Pro-Choice and Pro-life Democrats can agree with Sen. Reid on this

[NNguyenMD]

Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic Senate leader, personally opposes abortion, and while he isn't urging his party to abandon its traditional stance he is pushing a bill to reduce abortions through better teen pregnancy prevention and greater insurance coverage of family planning services.

from

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7818243

As I said before in an earlier post, legal or not there ARE going to be abortions and there are going to be pregnant teenage mothers wihout access to someone who can offer them a choice.

The debate of abortion has forgotten about the people whom it matters most to, the unwanted pregnancies and mother left with no support or help. Both sides should talk more on what they can do to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies and establish services where young, confused mother can go to and feel safe to make an honest choice.

[Mojambo]

1. Pro-Life is a meaningless term.

The concern is whether people are Anti-Choice or not.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

2. I am pro-choice and agree with the strategy

We absolutely need to be doing everything we can so that women don't HAVE to even be in a position to make what should be a fully legal choice.

[davidinalameda]

9. name one form of birth control that is 100% guaranteed

other than abstinence and having your organs removed

accidents happen and I don't see any of the anti-choice Democrats taking those into account

these so-called leaders need to stand up and say that abortion is going to stay legal and if you are against it, then don't have one!

[NNguyenMD]

10. That may be the response from the fringe groups but...

The majority of the public is pro-choice, but afraid to come out and say it, you can isolate the fringe "anti-choice" people by drawing away their support from people who are not comfortable with abortion rights, but want to see a solution to the problem of unwanted pregnancy.

Yes NO birth control is 100% effective, but many of them are pretty darn good at being effective and would still be able to protect young girls from having an unwanted pregnancy. Education, the right kind, would protect young women from unwanted pregnancy infinitely more than nothing.

All I'm saying is if we want the broaden our support, we have to offer solutions to problems. Its not enough for the majority of the public to hear, "well thats the way it is and if you don't like it then leave". They will only take you seriously if you offer a viable solution, and emphasize that as we speak today, there are still women out there who find themselves without choices, and there are probably going to be just as many abortions if Roe v. Wade is overturn.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

12. what the fuck are you talking about?

I just said I'm fully pro-choice. But we should absolutely be all about trying to reduce the number of times abortion has to happen. It's not exactly a fun decision for women to have to make, even if we are fighting for the right to make that decision.

[Warpy]

3. Raising WAGES will prevent a lot of abortions

by women for whom bringing an unwanted pregnancy to term will result in a lifelong financial disaster.

Better access to birth control and emergency contraception will prevent still more.

Still, bearing a child means facing death, and women will still decide they are not prepared to face death quite yet for a child they really don't want.

That's why nothing will ever stop abortions from happening. Stupid antichoice laws will only stop the safe ones.

[Padraig18]

4. Go, Sen Reid!

If we truly wish to make abortion rare, in addition to making it safe and legal, then we must have in place the social infrastructure to make 'choice' a TRUE choice. Let's face it, if you are pregnant and the only thing the future holds for you if you keep your baby is grinding, soul-crushing poverty for you both, then is there REALLY a free choice, in any meaningful sense of the word?

[Yosie]

5. Reid's suggestions are THE answer to the Anti-Choicers

The progressive response must be:

-teen pregnancy prevention
-greater insurance coverage of family planning services
-maternity leave with REAL job protection (for dads too)
-real wages for working people - so that they support kids

-not Wal Mart wages
-universal, single payer health insurance

[Doctor_J]

6. Do you mean pro-choice and anti-choice?

there is nothing pro-life about, say, Smirk. This is a matter of the federal govenment interfering in a private matter between a woman and her physician.

[NNguyenMD]

7. don't you think that the energy and time spent debating this could be put

to better use if both sides would worked together in figuring out a way to REDUCE the number of unwanted pregnancies, so that women don't have to make that choice?

As well as set up services for them that are safe, and allow them to make an informed choiced that they can live with.

The whole debate of, is it right, is it wrong, it it moral, legal, is all happening while thousands of women each day are left without access, or education for that matter, to contraceptives, much less the choice to terminate an unwanted pregnancy.

What Senator Reid proposes may not involve the deep thinking that happens in a debate on the legality of abortion, but at least it will help a great number of women a long the way. I'd rather he spend more of his time figuring how to do that better.

[Doctor_J]

8. And my point is that when you say pro-life and pro-choice,

you make the dichotomy between THOSE two. THat's incorrect. The opposite of pro-choice is anti-choice. If we want to get somewhere on this issue, we should start by discussing it in accurate terms.

Of COURSE I would like to reduce teen pregnancy. Referring to war-mongering, racist, death-penalty zealots as "pro-life" won't help at all.

[NNguyenMD]

11. fair enough, I'll adjust my terminology