From: izo30@ccc.amdahl.com (Ian O'Brien)
Newsgroups: soc.women,soc.men,talk.rape,talk.abortion
Subject: Re: A rather peculiar letter.
Date: 11 Apr 92 21:00:57 GMT
Reply-To: izo30@JUTS.ccc.amdahl.com (Ian O'Brien)
Organization: Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale CA


In article <1992Apr11.113807.24202@cs.wayne.edu> mrharri@jake.cc.wayne.edu (Marissa Harrison) writes:
>In article <1992Apr10.223308.5691@cbfsb.cb.att.com> mikeh@cbnewsg.cb.att.com (michael p.herlihy) writes:
>>
>>What is the consensus on the net for a national abortion law?
>>
>>I am pro-life but think this issue is tearing the country apart.
>>I would like to have it settled. I don't think having 50 different
>>state laws is right.  It just favors those people who have the 
>>money to travel to a state with more liberal laws.
>>
>Why can't everyone come to this conclusion?  I'm pro-choice, but I would
>have no problem with this compromise!  I'm sure alot of people wouldn't
>(there's always a few that will never be satisfied).  This is indeed a
>moral issue and I believe that the individual should have the ultimate
>say so on what they should do based on their own backround.  This, to
>me, is the closest thing to a REAL compromise.  Neither side gets to
>take all.
>
>My hats off to you Mike.  Great idea!
>
>Marissa

Yes - but don't forget "The law is an ass" (to quote Samuel Johnson).

In Ireland we are currently in a legal quagmire where it _could_ be the
case that a woman can legally be prevented from leaving the country in
order to have an abortion. Because she is going to another country to
do something which is illegal any concerned party can attempt to prevent
her. In Irish courts the pro-life lobbyists have been legally allowed
to be concerned parties in this regard in other cases.

Would you wish to end up in a situation where women are required to
prove that they are not pregnant before they cross a state line? At the
moment in Ireland it _could_ happen that a court case would force the
government to protect all unborn children with the same zeal that it
protects the lives of their mothers. What if US pro-lifers were to use
the existence of pro-life laws in one state to prevent women from
travelling to another state for abortions?

As well as having some states permit abortion you _must_ ensure that
all citizens have an unquestionable right to travel, even if it is to
do something which is illegal in your home state.

All this re-inforces the original point regarding the .signature
file being anti-"Roe" but also pro-choice. Abortion matters should
not be open to interpretation - they should be legal absolutes. In
the case of Ireland it is a constitutional amendment which equated
the right to life of the unborn child with that of the mother
which has put us in such a strange position, legally, after a
court case to prevent a raped 14-year old having an abortion in
the UK.

*sigh* this is awakening up old emnities in Ireland, currently. The
very hard-core pro-lifers have come out of the woodwork already and 
tried to influence a number of Government decisions on whether or
not we should hold another pro-life referendum. Legislating for or
against abortion is very difficult in this country when the lines are
so sharply set and divided by the huge gap between pro and anti-choice.

It's also difficult to be rational when the Storm troopers of the
Legion of Mary are outside the gates of the Dail ( = parliament )
wailing the rosary, when they're not shoving anatomically explicit
abortion material through the letterboxes of politicians. 

Very Irish indeed - Spike Milligan ought to write a sequel to "Puckoon"
about the Irish and their entrenched attitudes to abortion.

sorry for rambling on about ireland so much but I feel much better
for having articulated something about this most frustrating topic.

Ian

-- 
**
** Ian O'Brien    UN?X Systems Thingummy at Amdahl Ireland Limited **
**
** izo30@ail.amdahl.com or izo30@juts.ccc.amdahl.com (see - no apostrophes)
.. for the snark was a .signature virus, you see ..
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