I know I can be accused of being simplistic, but...

If there was true, total universal availability of all forms of birth control, I do believe the need for abortions would go drop.

It has always been my position that the only ones to decide are the woman and her physician. (BTW, I am a 56 yo male.)

I will assume that most will agree with me when I posit that, "Most people who are against abortion are also against sex education and the availability of birth control."

Agreed.

Birth Control and good factual sex education is the best solution to the abortion dillemma.

We assume young people know the facts but they don't. That ignorance of physiology carries over into adulthood with catastrophic results.

I don't understand why extreme pro-lifers don't support sex education and birth control...I have hope that what you posited isn't true, but it certainly seems that way. If it is, then perhaps if pro-choicers channeled all that energy and all those resources into educating the masses in a positive way that sex education and birth control are good things, we would see grand results for society as a whole.

Instead what we have (as others have mentioned) is the idea the pharmacists shouldn't even have to dispense legal prescriptions for birth control to women because it might bother their conscience.

I can't wrap my head around this logic, possibly because there is none?

Yes, of course you're right. But the problem here is that the people who oppose abortion are in no way interested in making sexuality free of the possibility of pregnancy. What they want is for women to shut their damn legs and give it up only to their husbands, enough with the sleeping around already. They want women to learn about sex only on their wedding night, and ultimately to stay home and raise the kids and cook the meals like their grannies did. See, we're not talking about any kind of rights for women. The "pro-life" stance is just a smokescreen for the removal of rights for women. Eventually they'll make it impossible for women to have sex at all without getting pregnant. Only then will they think the situation is perfect. (Of course, then they'll start working on prosecuting women for having periods, since that means a potential pregnancy was never developed...)

Well there is a logic. We are talking about Plan B, which is something of an abortion pill. I don't think it's reasonable to expect someone who may be pro-life to participate in an abortion. However, the proper response for them is to politely refuse to fill the scrip, and either hand it to an associate who doesn't have such a problem with it, or hand it back to the patient.

Now about the other question. Not all pro-lifers are opposed to birth control or sex ed. In fact, I am Catholic but want my girls to know the truth about sex and birth control, what's out there, and what can happen. I hope that, armed with this information, they'll never have to make that horrible "choice." And if someone is truly pro-choice, they won't be upset about that, either.

Re: "Well there is a logic. We are talking about Plan B, which is something of an abortion pill. I don't think it's reasonable to expect someone who may be pro-life to participate in an abortion."

Plan B is nothing but a high dose birth control pill that prevents the implantation of a fertilized egg, just like the regular birth control pill. The only difference is that Plan B is taken the day after rather than the day before.

That is all.

But Conservatives will not admit that fact, ever. As they march on to banning not only Plan B, but all forms of contraception, for everyone, for ever.

"We are talking about Plan B, which is something of an abortion pill."

Not really, no more so than the teeny, tiny risk of birth control doing the same thing (preventing the implantation of a fertilized egg.) Plan B is birth control, and its aim is to suppress ovulation and prevent fertilization. Yes, after the fact: sperm can live in the female reproductive tract up to 5 days, while the egg is only viable for about 24 hours. Many fertilizations happen long after the actual "deed", which is why emergency contraception works.

"I don't think it's reasonable to expect someone who may be pro-life to participate in an abortion."

Did I miss the part where someone held a gun to their heads and forced them into being a pharmacist, whose job description entails dispensing the medications ordered by physicians for their patients, and only the medications ordered by physicians for their patients, and any medication ordered by physicians for their patients?

"Not all pro-lifers are opposed to birth control or sex ed."

Let's cut the BS. Many, maybe even most, pro-lifers believe that (public) schools have no place teaching sex ed or making birth control available to teens. This is the real concern, not whether or not you teach your daughters the facts of life.

A standardized, universal, and mandatory sex ed curriculum, taking place before the onset of sexual activity? That includes information for teens that will engage in same-sex activity? Condoms available at schools? How do you feel about that?

I believe thatis a good idea, since all the lectures in the world will not stop sexual activity among teenagers (as studies of abstinance programs have shown, but Conservatives are not allowed to believe).

I support some restrictions on abortion but I also support sex education and the dispensation of birth control. And far from being the case that "all prolifers" are against either, I think that many of the more moderate "prolifers" (and even the some pro-choicers) are concerned about whether all the options are presented in safe sex ed (so, the option of abstaining. Emphasis on OPTION. Not REQUIREMENT) and the context in which the birth control is given (helping teens to understand sex and then if they CHOOSE to engage in it, you give them birth control/condoms). (And really, if we're so concerned about women having unwanted babies, then perhaps promoting abstinence (especially among groups that have high levels of teen-pregnancy) isn't such a bad idea).

Anyways, the issue is far more nuanced than simply "pro-life" "pro-choice." Whatever policy is pursued has to be holistic and target the root concerns - not just cut the head off when the plant pops up from the ground.

"Plan B is nothing but a high dose birth control pill that prevents the implantation of a fertilized egg, just like the regular birth control pill."

That's incorrect. The primary means by which regular birth control pills work is by preventing ovulation, not implantation.

"Did I miss the part where someone held a gun to their heads and forced them into being a pharmacist, whose job description entails dispensing the medications ordered by physicians for their patients, and only the medications ordered by physicians for their patients, and any medication ordered by physicians for their patients?"

Where, may I ask, did you read a job description for "pharmacist" that equated the profession with a pill-dispensing vending machine? Where are you getting this "only" and "any" language?

Wow, this was a reasonable and thoughtful thread about abortion...I'm...I'm amazed...really. Hey guys, continue to challenge the extremists on both sides in other threads. This debate needs it.

I'd like to point out in regards to "lectures don't stop teens from having sex," sex ed delays their decision to have sex which is counterintuitive but nonetheless true and useful to know. That is sex ed that empowers teens with facts rather than that lying mumbo jumbo some places espouse.

"Birth Control and good factual sex education is the best solution to the abortion dillemma."

Have the number of abortions per capita gone up or down since birth control became available?

The availability of birth control has changed our perception of sex. It is now assumed that sex is consequence-free. We no longer think we're taking a risk by having sex. We never consider that it might fail. And on the rare instance when birth control fails, we feel entitled to an abortion because "this isn't fair, this wasn't supposed to happen, I took my pill," etc.

*eyeroll* NO, Plan B is NOT an abortion pill. When will people stop circulating this stupid meme?