Mr. Wacky Characters wrote: "I think it's pretty well known that in contrast to other mammals similar in other regards to humans (like other primates) babies don't yet have the physical or neurological development to enable them to survive on their own. "

Okay, you can hand a baby off to any other person and they can take care of it. Caring for that baby does put the caretaker's life or health at stake.

You cannot take an embryo or fetus out of a pregnant woman and implant it into another women or put it into an incubator. You might be able to induce early labor in a late term pregnancy and a baby might be born that can be handed off to another person to care for. This process may put the mother's life or health in jeopardy. There is obviously a difference between a baby that can be cared for by any person without harm to that person vs a fetus that can only be cared for by the woman carrying that pregnancy. And that care is given at risk to that woman.

I'm on the fence on late term abortion, especially if there is no risk to the mother and there is nothing wrong with the pregnancy. I would be less on the fence about it if the Right hadn't done everything in it's power to stop women from getting safe and cheap birth control, emergency contraception, RU-486, and access to first trimester abortions.

When we have the ability to safely and easily transfer embryos/fetuses to other willing participant wombs, I'll give up my support for abortion rights.

BTW, you bring up father's rights, and I probably agree with some of your positions. I don't think fathers that had no knowledge of their children because the mothers kept that information from them should be forced to pay for child support. Nor should a man that was practicing safe sex and was purposefully frauded into becoming a father should be responsible for child support. I don't believe that women are natural parents and have some special biological wiring that makes them more capable then men of changing diapers and singing the "itsy-bitsy spider".

Someone asked how to determine if you are pregnant when you don't get periods. The easy answer is to take a pregnancy test. (I thought that was kind of obvious!)

I've never had much success with the pill. I had horrible "morning sickness" the first week of a new pill pack and ended up pregnant while taking the pill (turns out that if you don't end up digesting the whole thing, it's not very effective!). I've had much better success with the patch and do sometimes skip my period on purpose. Especially when my period falls during my expensive tropical vacation. I'm so glad that someone mentioned IBS being exacerbated by their period, I have also found this to be true, making a bad situation worse! I don't see anything especially "dirty" about my period, but neither do I see it as a sign of my womanly-ness. I think each woman and her doctor needs to decide what's best for her. Having incapacitating pain every month does not make you more natural or authentically female. It just makes you more in PAIN!

Abortion is by definition birth control. You can say that it's not but that's exactly what it's purpose is. It might be the Ford Expedition (or Hummer, take your pick of completely irresponsible transportation) of birth control, but it is still birth control.

Check out Tracy Quan from way back. Broadsheet has had a few snippets about sex workers and prostitution.

I'm on the fence, in theory I think prostitution should be legal. But I'm not so thrilled with the realities: women and young girls forced into sex work, participating because of drug addictions, and pimps. I'm not sure if I'd like gov't regulation on sex work (heh, the Dept of Homeland Sexuality?), but I don't trust the free market to make sure that the workers are treated fairly. But yes, the situation we have now is no good...but it's so wrapped up (at least in America) with race, drugs, class and our puritanical roots it's hard to say what a good solution is.

Shazzer, isn't what you are griping about (women who stay home all day and take care of the kids while their husbands go to work) the traditional role that you seem to be advocating?

A "modern woman" can't win. We get slammed as uncaring moms if we work and leave the kids in day care. Or we get ridculed as lazy leeches if we stay at home while keeping house and raising the kids while our husbands go out and work. So what the hell are we supposed to do?