Why do people act like abortion is the most important issue in Senate elections?

[DrScholl]

A few socially conservative Republicans are mainly the ones who keep bringing it up as an issue for their base. When you have 70 or so Republicans candidates coming out saying they don't believe rape or incest should be an exception for abortion, it's not logical to blame the left wing for the bring it to the forefront. Private medical decisions should never be up for political debate, this is the only modern, first world country who has this ridiculous debate.

[cinyc]

A few socially conservative Republicans are mainly the ones who keep bringing it up as an issue for their base. When you have 70 or so Republicans candidates coming out saying they don't believe rape or incest should be an exception for abortion, it's not logical to blame the left wing for the bring it to the forefront. Private medical decisions should never be up for political debate, this is the only modern, first world country who has this ridiculous debate.

Yeah, that First Amendment is so overrated.

It galls me when so-called "progressives" deem a "ridiculous" debate over because they say it is.  Andrew Cuomo said some similar nonsense last week.

[DrScholl]

Yeah, that First Amendment is so overrated.

It galls me when so-called "progressives" deem a "ridiculous" debate over because they say it is.  Andrew Cuomo said some similar nonsense last week.

How did the First Amendment come into this? Don't get it twisted with straw man, I never said people didn't have a right to talk about the issue, I was discussing the sheer inanity over arguing about other people's medical decisions that don't personally effect you.

[cinyc]

Yeah, that First Amendment is so overrated.

It galls me when so-called "progressives" deem a "ridiculous" debate over because they say it is.  Andrew Cuomo said some similar nonsense last week.

How did the First Amendment come into this? Don't get it twisted with straw man, I never said people didn't have a right to talk about the issue, I was discussing the sheer inanity over arguing about other people's medical decisions that don't personally effect you.

What part of "private medical decisions should never be up for political debate" doesn't implicate the First Amendment?  The First Amendment is precisely meant to protect speech that some think"shouldn't" be up for political debate.  Debates that so-called "progressives" think are "ridiculous" aren't out of bounds.  There is nothing "progressive" about limiting political speech.

By the way, the US isn't the only "modern, first world country" who has debates about whether killing unborn children should be illegal.  Ireland has, among others.

[DrScholl]

What part of "private medical decisions should never be up for political debate" doesn't implicate the First Amendment?  The First Amendment is precisely meant to protect speech that some think"shouldn't" be up for political debate.  Debates that so-called "progressives" think are "ridiculous" aren't out of bounds.  There is nothing "progressive" about limiting political speech.

By the way, the US isn't the only "modern, first world country" who has debates about whether killing unborn children should be illegal.  Ireland has, among others.

That wasn't my point at all. I'm talking about as far as the government being involved in personal medical decisions, politicians shouldn't be debating or deciding it. Of course, private citizens will do that, but that's just opinions, it's not lawmaking.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

It's also worth pointing out that there are less legal restrictions on abortion in the United States than in almost any other country and that the process of legalisation was far more political than in many other countries and has been tied up - to an unusual extent - with the language of rights.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

It's also worth pointing out that there are less legal restrictions on abortion in the United States than in almost any other country and that the process of legalisation was far more political than in many other countries and has been tied up - to an unusual extent - with the language of rights.

I see a lot of blue on this map.

[specific_name]

How else to rally otherwise ignorant non political types to vote? Social wedge issues, of course. So as the races look closer in some states, both sides want to pull in the apathetic portions of their respective bases.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I see a lot of blue on this map.

Yes, but what do the colours mean? Britain and the U.S have the same colour, but there are far more legal restrictions on abortion here than in the U.S. Is it the date of legalisation by decade or something?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Ah, it's from wikipedia. Of course. I've checked the key now and it's grossly misleading, sorry.

[Torie]

I see a lot of blue on this map.

Yes, but what do the colours mean? Britain and the U.S have the same colour, but there are far more legal restrictions on abortion here than in the U.S. Is it the date of legalisation by decade or something?

Here is a link to the wiki article, with a legend for what the colors mean.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I see a lot of blue on this map.

Yes, but what do the colours mean? Britain and the U.S have the same colour, but there are far more legal restrictions on abortion here than in the U.S. Is it the date of legalisation by decade or something?

Here is a link to the wiki article, with a legend for what the colors mean.

Yes I know; check the post above

And as I said, grossly misleading.

[Torie]

I see a lot of blue on this map.

Yes, but what do the colours mean? Britain and the U.S have the same colour, but there are far more legal restrictions on abortion here than in the U.S. Is it the date of legalisation by decade or something?

Here is a link to the wiki article, with a legend for what the colors mean.

Yes I know; check the post above

And as I said, grossly misleading.

Well others can easily find the legend now. US "law" on abortion is quite complex. Who knew? 

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Well others can easily find the legend now. US "law" on abortion is quite complex. Who knew? 

Abortion law is complicated almost everywhere; laws on sensitive subjects usually are. But in Britain the law states that abortions cannot take place after twenty four weeks, that the procedure must be signed off by two doctors and that it must comply with various other, more technical and admittedly easier to flout, restrictions. It is not legally available 'on demand'. The map is dishonest in other respects as well; worse than the usual issue of bias being inherent in selection, worse than the usual issues surrounding bias and maps.

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

This sort of rhetoric is, unfortunately, typical of many so-called pro-lifers.

 
It's just the plain truth. What do you mean "so-called pro-lifers"?

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I agree a woman has reproductive rights and the right to family planning. I support women's health and women's rights. But abortion falls under none of these categories.

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I don't know enough about you to say whether you are a decent human being or not, but I would hope you would reconsider your lack of respect for human life.

Tell me how abortion doesn't find under ANY of those categories?

I have no interest in abortion as a public policy issue, and doesn't influence my vote. Unless they feel the need to express that view, since I don't consider it an issue that politicians have any right to pontificate on and dictate toward, then they won't get my vote.

I'm pro-choice, rather than pro-abortion... it's like Sarah Palin isn't pro-life, she's anti-choice. It's a choice, the people I know who have had an abortion have always felt a great degree of seriousness attached to it.

I don't believe in imposing my beliefs on anyone - which is what the 'anti-choicers' want to do.

No, it's not about "choice". Someone who wants to legalize the "right" for people to choose to commit murder is pro-murder, not pro-choice. "Pro-choice" is a vague and deliberately misleading euphemism used by people to avoid admitting what they really mean.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Ah, it's from wikipedia. Of course. I've checked the key now and it's grossly misleading, sorry.

Yes, it is very misleading.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

The UK would be more accurately colored the olive color from my understanding of the law.

[HAnnA MArin County]

It's always been my philosophy that Republicans want live fetuses so they can grow up to be dead soldiers.

I wanna say to all of these socially conservative Bible thumpers, "If the fetus you so desperately desire to save turns out to be gay, would you still fight for its rights?"

Personally, abortion isn't even on my radar of important political issues, as it shouldn't be, seeing as how I'm a gay man I don't really care (or wanna know) what women do with their vaginas. But I agree with most everyone on here. It does kind of irk me how we consider "moderate Republicans" to be pro-choice and pro-gay rights, and "conservative Democrats" to be pro-life and anti-gay. If you only sway away from your party on these two hot-button social issues which, as everyone has already mentioned, Congress doesn't even really discuss, that doesn't make you a moderate Republican or a conservative Democrat. Have we really become so polarized as a society to where if you disagree with your party on these two issues that you're shifted to the left or right and labeled a moderate Republican/conservative Democrat?

[Mercenary]

For me at least it gives me at least a partial view into one's mind. Even if their position is completely unrelated to ever doing things one way or another, I vote for someone I believe in, not just someone I expect to get X or Y done.

[Ogre Mage]

Personally, abortion isn't even on my radar of important political issues, as it shouldn't be, seeing as how I'm a gay man I don't really care (or wanna know) what women do with their vaginas. But I agree with most everyone on here.

I am also a gay man and I prefer to vote for pro-choice candidates.  My philosophy is that it is not the government's role to tell people what to do with their bodies or their relationships with other adults.   

If I was a woman, I would want to make my own medical decisions.

[cannonia]

Some people think it's wrong to murder babies.

Some people think it's wrong to coerce birth.

If the moral question is framed with these constraints, it's pretty easy to decide between the two.

[Ogre Mage]

Some people think it's wrong to murder babies.

Some people think it's wrong to coerce birth.

If the moral question is framed with these constraints, it's pretty easy to decide between the two.

I have done some reasearch on the pre-Roe era and spoken with women who had friends that tried to get an illegal abortion during that time.  Needless to say, it is not an era I am interested in returning to.

[Capitan Zapp Brannigan]

Some people think it's wrong to murder babies.

Some people think it's wrong to coerce birth.

If the moral question is framed with these constraints, it's pretty easy to decide between the two.

I have done some reasearch on the pre-Roe era and spoken with women who had friends that tried to get an illegal abortion during that time.  Needless to say, it is not an era I am interested in returning to.

My great aunt got an illegal abortion during the pre-Roe era. It was a very risky, dangerous procedure then. I'd much rather have abortion(such as it is with the huge amounts of restrictions put on it these days) laws today than back then.

If anything, abortion laws should be relaxed in a majority of states. Plus, the crazy protestors outside of the abortion clinics screaming at the young women as they come in don't help any. RIP George Tiller.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I am completely pro-choice. However it is unlikely I will ever ever vote based on this issue and any candidate bringing it up makes me less likely to vote for them. I actually have a slight dislike for radical pro-choice activists (though they are nowhere near as bad as radical pro-life ones, that goes without saying.)

[Ogre Mage]

Some people think it's wrong to murder babies.

Some people think it's wrong to coerce birth.

If the moral question is framed with these constraints, it's pretty easy to decide between the two.

I have done some reasearch on the pre-Roe era and spoken with women who had friends that tried to get an illegal abortion during that time.  Needless to say, it is not an era I am interested in returning to.

My great aunt got an illegal abortion during the pre-Roe era. It was a very risky, dangerous procedure then. I'd much rather have abortion(such as it is with the huge amounts of restrictions put on it these days) laws today than back then.

If anything, abortion laws should be relaxed in a majority of states. Plus, the crazy protestors outside of the abortion clinics screaming at the young women as they come in don't help any. RIP George Tiller.

Thank you for that story.  I agree, the situation is better today.