From: gjh@galen.med.Virginia.EDU (Galen J. Hekhuis)
Newsgroups: talk.abortion
Subject: life
Date: 9 Apr 92 03:54:29 GMT
Organization: University of Virginia Health Sciences Center

I think I'm about as pro-life as they come.  As far as folks 
feeling that it is OK to kill in self-defense, I even have my 
doubts there.  I believe that under the law you are innocent 
until proven guilty, and that the fetus is a "life" long before 
conception.  If any of you doubt my commitment towards this, feel 
free to write, my email address is below, I'm not hiding from a 
challenge.  I've been through most of this with with the military 
types who had a vested interest in poking holes in my reasoning, 
I'm not terribly afraid of what folks in this group might pick 
at.  

Having said that, let me also continue by saying that I am very 
much on the pro-choice side of the debate.  I see little 
contradiction in expressing a reverence for life and yet opposing 
government or legislative interference in the matter.  I think 
this is an area that is poorly served by involvement of cops and 
courts.  People who advocate such tactics probably have their 
hearts in the right place, but the actions they advocate are 
poorly conceived and downright dangerous.  

An attempt to legislate reproductive restrictions, or bodily 
functions is not only folly but an intrusion on individual 
action.  Those of you who believe in a higher authority than 
human law (often referred to as God, or somesuch) should have no 
difficulty in realizing that the justice meted out by such an 
authority will be much more fair and longer lasting than anything 
in our imagination.  Why campaign for a "civil" answer when in 
the proverbial fourscore and ten you can be certain that an 
individual will face the ultimate responsibility for their 
actions?  Those of you who feel that "thou shalt not kill" must 
realize that there are innocents, guilty of absolutely nothing, 
that are killed in every war there has ever been.  Are you also 
willing to oppose war, all war, no matter what *you* see as 
"mitigating" circumstances, or do you begin to hem and haw a bit?

The case is only a little thornier when you throw out religion 
and make it a purely a matter of "civil rights."  The rights of 
the already born must always come before the rights of those not 
yet born, it doesn't take much intelligence to see that.  If the 
state has a right to prohibit abortion on the grounds that it 
must protect the well-being of the fetus, then it also has a 
responsibility to police the actions of anyone who is pregnant or 
even suspected of being pregnant.  You guessed it, any woman 
capable of bearing children.  It might even be argued that it has 
the responsibility of policing potential fathers also, in fact, 
it may well be argued that it has the responsibility to determine 
who is eligible for parenthood -- all in the cause of the "yet to 
be born."  The possibilities become so absurd that one must 
reject the fundamental notion that government has any 
responsibility to place the interests of the "unborn" before 
those of the already born.  We must surely redefine our notions 
of family and parenting if we decide to involve government.

I am left with the assumption that those who favor legislation to 
restrict abortion fall into two groups:  either they are well-
meaning individuals who have not given the issue much thought, 
and act because someone (their minister, aunt, priest, mommy or 
what-have-you) told them to, or they are people who use a rather 
emotional appeal to achieve some other end, and their professed 
concern for life is just so much lip service they have to undergo 
while they pursue their objective, be it oppression (women being 
their first target), religious intolerance, or whatever.  I 
imagine there is probably a third group, those who are aware of 
what they are doing and are just mean-spirited enough to do it 
anyway.  I am reluctant to cast anyone in such a light, but I 
have lived long enough to realize that such people exist. 

If there are people who are genuinely concerned about finding 
ways to eliminate abortion, I would imagine that they are too 
busy finding alternatives to be concerned with furthering 
someone's political career or engaging in public moral posturing.  

--
       hang gliding mailing list: hang-gliding-request@virginia.edu 
     Galen Hekhuis  UVa Health Sci Ctr (804)982-1646 gjh@virginia.edu
    Don't put all your spilt milk in one basket, you might cry over it.