[Peace-discuss] Some links on the politics of abortion

[C. G. Estabrook]

For a connection between this issue and the war, see “Support Our Euphemism” <http://www.counterpunch.org/2003/04/15/support-our-euphemism/>.]

For this issue and the Left/Right convention in US politics, see “Abortion and the Left” <http://www.counterpunch.org/2003/01/17/abortion-and-the-left/>.]

For further discussion, see Feminists for Life <http://www.feministsforlife.org/>.



> On May 20, 2015, at 10:38 PM, Karen Aram <karenaram at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> […] 
> Subject: Re: Agenda for Thursday Green Meeting
> From: carl at newsfromneptune.com
> Date: Wed, 20 May 2015 22:02:55 -0500
> CC: davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net; davegreen84 at yahoo.com; bay2 at illinois.edu
> To: karenaram at hotmail.com
> 
> It’s already in the platform, but the platform is contradictory: it supports abortion but “welcomes” those who oppose it. 
> 
> On May 20, 2015, at 9:52 PM, Karen Aram <karenaram at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Carl, 
> Are you suggesting the implementation of the paragraph in quotes/italics to the Platform? or is that what is already in the platform? If its already in the platform, then what is your issue of concern?
> Subject: Re: Agenda for Thursday Green Meeting
> From: carl at newsfromneptune.com
> Date: Wed, 20 May 2015 21:31:20 -0500
> CC: davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net; davegreen84 at yahoo.com; bay2 at illinois.edu
> To: karenaram at hotmail.com
> 
> Notes on PLATFORM OF THE ILLINOIS GREEN PARTY 2015 <ILGP.PLATFORM.2014.Draft1.4.pdf>, section M:
> 
> “...the Green Party welcomes those who ... oppose the practice of abortion, motivated by a ‘consistent ethic of life’ (a commitment to the protection of life on the planet, which is threatened in today's world by war, poverty, environmental degradation, racism, capital punishment, abortion and euthanasia). The Ten Key Values of the Green Party are certainly consistent with this philosophy. We want to protect life, especially human life...”
> 
> [1] I am against things that end human life - murder, war, capital punishment, abortion, and euthanasia. 
> 
> [2] Why? What makes ending human life wrong?
> 
> [3] Death is a bad thing because it deprives people of all the experiences, activities, enjoyments, projects that would make up their future personal life. 
> 
> [4] A premature death is a bad thing because it causes the loss of future experiences, etc.
> 
> [5] But fetuses also have futures like ours, with all the experiences, activities, enjoyments, projects that would make up their future life.
> 
> [6] Abortion is wrong for the same reason that ending other human life is wrong - it deprives the fetus of a future like ours.
> 
> [7] This argument does not depend of determining when the fetus ‘becomes a person’ (always? sometime? never?) because it always has a future like ours.
> 
> [For a detailed presentation of this argument and its implications, see Don Marquis, “Why Abortion is Immoral” The Journal of Philosophy 86:4 (April 1989), 183-202 <http://www.jstor.org/stable/2026961?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents>.
> 
> [For further discussion, see Feminists for Life <http://www.feministsforlife.org/>.
> 
> —CGE