From: frank@D012S436.sniap.mchp.sni.de ()
Subject: Re: Abortion vs. Adoption
Organization: Siemens-Nixdorf AG
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 92 16:55:44 GMT

dking@raul.nas.nasa.gov (Dan King) writes:
: I guess you missed Kathi Mill's response to you earlier.  I just so
: happen to still have her response.  

You know, it takes time for messages to get from all the way over
there to all the way over here, and back again.  You'll find I have
responded it.  Also bear in mind, I am *supposed* to be working 
here....   :-)

: So since Kathi says she feels fine, are you now pro-choice?  Or is there
: a reason why you would doubt her word?

Firstly you (in common with many others) seem to have assumed that 
I am what you label "pro-life", since I haven't openly condemned everything
you label "pro-life", and nor have I openly supported everything
which you label "pro-choice".  Could that be because I am trying
to be open minded I wonder?  Do you have a label for that?  If it
confuses you that I try to sometimes include aspects of both sides of 
the argument in my posts, whose problem is that?

The conclusion I would draw from Kathi saying she feels fine is that
she knows a situation in which abortion is O.K..  Doesn't mean it's
always O.K. (though it may be).  Means it's at least sometimes O.K.

The alternatives to this conclusion seem to me to be:
	
	a) kathi and lots of others are lying
	b) kathi and lots of others are denying their conscience.
	c) conscience doesn't exist

(a) and (b) seem to me utterly unreasonable.  And it's my personal belief 
that (c) isn't true.  

This point may or may not be so relevant in the states (and this seems to
be t.a.states), but especially in Ireland I find it surprising that 
the Catholic Church, which teaches that conscience is absolute, would 
in essence turn around and call all those women liars.  Well, not so 
much surprised at it, as surprised they get away with it.

Am I "pro-choice"?  No, not exactly.  I seem to be heading that way.  
Once upon a time, I used to be almost unswervingly what you would have 
labelled "pro-life", though I have never had much time for many of the 
groups which make up that faction.  Then I grew up, came to recognise 
the shades of grey which exist around the topic, and to recognise that 
not all of these women and men can be crazed lunatics, and that "nothing's
that simple" (they should teach that in school :-))  At present, I'm
somewhere in between, and baffled by the arrogance of both camps.

Certainly, "Pro-choice" seems to include much more than I've understood 
and accepted so far.  The notion that only the woman involved may decide for 
example.  I've never understood why that should be, yet obviously lots of 
people think it's central to the whole issue.  But societies don't delegate 
all moral choices to the individual, and I can think of many other issues 
where I'm positive that society is sensible not to.  What's different about
this one?  

:  
: Dan King

Another unfortunate name for puns :-)
--
Frank O'Dwyer		       			Disclaimer: 
Siemens-Nixdorf AG 	                        I will deny everything
Tel.  : +49 (89) 636-40639                      Fax.  : +49 (89) 636-45860
e-mail: Frank.ODwyer@sniap.mchp.sni.de <--Use this, reply-to is broken
Xref: sparky talk.abortion:36595 talk.religion.misc:16248 alt.atheism:17229