From: kristyp@coos.dartmouth.edu (Kristy Patterson)
Newsgroups: talk.abortion
Subject: Personal Sanctity
Date: 16 Apr 92 16:50:35 GMT
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
Originator: kristyp@coos.dartmouth.edu

I have a question, for those of you who are interested in discussing it, and
not standing ready to hurl flames at me:

Do any pro-lifers out there support ideas like mandatory donation of blood
or of non-vital organs in order to save lives?  The government cannot force
anyone to donate blood, a kidney, bone marrow, or any organ or body part,
even though there are dying people out there who desperately might need these
organs/substances.  Donating blood, for most people, is little more than a
minor inconvenience.  Bone marrow donation, from what I gather, is extremely
painful, but doesn't cause serious health consequences.  Organ donation is
permanent, but in the case of kidneys, at least, most people can live ordinary,
full lives with only one.

In fact, at least in California and Vermont (the 2 states in which I've held
driver's licenses), the government cannot even take your organs after you're
dead without the permission of your next of kin, unless you sign a donor card
that authorizes them to take any parts they can salvage that might save a life.

In these cases, the government has no right to force you to do anything with
your own body, even if it might save one life (in the case of donating an
organ) or many (if you donate blood frequently).  Thus, I cannot understand
why anyone thinks it has the right to force a woman to bear a child.  Granted,
it would probably result in a living child.  But in no other case that I'm
aware of does the government place the value of one life over the personal
sanctity over another's own body.  Pregnancy and childbirth do have permanent
health consequences.  Pregnancy is also, in varying measures, dangerous to
the life of the mother, certainly more dangerous than donating blood.

The recipient of blood, or of an organ donation, is a born person, with ties
to people, protected by the law, pays taxes, has a job, etc (I'm generalizing,
but you get the idea).  If one is going to rank a born person's right to life
over that of a fetus, mandatory blood and organ donation seem more logical
than restricting abortions.  So I'm asking pro-lifers, do you support these
things, and if not, why not?

And if not, it seems to me that outlawing abortion would amount to little more
than punishing people for having sex.  It is as if to say (as people on the
net have said) that, since you had sex and got pregnant, you have to suffer
the consequences.  The sanctity of your body cannot be violated by the state
unless you do something that results in pregnancy.  Even if your birth control
fails, some say you have to accept this punishment.  I haven't heard anyone
(though I have only been reading this group for a couple of days) say that
abortion is okay if the condom breaks, but not otherwise.

Interestingly enough, I have heard people say that abortion is okay in the
case of rape or incest.  This reinforces the idea that anti-abortion law is
punishment for having sex voluntarily.  It is as if to say "well, if you had
sex on purpose, you have to take the consequences, but if it was involuntary,
then you don't have to."  What other reason could there be for this distinction?

Most people seem to think that abortion is okay when the life of the mother
is threatened, so I'm not going to extend my analogy; obviously, no one (I hope)
would expect someone else to donate blood or an organ when it would put their
life in danger.

And please let me know (or ignore me :-) if this has been discussed to death;
I'm not a net.neophyte who assumes no discussion took place before I got here.

-Kristy

-- 
  +=================+=======================================================+
  |Kristy Patterson | "I was saving it for your college, but then I thought |
  |kristyp@mac.     | 'The only way she's going to college is in a cake at a|
  +=================+  frat party'."======================-Dinosaurs========+