From: cj@eno.wpd.sgi.com (C.J. Silverio)
Subject: Re: Observations
Reply-To: cj@sgi.com
Organization: SGI TechPubs
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 23:40:53 GMT


In article <1992Aug19.210947.26366@spdc.ti.com>, serafin@epcot.spdc.ti.com writes:

|How can you call a pregnancy that occured as a direct result of
|the animal desires of a man and a woman "forced pregnancy".
|When will YOU understand that YOU must take responsibility for
|YOUR actions.  

"Animal desires"?  Well, since humans *are* animals, I
guess all of our desires qualify as "animal."  

But Mike, you seem to be laboring under a misapprehension.
You seem to think that consent to sex is consent to pregnancy.
(Hint: it isn't.)  You also seem to think that abortion isn't
a way of taking responsibility for dealing with an unwanted
pregnancy.  (Hint: it is.)

|If you are not willing or able to take a pregnancy to term
|then maybe you should not be having sex.

I'm sure all the married couples in the world are grateful to
you for making their sexual decisions for them.  But before we
put you in charge of the new Celibacy Police, perhaps I should
share with you some Fascinating Sex Facts.  Ready?

- Conception happens when sperm enters the vagina, travels
  up a fallopian tube, and fertilizes a ripe egg.

- Some sexual activities DO NOT involve intercourse, and
  hence are not likely to involve sperm entering the vagina.
  And that means?  Yes, Mike, you got it!  Conception is very
  unlikely!  What sexual activities are those?  I hear Mike
  ask.  Let me list some possibilities for you:
	oral sex 
	anal sex 
	mutual masturbation
	sex with a member of the same sex

- Modern medicine has invented something known as
  "contraception" or "birth control".  You might guess, just
  from the name, that it's something that works to prevent
  conception.  Well, you're right, Mike!  It does.  Some methods
  are 98% effective.  (Don Porter would want me to stress that
  the possibility of failure, and unwanted pregnancy, exists for
  any method.  The point, though, is that even intercourse need
  not lead inevitably to pregnancy.)
  
  Contraception generally works in one of three ways:  
  	- it provides a barrier, so that sperm can't reach the egg
	- it is a spermicide, which means it kills the sperm
	- it prevents implantation, by making the environment of
	  the uterus hostile to a fertilized egg
  
  Let me list some popular methods for you:
	condom (barrier method)
	diaphram (barrier + spermicide)
	gel & foam (spermicides)
	sponge (spermicide, with some barrier potential)
	"the Pill" (prevents release of a fertilized egg by
		    manipulating hormone balance, also prevents
		    implantation in case of fertilization)
	IUD (prevents implantation)

That's a lot of new info, isn't it, Mike?  Don't worry if it's
too much to take in all at once.  The point to grasp is a simple
one:

    Sex does not inevitably lead to conception.  
    Birth control and sexual activity that doesn't involve 
    intercourse can make  conception unlikely, and indeed 
    nearly impossible.

Here's another point for you to ponder:

    Sex is a basic human drive.

Attempts to thwart that drive are doomed to failure.  (People in
the past continued to have sex, even though the lack of medicine
& contraception meant that they were in greater danger from STDs
& unwanted pregnancy.)  Your solution involves forcing married
couples to refrain from sexual activity.  Now, is that a
reasonable demand for you to make, Mike?

Most posters to talk.abortion find your approach to unwanted
pregnancy utterly unrealistic.  Most people prefer to concentrate
on other ways of coping, such as:
    improved sex education
    improved access to birth control
    other ways to prevent the unwanted pregnancy in the 1st place
    helping women get into circumstances where they're more
    	likely to consider having children

Maybe you could think about how you would approach the problem
from a more constructive direction than your current tack.

Pardon me now, Mike.  I have to go yield to my animal desires &
grab a late lunch.

---
cj@eno.wpd.sgi.com	C J Silverio/Brahms Gang/Berkeley CA 94720
"To come with a well-informed mind is to come with an inability
of administering to the vanity of others, which a sensible person
would always wish to avoid."  --Jane Austen
Xref: sparky talk.abortion:32404 alt.politics.elections:10902