From: mcochran@nyx.cs.du.edu (Mark A. Cochran)
Subject: Re: Spoken Like a True ProLifer
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Date: Wed, 6 Jan 93 05:58:25 GMT

In article <1icdflINNsnv@meaddata.meaddata.com> johnt@meaddata.com (John Townsend) writes:
>In article <1993Jan4.205628.11758@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu>, mcochran@nyx.cs.du.edu (Mark A. Cochran) writes:
>|> In article <1ia3g9INN4nb@meaddata.meaddata.com> johnt@meaddata.com (John Townsend) writes:
>|> >Perhaps the problem is yours.  A fetus/embryo may be attached to the mother's
>|> >body at the placenta, but it is not a part of the mother's body by any
>|> >definition.  In fact, as a zygote, it is completely separate from the mother
>|> >and, like you, needs nothing more than adequate nutrition and a safe environment
>|> >to grow to any given level of maturity.
>|>
>|> The difference, of course, being that I am not taking my nutrition or
>|> environment from a womans body. 
>|> However, if you personally want to provide a fetus with nutrition and
>|> asafe environment, feel free.
>
>Ergo, the right to live is contingent upon where one lives and receives one's
>nourishment.  Hitler couldn't have said it better.
>
Stunning comparison. Actually, the right of the fetus to live is
contingent upon whether the woman in whos body the fetus is living
wants to provide for it's nutrition and environment.

>|> >Given any thought lately to what might have happened if abortion had been legal
>|> >and morally acceptable when Bill Clinton's father died while little Billy was
>|> >swimming through his second trimester, leaving a single mother without any
>|> >welfare or job skills?  There would have been no "Hope" for Billy.
>|>
>|> Wow, another mind reader! What evidence can you provide that Moma
>|> Clinton would have made the *choice* of aborting?
>|> What's that? You can't provide any?
>|> Not suprising.
>|> This oh-so-oft repeated argument makes no more sense then this:
>|> How about if your mom had been suffering from a headache John? There
>|> would have been no hope for you, either.
>|> Neither of these scenarios is any rational basis for legislation, or
>|> even debate.
>|> But you knew that already, didn't you?
>
>Sounds like I hit a nerve.  I did say "might," you know.  Statistically,
>however, given the conditions above, there would indeed have been no "Hope"
>for Billy.  After all, according to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, some 93%
>of abortions are performed essentially for the sake of convenience, with 6%
>for the mother's or child's health and 1% for rape or incest.  The vast
>majority of those 1,395,000 cases are far less dire than Billy's, and even
>pro-choicers don't think these abortions are morally acceptable.  The fact is,
>abortions can be and are performed because of "headaches."  I was lucky to be
>born before RvW.
>
So by "might" you were giving yourself an escape clause, and basically
admitting that your little scenario is jhust so much utter baseless
tripe. Thank you for admitting this.
As for your statistics above, why shold I care why the woman chooses
to have an abortion? Unlike some, I feel no need to live anothers life
for them, or to make their choices for them.
BTW, please provide a citation to document your claim that abortions
are performed for "headaches".

>I think it's important to recognize that neither Choice nor Life are sacrosanct.
>We constantly face limits on our choices.  I'd choose to be a billionaire, but
>no one seems to be indulging me that right.  Likewise, should we not build
>things like the Golden Gate Bridge or go to war, if there is a probability that
>human life may be lost in the process of conducting these endeavors?  Of course
>we should, if other conditions are met.  The question is which right should
>hold sway over the other when they conflict.  I, for one, have chosen life.
>
Feel free to make whatever choices provide you with a sense of
happiness. Just don't bother trying to make that choice for others.
They're quite capable of making their own choice.

--
                  Mark Cochran          merlin@eddie.ee.vt.edu
These are the views of my employer, your employer, your government, the
Church of your choice, and the Ghost of Elvis. So there.
Member, T.S.A.K.C.
Newsgroups: talk.abortion