I don't know!

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Donnie estrada

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Jan 24, 2011, 10:46:49 AM1/24/11
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I know this that was pregnant with a baby, and the doctors were able to tell her early that her baby would be born deformed and tons of major medical issues, the doctors advise her not to have the baby, but she refused, mainly because of her religious beliefs. My question to the group is what would You do? For me I wouldn't because I wouldn't want my child to go through all the pain, and I wouldn't have the patients ( being honest) to deal with it.... but I don't know? What would you do?

Frankela Albury

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Jan 24, 2011, 11:14:40 AM1/24/11
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I know a lady actually two who were told they were pregnant and their baby would have down syndrome.  One decided to have an abortion right away.  The other decided that was an issue she could deal with and is catholic and doesn't believe in abortions so decided to keep the baby then later on in her 5th month (showing and all) found out that the defects the baby would have would be severe, and after a lot of thought got an abortion.  She thought it best for her and the baby.
 
I agree with her.  I'm not sure if I can spend my life dealing with a child that has severe deformaties.  Maybe if it's something not so severe and the child could grow up and have a normal life it's not such a big deal.  Like if you're child is just going to be mentally slow or something.  But otherwise I would have an abortion.

On Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 10:46 AM, Donnie estrada <estra...@gmail.com> wrote:

I know this that was pregnant with a baby, and the doctors were able to tell her early that her baby would be born deformed and tons of major medical issues, the doctors advise her not to have the baby, but she refused, mainly because of her religious beliefs. My question to the group is what would You do? For me I wouldn't because I wouldn't want my child to go through all the pain, and I wouldn't have the patients ( being honest) to deal with it.... but I don't know? What would you do?

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Faunya Estrada

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Jan 24, 2011, 11:13:58 AM1/24/11
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I really don't like to think or talk about these sorts of things, especially since I haven't had my children yet and don't know what the future has in store for me.....but, I have had enough personal (sort of) experience with this to come to a conclusion right away.
 
My mom had three disabled children.  My eldest sister, Lela, is deaf. The sister under her, Naomi, had water in her brain and died at the age of 2.  The baby sister, Shekinah (who I was actually around for), had an under-developed cranium and died approximately 20 minutes after she was born.
 
Having a deaf sister, I know that this is more of a social disability, than a harmful one. So, if it were a social or cosmetic disability, where I knew the child would be able to function in society but with more difficulty, I would likely keep the child..... :-/
 
In the case of my youngest sister, my mom found out while she was pregnant that the baby was not developing correctly and would either not live, die soon after or be unable to live a normal life, constantly in the hospital.  Unfortunately, my mom did not have the option of choosing to keep or abort the baby, because she was too far along in her pregnancy when they found this out.  However, I believe she would have chosen (or if I were in that situation I would have chosen) to abort the child.  Why? 1) The child, if they lived, would never have been able to live a normal, happy, painless life.  2) The pain that the parent experiences from losing a child that they carried for 9 months or took care of for two years, far outweigh (in my personal opinion) the pain that the parent experiences from aborting a child that will likely die at a young age or be seriously disabled and in pain their entire lives.
 
Actually, I have mixed feelings.  Doctors don't know everything and just as many times their predictions are correct, their predictions are wrong.  Sometimes doctors say that someone will die or never have a normal life and God comes in and changes that, if it be his will.  So, do you use your educated opinion on things and make a decision based on that.....or do you allow things to happen and believe that there is a purpose for everything and God will not put more on you than you can bear.  I would likely believe the latter, but in practice.....to be completely honest.....I'd probably follow the earlier :-(
 
I haven't gained the strength yet.....

 
On Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 10:46 AM, Donnie estrada <estra...@gmail.com> wrote:

I know this that was pregnant with a baby, and the doctors were able to tell her early that her baby would be born deformed and tons of major medical issues, the doctors advise her not to have the baby, but she refused, mainly because of her religious beliefs. My question to the group is what would You do? For me I wouldn't because I wouldn't want my child to go through all the pain, and I wouldn't have the patients ( being honest) to deal with it.... but I don't know? What would you do?

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Donnie estrada

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Jan 24, 2011, 11:34:09 AM1/24/11
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That's my point does this challenge our faith in God, and go against he wont put more on you then you can bare? But supposed my thoughts Are strictly for my child and the pain they will have, does that " no more then u Can bare" also apply to that child?

Faunya Estrada

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Jan 24, 2011, 11:44:34 AM1/24/11
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I think it does challenge our faith in God......and the 'no more than you can bare' applies to everyone, even the child.
 
However, eventhough I know this, I can't confidently say that I would keep the child :-(

Jai Jones

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Jan 24, 2011, 11:47:04 AM1/24/11
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I would never abort a child. My mother was told early on that i would have cystic fibrosis. Anyne who knows the disease knows that the life expectancy is not very long. My father had 2 sisters with the disease both of whom dies before 12. She prayed for me night and day for 9 months. And i'm here. And i dont have cystic fibrosis. I wound up being a carrier. So yes i think it does say something about your faith when you are given a probability and make a decision. I CAN'T, however say that i condemn anyone for their choice in that matter. All matters of faith are very personal ones...and peoples faith are often at diffferent levels of maturity. So i'd really be without judgment for anyone regardless of their decision. That being said...I'd never abort a child. I just wouldn't.
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*Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It is beyond me.-Zora Neale Hurston

Tamara Evans

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Jan 25, 2011, 5:14:08 PM1/25/11
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Wow!! interesting question...
 
Not having an abortion based on religious beliefs.  The same beliefs that may cause a person to give up their own life.
 
It depends on how much a person really is faithful in their beliefs.  If you believe in the Bible and follow daily then that would be a hard decision to make.  Since most Christians are taught that abortion is wrong, no matter the circumstance.
 
But some Christians may argue is a fetus an actual life, so it's not actually murder. 
 
Like Jai, I too would say at this moment that I would not abort.  It is murder to me.  But I am speaking from never being in the situation.
 
God doesn't make mistakes... Humans do.  So I believe God is the author and finisher of all life.  Who am I to decide that I don't want to deal with the blessing he has bestowed upon me.
 
While yes, it will be a difficult task to care for a handicapped child, Joy can come from any situation. 

Faunya Estrada

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Feb 4, 2011, 11:04:17 AM2/4/11
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 A somewhat related article, published in yesterday's NYTimes.  It cites that in the city of New York, 41% of pregnancies, excluding miscarriages, end in abortion.  That's crazy to me!
 
 
February 3, 2011

City’s High Abortion Rate Defies Easy Explanation

By ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS

At a time when evidence suggests that people in New York City are smoking less, eating better and biking more, one health statistic that has not budged is the abortion rate.

Two of every five pregnancies in the city end in abortion, a statistic that has barely changed in more than a decade. At a news conference last month, Timothy M. Dolan, the Roman Catholic archbishop of New York, called the city’s 41 percent abortion rate “downright chilling.” And on Thursday, State Senator Rubén Díaz Sr. of the Bronx brought up the figure repeatedly as he urged a group of anti-abortion ministers to spread the word that abortion was nothing less than an attack on minorities.

“They might think that we will take over, and that they’ve got to stop us,” said Mr. Díaz, who also is a minister. “What they did, they are killing black and Hispanic children.”

Nationally, the issue is receiving a new round of attention, with numerous state legislatures and the House considering bills that would add restrictions on abortion, and Planned Parenthood was recently a target of undercover videos by an anti-abortion group.

But city health officials and groups that support access to abortion say that behind the 41 percent statistic — nearly twice the national rate — are complex social and legal factors: fewer obstacles to abortion in state law; the absence of mandatory sex education in New York City public schools; the ignorance of people, especially young ones, about where to get affordable birth control; and the ambivalence of young women living in poverty and in unstable relationships about when and whether to have children.

And although the percentage of pregnancies that end in abortion is basically unchanged, a particularly vulnerable group, teenagers, is having fewer babies and fewer abortions.

The hand-wringing has led to a rare moment of synchronicity between the Catholic Church and pro-choice women’s groups, as both say they are disturbed that the rate is so high, but disagree over what to do about it.

“Listening to Archbishop Dolan, I took a little bit of comfort in that he recognizes it is important to bring this rate down,” said Joan Malin, president of Planned Parenthood of New York City. But, she added, “The way we think about these issues is to really step back a bit and say that the major concern or the underlying issue that we think is so important is the high rate of unintended pregnancies.”

The issue came to light with the city health department’s recent release of its annual Vital Statistics report, which showed that 41 percent of pregnancies, excluding miscarriages, in 2009 ended in abortion.

Health experts say the abortion rate is tied to factors like race and income.

“If you look at the pregnancy rates by race and ethnicity in New York City versus nationally, they are essentially the same for black and Hispanic teenagers, and lower for whites,” said Susan Craig, a spokeswoman for the city’s health department.

There were 126,774 births, 11,620 miscarriages and 87,273 abortions in New York City in 2009. Despite the contention of some critics that New York, with its liberal abortion laws, is a destination state for abortion, nonresidents accounted for only about 7,000 of these abortions. (Factoring out nonresidents does not alter the 41 percent abortion rate, because 10,000 nonresidents also gave birth in the city.)

The little-changed abortion rate figure is a commonly cited statistic. But it masks large changes in fertility among teenagers.

Since 1996, the number of babies born to teenagers has fallen by 39 percent. The number of abortions has fallen by more than 16 percent, even though the population of teenagers has risen modestly. Ninety percent of the teenage mothers were not married, according to health department estimates.

In that age group in 2009, the rate of abortions was strikingly high for blacks (74 percent), followed by whites (66 percent) and Hispanics (53 percent). The rate was also very high for Asians (74 percent), though they were much less likely to become pregnant.

The drop in teenage pregnancies and abortions, however, was not enough to significantly alter the overall abortion rate. Most abortions, like most pregnancies, occurred among women in their 20s. Women in their 30s had abortions 29 percent of the time, and women 40 and older about a third of the time. Unmarried women accounted for 84 percent of abortions in 2009.

New York State law does not place as many restrictions on abortion as laws in some other states, like requiring parental consent for minors, or requiring women to undergo counseling that discourages abortion or to go through a waiting period.

According to Rachel Jones, a senior research associate at the Guttmacher Institute, which studies reproductive health issues, the high rate of unwed pregnancy and abortion among poor women is a sign of ambivalence. They are torn, she said, between the desire to have a baby and the realization that it would be hard to bring up a child as a single mother.

“In the U.S., most women want to have kids,” Ms. Jones said. “If you don’t have a lot of money, when is the responsible time to say, Now I want to have a child? How long are you supposed to put this off?”

That inner conflict could be seen recently in several women coming out of Planned Parenthood’s Margaret Sanger Center, a family planning and abortion clinic in Greenwich Village.

A 17-year-old girl there to pick up a friend said she had had an abortion in May. It was her second; the first was when she was 15. The girl said she sometimes used condoms. “But I wasn’t using them when I got pregnant,” she said. “I might use them more now, but I don’t know.” Like the other women outside the clinic, she asked not to be named to preserve her privacy.

A 20-year-old woman being helped by two male friends said she had her first abortion at 16, and also had a 7-month-old child. “It was an accident,” the woman said. “I used a condom every time, but I already have a kid, and I’m not ready for another one.”

Another woman, who was 22, said she had become pregnant after not using birth control because a doctor had told her she was infertile. “I’ve always been against abortion,” the woman, who lives on Staten Island, said. “But if I had a kid now, it would have a terrible life. I’d rather wait.”

The health department distributes a pocket-size guide to clinics where teenagers can get medical care and low-cost or free contraception (information that is also available through the city’s 311 hot line).

It has provided training in issues like protecting confidentiality and dispensing contraception to 50 clinics serving 32,000 teenagers a year in the neighborhoods with the highest pregnancy rates among teenagers.

School-based classes use role-playing to help teenagers “learn how to negotiate maybe saying, I don’t want to have sex,” said Deborah Kaplan, assistant commissioner of the health department’s bureau of maternal, infant and reproductive health.

Condoms are distributed through health offices at every public high school, Ms. Kaplan said.

Archbishop Dolan agreed to speak out with other religious leaders at a news conference last month at the invitation of the Chiaroscuro Foundation, an anti-abortion group coordinated by an investment banker active in conservative causes, according to the archbishop’s spokesman, Joseph Zwilling.

The archbishop “reaffirmed and was looking to spread the word as well of the archdiocese’s longstanding commitment that any woman who is pregnant and in need can come to the Archdiocese of New York for assistance,” Mr. Zwilling said.

On Thursday, Senator Díaz, who, like the archbishop, advocates abstinence and not condom use, called abortion “a business,” and his wife, Leslie, said that handing out condoms to teenagers promoted promiscuity. “Abortion is the law of the land, and there’s nothing we can do about that,” she said. “But we can try and reduce the number, and that’s what our main goal is: to make it rare.”

Juliet Linderman contributed reporting.



Faunya Estrada

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Feb 4, 2011, 11:20:08 AM2/4/11
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...and on the flip side
Years ago, I read a book called Freakonomics (very interesting!).  According to this book, the legalization of abortion closely corresponds with the dramatic drop in crime rates 14-17 years after the law went into effect.
 
So, is it better to force an unequipped female to have a child or give her the option to abort, put up for adoption, etc.? Does not giving options make things worse or better, in the long run? Yes, there are many females who will rise to the challenge and raise strong young men and women, but there are many others that don't......

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