The World According To Alan

If I Were President: Abortion

The first category they have listed is Abortion, with these positions:

Appoint Judges Who Will Outlaw Abortions Strongly Oppose

Abortion is an issue that on the surface depends on whose definition of when life begins you choose to accept, but it's more complicated than that because for the gestation period, two lives are very closely tied together and it is really a question of conflicting rights. To start with, I think that it's ludicrous to consider a couple of cells sticking together to be "life", certainly not life that is worthy of significant consideration. There's no doubt that once a baby is born and becomes a separate life, it attains all the rights everyone expects. There is about 9 months of grey area in between, however. Until such time as real science determines a better basis for determination, however, I think the trimester boundaries that are currently in use are as good we can reasonably compromise on: 1rst trimester: no problem. 2nd trimester: to avoid possible risk to mother. 3rd trimester: to avoid serious risk to mother.

Outlaw "Partial Birth" Abortions Somewhat Oppose

What I've heard about these makes me a little squeamish, but this is a medical decision, and politics and the law has no business in it. If the abortion is legal, it's up to the medical community to determine the best procedures.

Outlaw Abortions Except for Rape/Incest Strongly Oppose

This just goes back to the first issue, but I think Rape/Incest should be valid extenuating circumstances to allow later abortions than might otherwise be permitted.

Parental Notification for Minors Under 18 Somewhat Oppose

Parental Notification is a touchy issue: parents certainly have the right to make decisions for their children, but it's also understandable why some teens would be afraid of having their parents find out they're pregnant. I think the reasons to oppose this are twofold:

1. If the child is old enough to get pregnant, then like it or not, they're old enough to start making decisions about their future. Parents may not like it, but Mother Nature already made that the case, and sticking heads in the sand won't change it.
   
2. If the child is afraid to tell the parents, then if they don't have the option of a safe, legal, abortion, they'll get an unsafe, illegal, abortion. That creates far more problems than a safe abortion carries.