This is a relationship devoid of mimetic rivalry. The Gospels propose a universal relation of internal otherness , a community modeled on the nurturing relation of mother and child. Thus the category of the fully human is extended downward to the most hapless and helpless members of our species, from publicans and sinners to the child , and from the child to the yet unborn . With this in mind, it is easy to understand why the Catholic Church and other traditional Christians are opposed to abortion. But on the other side of the relation of internal otherness is the pregnant woman .
Human culture is constituted by external relations.
Women have historically not been granted full access to the culture constituted by these relations because of the internal relation that they alone maintain. But in one of the critical developments of the postmodern age, women have been able successfully to claim this access. It is even possible to place men and women on an equal footing with regard to child-raising, granting paternity leaves along with maternity leaves. But the regulation of internal relations is another story. Once the child is born, the father can give it its bottle, but only the mother can nourish it in the womb.