I asked a question in here earlier about a woman forced to carry an unwanted child to term?

Question

and one of the answers stated that while murder occurs, child abuse is a more likely consequence. This promted a few similar questions to me. Do you think that it is understandable for a woman to abuse a child she didn't want? Is child abuse ever understandable or excusable? Should this be used as an argument in the abortion debate (abort or else she will probably abuse it) or is child abuse a completely separate issue?

Answer 1

No, people should NEVER be able to abuse kids.

Answer 2

I agree, the issues are separate and one shouldn't be used as a scare tactic for the other.

Answer 3

It's understandable, in that she may be mentally disturbed.

But it could NEVER EVER be excusable.

Answer 4

On the one level, abortion and child abuse are 2 separate issues, insofar as it is not clear that an "unwanted" child is more likely to be abused.  As many have pointed out, a child that is "unwanted" before he/she is born more often than not becomes a wanted child after they are born.  There is a natural maternal instinct that kicks in, thankfully,  once a mother lays eyes on her child.

On a deeper level, abortion and child abuse are tied together for oen very simple, but essential, reason.  They are, basically, the same thing.

The key to this whole exercise is recognition of the unborn child as just as human as you or me.  The only difference between the unborn and ourselves is location.  If you can first get your mind around the truth that an unborn child is as human as you and me, then it becomes obvious that to abort a child is as much child abuse as much as putting a lit cigarette against their skin or putting their hand on a hot stove.

The abuse that comes through abortion leads to death, death of a human being, an innocent human who did nothing wrong.  They just happened to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

Answer 5

No, because while you may be forced to carry a child to term, you are by no means obligated to raise it. Adoption is always an option, and if a mother hates her child, she shouldn't keep it around.

That being said, I believe all people who would force a woman to give birth should have a bowling ball forced up their corresponding office, just so they know what they are doing to that poor woman.

Answer 6

It's not excusable; however, it is understandable. Carrying a child to term unwillingly is going to **** with your head (probably permanently) and anyone that can't see that is an idiot.

It's not just the biological mother that may abuse children.

Answer 7

I honestly don't believe a women is more apt to abuse a child

in the situation you describe.

I do however believe in the right to choose. If people want to stop abortion all together then they would need to start changing

how they treat and judge others. Ya know what? That will never happen!!

Answer 8

Well, I think it would be a separate issue, because a woman wouldn't necessarily hate and abuse an unwanted child.  Like for example, my mother cried when she found out she was going to have me.  She was against in clear up to the end.  But it was different when she actually got to hold me.  And you could also use the example of women who want children, and then become depressed and abusive after having them.  The two aren't necessarily related.

Answer 9

Just because a child is unwanted, or the product of rape, does not make the child inherantly evil.  I see no reason why it should be denied its basic human rights.

Answer 10

I think it's a strawman argument. There is never a good reason for anyone to abuse a child. I don't care if she wants the baby or not, abusing it is evil. If she's the kind of woman who would beat a child because *she* chose to have s*x and didn't want the baby she conceived, maybe she should be aborted instead of the baby (kidding...I'm just ticked off, people like that make me sick). She can always give the baby up and someone will want it. People are far more likely to adopt babies than older kids anyways.

No, it should not be used as an argument in the abortion debate. There is no guarantee that every unwanted child will be abused. And who is to say that the child's life won't be worth living if he/she is abused? I know people who were abused as kids; should they have been aborted and never given a chance to have a good life like they have now? It is a silly, illogical argument attempting to justify one act of violence because of the threat of another.

Answer 11

Child abuse, or any other kind of abuse, is NEVER acceptable. If a woman abuses a child she didn't want, she should have aborted it.

Answer 12

I guess it is similar to being forced to have s*x. You may do it, but you will not enjoy it. Abortion stops the abuse of children and at the same time saves the lives of born and loved kids. It is a mathematical fact that each time a pro lifer attempts to save a fetus, he causes the death of 12 loved and wanted kids. It is also a mathematical fact that when a woman is forced to give birth to an unwanted child it precludes her being able to support a wanted child. It is also a mathematical fact that there are over 100 million kids in need of adoption. Therefore, each time a forced birth is attempted, it simply shifts the suffering from the child that is forced to birth to a child that is already born. To be pro life, a person must be insane.

Edit:

I just love it when pro lifers try to disconnect their actions from the deaths and suffering they cause. Giving me a thumbs down is like a murderer denying he has just killed another victim. You can deny and deny again, but the math is real and the deaths your pro lifers cause are real. There is no way around the facts that support my position.

Answer 13

Wow.  Child abuse is WRONG no matter what the circumstances.  It's pretty simple to me.  If a female gets pregnant and doesn't want the baby, then she has a choice to make.  In this country it is legal to abort or give the baby up for adoption.  She SHOULD give the baby up for adoption.  But if my choice is child abuse or abortion, I have to pick abortion.  There's no long term suffering here.  If someone told me right now that I would have to suffer (meaning maybe eat, be ignored, beaten, burned, and possibly sexually abused) for the next 18 years or die.  I'd die.

Answer 14

Abortion has been legal for donkeys years, but there is no sign that child abuse is less common than it was before it was legalised.

if anything, I would think that legalising abortion might tend to encourage child abuse, since people are encouraged to view children as disposable items.

Answer 15

No, child abuse is NEVER understandable or excusable, and I think it's a separate issue. Many mothers have had children under stressful circumstances and never abused their children, so it's impossible to "know" in advance if a child will be abused or not.

Answer 16

'understanding' something and 'condoning' it are two distinctly separate issues

Answer 17

Abuse is never excusable.  Two seperate issue's here.

Answer 18

Yes, because its the child's fault his/ her mother had a one nite stand and got pregnate.

Seriously!!! Come on people. We are talking about killing/ abusing a child because his/ her parent didnt have $5 for a pack of condoms! This world makes me want to puke!

Answer 19

That is f*cked up man! why are you even thinking about this sh*t?

Answer 20

There is no excuse for abuse...period.  I do not think child abuse is simply a coincidence when the child is unwanted, neither is murder.

Answer 21

I carried 2 unwanted/unplanned for babies to term(although I wasn't forced), but I grew to both want them and love them.

Abuse is never acceptable or excusable.

People make alot of petty excuses for their bad behaviour instead of taking responsibility.  It may not be the easiest thing in the world to do, but somewhere along the line a person needs to get their act together and do the right thing.

Poster below who said mothers who go through unwanted pregnancy are more likely to suffer depression, that is true for me, but I would've killed myself first before harming a hair on my childs head.

There are many mothers also with wanted children that do suffer from mental illness as well.

Answer 22

A woman forced to carry an unwanted child to term will very likely experience some mental health problems during and after pregnancy; mental health problems can often result in fraught mother-child relationships, as well as abuse. Legally speaking, psychiatric distress can be a mitigating factor in infanticide and child abuse.

It certainly isn't socially 'acceptable', in that we aren't obliged as a a society to accept it as a reason for abuse (though we might want to consider it when looking at the situation as a whole). Neither is being forced to carry an unwanted child to term acceptable - that's simply abusive to the woman in question.

It isn't excusable on either the part of the mother or the part of the state - children who are clearly in high-risk situations should be identified by social services and extra support given to the family.

I don't think you can make a case for abortion so clear-cut as 'abortion should be allowed in case a mother abuses her unwanted child because she hates it'. It isn't a totally seperate issue (because all mother and child welfare issues should form part of the abortion debate) but you'd be doing the pro-choice movement a huge disfavour by suggesting the above in such a direct way.