[Peace-discuss] (changed title) The Tiller stuff continued...

[C. G. Estabrook]

Neil--

Surely most late-term abortions are performed on viable fetuses.  Few fit the 
categories you quote.  It doesn't seem, e.g., that the removal of a dead fetus 
should be considered an abortion, the specific difference of which would seem to 
be the ending of a life with a future like ours.

Are you really telling me that you'd prefer not to have been born than to 
discover incest in your family tree?

I agree with a version of your last point.  Universal medical care, free 
education, housing, a guaranteed annual income would go a long way toward 
reducing the incidence of abortion.  I don't think one can consistently be 
against abortion without being a socialist.

Feminists for Life [.org] argues that the goal is not so much to make abortion 
illegal as to make it unthinkable. "Feminists for Life is dedicated to 
systematically eliminating the reasons that drive women to abortion, primarily 
lack of resources and support, because women deserve better."

That sounds right to me.  Solidarity indeed, CGE


Neil Parthun wrote:
> Carl, from the link you sent:
> 
> When this argument allows abortion --
> 
> This argument seems to allow two cases where abortion would not be wrong:
> 
>     * abortion is not wrong where the foetus, if born, would be so 
> handicapped that it would not be capable of having any future 
> experiences (or at least none that it was aware of).
>     * abortion is not wrong where the foetus, if born, would be so 
> defective that all its experiences would be so unpleasant or painful 
> that it would benefit from being deprived of those experiences.
> 
> Dr. Tiller was performing abortions for fetuses where they would be not 
> capable of having any future experiences (i.e. the fetus was already 
> dead or would likely be dead moments after birth).  Dr. Tiller was also 
> performing abortions for 10-11 year old girls in certain cases who had 
> been raped by a relative.  If that child would be born, the experiences 
> for the "mother" (read: kid) would be so damn unpleasant and the child 
> (read: the baby) would have one hell of life finding out that Grandpa 
> and Dad are the same person, for instance.
> 
> Instead of quibbling about the legality of abortion, there should be 
> grassroots work for better social safety nets, better and more 
> comprehensive sex education programs and more assistance for women to 
> give them the viable option of choosing to carry the fetus to term. 
>  With the argument you sent, it would be up to the mother to decide with 
> the guide of her medical physicians to see if the fetus would be so 
> defective that it would benefit from being deprived of experiences. 
>  Women should continue to have their choice without having it infringed 
> upon by assassins or overzealous fanatics harassing and bullying people 
> receiving medical care.  
> 
> Solidarity,
>   -N.
> 
> Neil Parthun
>   Sports/politics writer, UC-IMC
>        
> "There are many victories worse than a defeat." - George Eliot
> 
> 
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> 
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