This article doesn't consider the possibility of adoption - it only considers "foster parenting" as an inherent evil. While, I am non-committal to form a hard and fast stance on abortion, due to the reasons enumerated in your introduction, I still think adoption should be considered for those who "unluckily" get knocked up. A common argument that I've heard against the adoption route is that if the preganancy goes full term, the woman will ultimately grow too attached to the child and won't want to give it up. That's fine, but then it ultimately seems to fly in the face of the argument that abortion is necessary to rid the world of an "unwanted child." Any thoughts?

Hmm... No one is forcing anyone to become pregnant. Yes, some women will become pregnant by rape, but that chances of that happening statistically are very very low. People, men and women both, should think before having sex, and be ready to accept the possable consequences, including pregnancy. How is pregnancy a punishment? Is anyone forcing someone else to bear a child? Punishment implies that someone else in inflicting something undesirable on someone else. You pose some intresting questions here that deserve merit, but I think you need to rethink them.

SH, what you say about "consequences" is *exactly* what I mean by "punishment". Your attitude reduces to "They shouldn't have done the crime if they weren't willing to pay the price." That's what punishment *means*. If someone was forcing them to have sex, it would *not* be "punishment" by definition. A man who commits a crime and goes to jail is being *punished*. The fact that he deserves the punishment doesn't enter into it.

"People, men and women both, should think before having sex, and be ready to accept the possable consequences, including pregnancy." Well, duh. But in saying "You had sex. This is the consequence. This is what you deserve for your lapse in judgment." You *are* making pregnancy a punishment. There's no way around it. Even if you feel that it is a just consequence, even if you feel that "they shouldn't have done that unless they were willing to face the consequences," you *are* thinking of pregnancy as a "punishment" -- as a just consequence for bad behavior.

Look at your own argument, and think about this parallel: "People, men and women both, should think before having sex, and be ready to accept the possable consequences, including STDs." I think most people would say that withholding STD treatment on the basis of "You did the deed: now you have to face the consequences" is plainly insane (which is not to say that some people haven't made that claim. But, like I said, those people are plainly insane). The argument against abortion can't evade the fact that it requires treating pregnancy as a negative consequence to be imposed for bad behavior.

There are some things in this world that -- even though they may make fine logical sense, even though they appeal to our sense of justice -- we consider anathema. We support our capitalist system and consider ourselves masters of our own bodies, but you can't sell your organs on eBay. It may be just, even seem useful to inflict pain on a violent criminal to get information, but we forbid torture.

To me, at least, the creation of life is an amazing and wonderful thing. To try to reduce it to someone's just desserts for a lapse in judgment just seems, well, perverse.