Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site gitpyr.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!gatech!gitpyr!owens From: owens@gitpyr.UUCP (Gerald Owens) Newsgroups: net.abortion Subject: Re: An abortion story (what now, pro-lifers?) Message-ID: <391@gitpyr.UUCP> Date: Thu, 29-Nov-84 11:19:39 EST Article-I.D.: gitpyr.391 Posted: Thu Nov 29 11:19:39 1984 Date-Received: Sat, 1-Dec-84 07:01:50 EST References: <44@tove.UUCP> Distribution: net Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology Lines: 70 Thanks, liz, for confirming the existence of that videotape that I had heard only rumors about. It was about time somebody used modern technology to lay to rest some of the preconceived notions of what goes on in the womb that early. I hope soon that somebody will couple the sound picture with an encephalogram (sp?) of the unborn child's brainwaves to decisively lay to rest the question of fetal pain (although if a fetus tries to scream in amniotic fluid and isn't heard, and someone then asserts that the fetus doesn't feel pain, then I guess we know where they stand on the old question of the tree falling in the forest with nobody to hear it.) However, what facinates me are the mental and verbal gyrations of the pro-choice netters. If it wasn't so tragic, I would have requested that the postings be moved to net.jokes. The complaint about the sensationalism of the posting (and indirectly, of the videotape that it was a report of), was conveniently absent during the vietnam years, when the faithful media brought the war to the 6 o'clock news. My suspicion is that they know what would happen if actual abortions were given equal time with dead and dying GIs. Ok, pro-lifers. What now? If one wishes to compare the abortion debate to a war (which is not too far off from the truth), then we've got an H-bomb on our hands. Unfortunately, I'm a pessimist on it's utility. A Nuke is no good if it can't be delivered to it's target, and rest assured that the liberal media will show it right after their report that it is snowing in hell. It may do some good being shown in some pro-life vans accompanying the picketing of abortion clinics, and it may get some churches off the fence. A national showing? Outside of cable TV, forget it. I admire Reagan, but if he has the guts to call a special news conference and can get the liberal-media to show it in its entirety, in prime time, then he will rank with Lincoln and Washington for sheer courage. Short of that, the next best thing will have to be a small booklet showing excerpts from the tape. We should, of course, consider ALL the consequences of showing this tape. Recent discussions about a certain famine in Ethiopia, and how the children should be "taken care of", should alert us to the fact that the more successfully we present our case, the more we force SOME of our opponents to adhere more logically to their own arguments. Especially when they haven't come up with a blockbuster of an argument like this videotape (Otherwise, they would have used it a long time ago). Remember, Shaeffer argued that a bad attitude toward the fetus, the weakest of humans, will develop into a bad attitude toward the weak. Should we accelerate the development of this bad attitude? Another worrisome problem is that of the more violent of our following (there, I've said it!). These guys are not strictly pro-life, but pro-innocent-life. The distinction is crucial, since they distinguish between a murderer and one who kills in self defense. They then proceed to act on behalf of the ones who would normally defend themselves, but are unable to do so for various reasons. Some of these guys have blown up a few abortion clinics and Planned Parenthood clinics. If this tape is shown, and nothing gets done, then the situation is going to get very unpleasant, very quickly. It's one thing to BELIEVE that you are fighting for an innocent human life. It's another thing to SEE the poor kid fighting for it's life and losing, getting torn apart by a method which, if used on animals would call down the wrath of the ASPCA, the Sierra Club, Greenpeace, and only Watt knows who else. This is getting long enough. Flames will be answered in direct proportion to their rationality, and inversely proportional to the amount of emotional heat they contain. Gerald Owens -- Gerald Owens Georgia Insitute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332 ...!{akgua,allegra,amd,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo,ut-ngp}!gatech!gitpyr!owens