Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!floyd!vax135!ariel!houti!hogpc!houxm!hocda!spanky!burl!duke!mcnc!rti!rcp 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