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From: rcp@rti.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: Re: Re: CHOICE and the Senate
Message-ID: <1120@rti.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 6-Jul-83 11:01:55 EDT
Article-I.D.: rti.1120
Posted: Wed Jul  6 11:01:55 1983
Date-Received: Mon, 11-Jul-83 17:53:30 EDT
Lines: 73

;;; Some comments on:

From: mcnc!duke!decvax!genrad!grkermit!jim Fri, 1-Jul-83 09:08:43 EDT
(grkermit.470) net.women,net.politics : Re: CHOICE and the Senate

	when considering Dolan's points, also bear these in mind:

	1) should a child that is NOT WANTED be brought into this world
	   and go through hell and back, beating, disregard, abandonment,
	   etc...??
;;;	There are two points that I would like to bring up here:
;;;	* There is another alternative to keep from bringing unwanted
;;;	children into the world - birth control.
;;;	* Many children who were wanted at birth end up going through
;;;	hell and back anyway.  Should we allow parents the right to
;;;	kill their children if they decide that the birth was a mistake?

	2) why shouldn't a women have legal control over her own body?
;;;	We should all have legal control over our own bodies subject to
;;;	the limitation that we do not violate others rights.  Is the
;;;	mothers right to avoid the discomfort of pregnancy more important
;;;	than the childs right to live?  Remember that in most cases the
;;;	mother has the option of birth control if she wishes to avoid
;;;	pregnancy.

	3) why should we make abortion illegal and inflict (possibly
	   permanent) trauma on young girls and their parents?
;;;	Any law inflicts trauma on those who break it.  The question is
;;;	are the social consequences of the act undesirable (immoral) and
;;;	are there reasonable ways to avoid the breaking of this law (birth
;;;	control, adoption, ...).  If a young man steals a car and runs
;;;	over a child;  it will be very traumatic for him to be caught and
;;;	punished.  This is no reason for auto theft or hit-and-run not to
;;; 	be illegal.

	4) what's going to happen to these unwanted births when the parents
	   have enough income to just barely scrape by for themselves, let
	   alone a child.
;;;	Lets think about those unwanted poor of the world who have such a
;;;	poor quality of life.  Do we start atom bombing India and Biafra
;;;	not to mention some of our own urban ghettos ... to improve the
;;;	quality of life in the world.

	lastly...

	5) how would YOU like to have been an unwanted birth?? Think about
	   your outlook on the world...
;;;	Noone likes to be unwanted or unloved.  The obvious choice is suicide
;;;	if things are that bad.  My impression is that few people make that
;;;	choice and of those that do many are from well-to-do families whose
;;;	quality of life in the material sense should be very good.


	just a few points to ponder, I'm sure we could all pound this one
	into the ground (and disk[s]) around the country...

--

	Jim Morton    GenRad Inc., Concord, Mass.  	{...decvax!genrad!grkermit!jim}

;;;	Anyway I don't want to pound this into the ground either, but I thought
;;;	I might have something to say.  As a father of three strong and
;;;	clever little girls, I believe very strongly in the rights and
;;;	equality of women.  Some of our girls were not born at convenient
;;;	times, but the decision to love and care for them is one that I gladly
;;; 	make every day for all of them.  With the same parents and home
;;;	environment each of them is so totally unique in their personality
;;;	and gifts that I am amazed.  I know that abortion is a response
;;;	to real social needs and problems.  However, I believe that more
;;;	humane and less brutalizing to the human spirit solutions can be
;;;	found.

	Rob Pettengill