From: hatcher@MSUPA.PA.MSU.EDU
Newsgroups: talk.abortion,alt.abortion.inequity,alt.birthright
Subject: Re: Don't just whine about media bias. Do something!
Date: 29 Sep 92 16:04:49 GMT
Reply-To: hatcher@MSUPA.PA.MSU.EDU
Organization: MSU Dept. of Physics & Astronomy

In article <1992Sep28.201847.16813@spectrum.xerox.com>, rgoers@gumdrop.Xerox.COM (Ron Goers) writes:
>In article <1992Sep25.210549.12681@msuinfo.cl.msu.edu> hatcher@MSUPA.PA.MSU.EDU writes:
>>In article <19voc1INN236@hpsdde.sdd.hp.com>, regard@hpsdde.sdd.hp.com (Adrienne Regard) writes:
>>>>For example, I believe
>>>>there ARE too many abortions in the country.
>>>
>>>Just out of curiousity, what information do you base this opinion on?

Again, Ron, please break your lines for the rest of us.  Just because it
looks okay on *your* terminal doesn't mean everyone's works the same way.

>98% of all abortions are for birth control reasons.  
> That's too many!  Less than 1% are performed for cases of incest/rape.  

That seems high.  Please, point to a legitimate reference (anti-abortionist
litature does NOT qualify).  [99.9% of all statistics are made up :-)]

> I believe that the increase in education is responsible for the increase
> in abortions!   Remember that the schools are "educating" very young and 
> irresponsible children.  It's enough to get a teen-age girl to clean up 
> her room every day, can one really believe she will be responsible
> enough to take her birth control pill daily.  Does she have any idea of 
> what to do if she forget
[again missing key words due to "run on" sentances]
> ke it one day?  Will she be responsible enough to say "no" for another 
> month until her next cycle of pills is on schedule and up to date?  
> In the heat of the moment will the young man remember to don his condom?  
> In the real world, these situations are real and typical.  

Now, this is a laugh.  The point of *education* is to instruct the kids 
on the *CONSEQUENCES* of their actions.  You seem to equate education
with free and uncontrolled distribution of contraceptives and more
importantly you seem to equate sex education with the ENCOURAGEMENT of
kids to have sex.  Seems to me you just don't have a clue, here.  
Those same two kids will be just as "responsible" about saying "no"
whether or not they use the pill/condom as when they don't.  Those
"heat of the moment"s come whether or not they know anything about
pregnancy *prevention*; so why not encourage them to act responsibly
and PREVENT a pregnancy and thus PREVENT an abortion (This is 
alt.abortion.inequity)?

> The 98% figure above points to that fact.  
> Education is NOT the answer.  
> Throwing money at a problem is NOT the way to make it go away.  

Ah, can I humbly ask: what is the solution?  Ignoring the teen age
pregnancy rate is NOT the solution; it isn't going to go away just by
pretending kids will not experiment with sex -- that's just a prescription
for disaster (more unintended pregnancies, more STD, more AIDS...)

Or are you proposing (I'll put words in your mouth here) that we outlaw
abortions (and contraceptive for kids) to *PUNISH* them for having sex
and thus set an example for other kids?  I hope you're not advocating
this, just a reasonable person could interpret your writings as doing so.

>Ron Goers @ Xerox Corporation               Email: rgoers@iset.scan.mc.xerox.com

-robert (hatcher@msupa.pa.msu.edu)
Newsgroups: talk.abortion