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Comment by Shivetya | Hacker News Reader

No.

Before I get pummeled for that just be honest here. As soon as we state it is okay to abort for personal choice the discussion ends there. Why do we get to call in the woman's choice simply because we don't like the reason.

It will get to be seriously interesting if DNA testing comes common place and women or couples decide to abort for reasons from sex, skin color, and if ever proven genetic orientation.

You cannot have it both ways. Either the woman is in control of her reproductive process or she is not. There is no, but....

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> As soon as we state it is okay to abort for personal choice the discussion ends there. Why do we get to call in the woman's choice simply because we don't like the reason.

It is incredibly common where you can do something for almost any—or no—reason, but that doesn't mean you can do it for a bad reason. For instance, in the US: a business can refuse service to anyone. But, that doesn't mean they can refuse service to someone because they are black. If you live in certain states, your company can fire you at will, for no reason whatsoever. But they can't fire you because you're a woman.

I think that's completely intellectually honest to say that if you value woman's choice at all costs, then you can't really be too upset at this outcome.

You could also argue that this is basically eugenics--selectively breeding/aborting to get a desirable trait, which in this case is sex.

That's one of the reasons why abortion is so contentious. To some personal freedom and choice outweigh any negative consequence to society. To others the well-being of society outweighs personal freedom. It's the same reason why gun ownership and drug use is contentious.

Well that doesn’t follow. Intent always matters. There are a lot of things that are legal if some for no reason at all, but illegal if some for specific impermissible reasons (firing and hiring come to mind, serving someone at a restaurant or hotel).

"Until the 14th week of pregnancy, baby boys and girls look exactly the same on ultrasound" [0]

"Most countries in the European Union allow abortion on demand during the first trimester, with Sweden, the UK and the Netherlands having more extended time limits. After the first trimester (Ed : after 12 weeks), abortion is generally allowed only under certain circumstances, such as risk to woman's life or health, fetal defects or other specific situations that may be related to the circumstances of the conception or the woman's age." [1]

0 - https://www.livescience.com/45582-boy-or-girl.html

1 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_law#Europe

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