From: bskendig@netcom.com (Brian Kendig)
Subject: Re: we are forcing women to destroy their babies!!!
Organization: Starfleet Headquarters: San Francisco
Date: Sun, 3 Jan 1993 23:50:06 GMT

an3329@anon.penet.fi writes:
>
>Killing babies is wrong because they are human beings just like everyone
>else.

I agree completely.

Even if you substitute 'fetuses' for 'babies', as I think you meant, I
still agree.  Taking any human life is wrong.

However, sometimes it's the lesser of two wrongs.  Just as I agree
that a fetus has just as much of a right to life as an adult does, I
feel that a fetus has as little right to use a woman's body against
her will as an adult does.

>They didn't do anything wrong and killing them says a lot about the
>way we treat each other.

They didn't do anything wrong, true.  But just by existing they're
causing problems -- because in order to exist they have to use a
woman's body, so they're putting a woman's health at risk.  Some
people say that it's better to have one person at risk than another
person dead.  I disagree, because I feel that nobody should have to do
ANYTHING with their body against their will -- as is frequently
brought up on this group, if you're going to force a woman to let a
fetus use her body for nine months, why not let people who need blood
or organ donations force healthy people or recently-dead people to be
donors too?  I think donation is a good idea, but I'd fear the
government that had the power to force me to donate something.

Perhaps the fact that we're using technology to move our society in a
certain direction says something about us, true.  There's no objective
way to say whether it's right or wrong.

>We should help pregnant women experience pregnancy
>with dignity instead of having to get abortions because of circumstances
>they can't control. ...
>It sickens me to hear of pregnant women having to get abortions because
>they didn't have the support system they needed to nurture and protect their
>babies. That is the biggest injustice ever perpetrated on a woman. Turning
>a blind eye to the plight of these women is cruel and inhuman treatment.
>...  We must show our love and
>compassion towards pregnant women and their babies, or we will never be
>able to show our love towards other members of society.

I can see you feel very strongly about this, and that's good.  The
most important thing we can do right now is to work to better these
conditions; maybe someday the economy will have improved to the point
where a woman doesn't need to worry about how she'll have enough money
for a baby, and medicine will have improved to the point where a fetus
can be artificially incubated if its mother is unwilling to carry it.

But until we reach our goals, what's an unwillingly pregnant woman to
do?  Which is worse: to compel her to assume the risks of pregnancy
and the tremendous physical, emotional, and financial cost of it
unwillingly, or to allow her to have an abortion in the hopes that
maybe she will raise a family someday when she's better prepared, if
she wants to?  In order to choose one answer to this question, you
have to explain what's wrong with the other answer.

-- 
_/_/_/  Brian Kendig                             Je ne suis fait comme aucun
/_/_/  bskendig@netcom.com                de ceux que j'ai vus; j'ose croire
_/_/                            n'etre fait comme aucun de ceux qui existent.
  /  Nolite te bastardes     Si je ne vaux pas mieux, au moins je suis autre.
 /    carborundorum.                                             -- Rousseau
Newsgroups: talk.abortion