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Originally Posted by AMDG
I think this is a very interesting question. I would guess people are reluctant to say they would force their daughter to have an abortion because they know it isn't the same as any other medical decision. Not responding to anybody in particular but it seems people want it both ways - they want to be able to say itsn't yet a real human being growing inside the 12 year old but that the same time they see something morally wrong with forcing an abortion on someone. Why?
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I agree with you completely, and that was kind of my point. Pregnancy in early adolescence can be extremely dangerous for both the mother and the baby:
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The mortality rate for the mother, although low, is twice that for adult pregnant women
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Adolescent Pregnancy: Current Trends and Issues
I can't see most mothers on here allowing their young daughters to refuse treatment for any other medical condition if the risks were significant and treatment would easily reduce those risks. Never mind 'my body, my choice' -- they'd intervene and do what was safe for their daughters. So, there must be some unacknowledged difference between abortion and comparable medical procedures that accounts for the different reactions. The most obvious difference
I can think of is that abortion actually involves two lives and not just one. Otherwise, why should it have the emotional ramifications that it does?