AquaVita

Hello everyone, newbie here! A thousand apologies if this has already been done or asked before.

What I have is a rhetorical situation/question that I would appreciate some thoughts on.

Everyone knows there is research going on to identify the gene that makes people gay. (I do not believe anyone has proved it exists just yet, though I could be wrong) Let us suppose that the gene or mutation of said gene does exist and is identifiable just a few weeks to a few months after conception.

Here is my question...is it morally justifiable to abort the fetus based on this information? If not, what makes this situation different then a woman who simply does not want a baby at this point in her life? Do we take away the women's right to choose?

I realize this is a hotly debated subject, so I'd like to keep it as civil as possible, and I hope to gain some insight to this, because in all total honesty, I don't know what answer I would give.

Mad Kally

NO!

AquaVita

I would like to add a disclaimer stating that in no way do I harbour any thoughts against gays or people who argue for abortion. The only issue I'm confused about here is abortion itself...not homosexuality. That, I have no problems with, and in fact has crossed my mind a few times in the past but alas, was not meant to be.

AquaVita

Ok, your objection is noted. But what makes it ok to take away the woman's right to choose?

Shadowy Man

The implication was that she would choose to keep the child if it weren't gay. So, the objection was not to the abortion itself, but was to the decision being based on the issue of sexual orientation.

AquaVita

But the end result is still an abortion.

And now it sort of gets into the grey area of why that is not an acceptable criteria to abort a fetus. Why isn't it?

DMB

A parallel situation to this already exists in real life. In many parts of the world, girl babies are valued much less than boys, and so wholesale abortion of female foetuses takes place.

Now which ought to take precedence: the overall rights of women or the rights of pregnant women to choose whether or not to continue a pregnancy?

avalanche:ix

the mother, as host organism, retains supreme choice, wether we feel it's 'immoral' or not is irrelevant, our views are just opinions as are those of the mother. the mother has the right to abort regardless of her reasons.

Mad Kally

My bad, I didn't finish reading the last part of your post. A woman should always have the right to choose.

AquaVita

I pretty much agree, yet I'm still just so confused about the whole thing. I would be interested to hear what the gay/lesbian community says about this.