or other reasons. As controversial as this is, this may be seen as a true reason to get an abortion although there are other options.

Circumcision, on the other hand, has no reason. There is no debate on whether or not the baby counts as a human being once it is out of the womb. There is practically no reason to subject him to large amounts of pain and permanent damage for unnecessary reasons.

[Tally]

I do not take a public stand on abortion. Circumcision is polarizing enough without bringing another issue into the mix.

But, if the person who brings it up is against abortion, I have been known to say that I do not understand how so many people who are against abortion and want the baby to live and who will immediately circumcise the baby when it is born. If a baby has a right to life, it should have a right to its whole body.

If the person is pro-choice, I flip it around the other way that I do not understand why the mother is given a choice but the baby is not after he is born. Doesn't everyone deserve to chose what happens to their body?

Invariably, the person bringing up abortion wants to talk only about their issue and will discount anything I say. I either ignore the person or try to steer it away from abortion by saying that is a different issue.

[greg_b]

I think I would say I am pro choice for both. His foreskin, his choice.

But if they really wanted to discuss it, rather than debate it and throw sound bites my way, I would work with them to frame either decision in terms of trade offs...the benefits vs the negative consequences. then discuss the values and risk tolerance that a person might have, and how to deal with uncertainty.

Regards

[hoodrat]

the way the law works is if an abortion fails and the baby is delivered accidentally, the doctor is obligated to attempt to save it. once a baby's out, it's untouchable. unless they're insisting on performing circumcision in utero, they're two separate issues.

that's what i'd say.

[admin]

Originally Posted by BlackSkullRacer613

I have imagined myself in a debate with somebody regarding circumcision. In this imaginary arguement, the person asks me "What about abortion?"

It happens to me all the time.

Originally Posted by Tally

Invariably, the person bringing up abortion wants to talk only about their issue and will discount anything I say.

It happens to me all the time.

I always say I'm for minimizing suffering.

If they really need to know how I personally view the abortion issue I tell them I acknowldege it is the killing of a pre-born person, and that I don't think that person has the capacity to suffer before 6 weeks gestation. I tell them it is not a black and white issue because whatever rights you ascribe to the fetus, the mother has equal or superior rights, and it is not my business, the father's business, or the government's business to force her to procede with a gestation, labor, and delivery that she feels could harm her. I call it a special case (not a slippery slope) that calls for the legalization of murder. I wouldn't allow actively killiing the child, though, if there was a safe (for Mom) alternative. Rather, I would allow the mother to "deliver" it from herself at any time.

Give her every tool to avoid pregnancy and full support should she choose to adopt-out or abandon the child.

[WoundedBird]

I don't bring up abortion if I can avoid it, in general.

However, there are key differences between circumcision and abortion.

For one thing, if a baby is living within a woman, and the woman does not want it there...it is essentially a parasite. That may sounds awful, I'm not saying I think that is the ideal viewpoint, but isn't it true?

The baby lives off of the mother, and if she doesn't want it there, it's living within HER body...

Once an infant is delivered it is no longer hosting on the mother. Mutilating off part of it's genitals really has nothing to do with abortion IMO. And while I am pro-choice, I am not specifically advocating abortion.