[Peace-discuss] for children who are wanted

[C. G. Estabrook]

Lisa cited arguments that the increase in abortion after Roe v. Wade (how
large was the increase?) contributed to a later reduction in crime by
reducing the number of unwanted people.  Reducing that number has been
(and is) a staple of US social policy, instead of appropriate social
reforms.  Even the court that wrote Roe v. Wade -- not exactly a group of
liberals -- was influenced by revolutionary stirrings among the black and
poor in America 30 years ago and noticed that an increase in abortion
would alleviate the "welfare problem."  --CGE


On Mon, 26 Apr 2004, Alfred Kagan wrote:

> Equating abortion to eugenics may be startling argument but it hardly 
> makes sense.
> 
> 
> At 10:56 AM -0500 4/26/04, C. G. Estabrook wrote:
> >Lisa--
> >
> >The US has a long history of eugenicist and natalist policies -- and it
> >encourages such things in the Third World now -- to prevent the birth of
> >"unwanted people."  Che Guevara is reported (probably apocryphally) to
> >have said, "It's easier to kill a guerrilla in the womb than in the
> >hills."
> >
> >May 2 marks the 77th anniversary of the United States Supreme Court
> >decision on favor of eugenic sterilization for people considered
> >genetically unfit. The Court's decision (by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.) 
> >included the infamous phrase, "Three generations of imbeciles are enough."
> >Relying on the expert testimony of one Arthur Estabrook, the court
> >permitted laws in 30 states under which an estimated 65,000 Americans were
> >sterilized without their own consent or that of a family member.  The
> >German practice, instituted a few years later, relied explicitly on the US
> >precedents.
> >
> >Alexander Cockburn at Counterpunch has written on these matters, but not
> >too many others on the left do, so far as I can tell.  An obvious
> >implication is the need to demand child allowances, universal health care,
> >guaranteed annual incomes, etc.  Capitalist society would rather provide
> >for the removal of unwanteds.
> >
> >Regards, Carl
> >
> >
> >On Mon, 26 Apr 2004, Lisa Chason wrote:
> >
> >>  I once read an article about a study that made the point that the
> >>  dramatic decrease in crime figures that began some years ago, which
> >>  many experts have found puzzling and have come up with various
> >>  theories to explain, coincides with the same number of years that had
> >>  passed since the introduction of Roe v Wade and the coming of age of
> >>  all those unwanted children (ie that the crime figures started to
> >>  decrease when the right to an abortion had been in effect around 18
> >>  years). Women having the opportunity to choose means not bringing
> >>  unwanted children into the world, and all the ramifications that
> >>  follow. Women's right to choose means being in favor of children who
> >>  are wanted. This is not to say that all people who end up in our
> >>  insane criminal (in)justice system were not wanted, but women who do
> >>  not want to bear a child for whatever reason should not be forced to
> >>  do so, or to resort to illegal and dangerous abortions when they have
> >>  no other choice.
> >>
> >>  Lisa
> >
> >_______________________________________________
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> 
> 
> -- 
> 
> 
> Al Kagan
> African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
> Africana Unit, Room 328
> University of Illinois Library
> 1408 W. Gregory Drive
> Urbana, IL 61801, USA
> 
> tel. 217-333-6519
> fax. 217-333-2214
> e-mail. akagan at uiuc.edu
>