Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site watmath.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!cdshaw From: cdshaw@watmath.UUCP (Chris Shaw) Newsgroups: net.abortion Subject: Re: Morality and Democracy Message-ID: <10367@watmath.UUCP> Date: Wed, 12-Dec-84 21:51:45 EST Article-I.D.: watmath.10367 Posted: Wed Dec 12 21:51:45 1984 Date-Received: Thu, 13-Dec-84 03:17:33 EST References: <540@wucs.UUCP> <223@looking.UUCP> <132@tekchips.UUCP> Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario Lines: 38 > > Abortion laws are enforced morality. They differ strongly from murder laws > > in that quite often the murderer will support the murder laws. Murder laws > > don't require this 51% repressing 49% - everybody seems to want them, > > and everybody knows why they want them - for personal protection and the > > keeping of the peace. > > Does this mean that if 51% of the population of Mississippi in 1860 favored > slavery that it should have been allowed to continue? > "Anti-slavery laws are enforced morality ..." > > >If you can't see a difference you're too tied up in absolutes. > > With some issues, there is no moral alternative but to take an absolute > stand. Many people believe that abortion is (morally) on par with slavery, > or worse. They feel a moral obligation to be Abraham Lincoln's with > respect to the abortion issue. > > Steve Vegdahl Interesting, in fact, it made me think for quite a while before I saw a way out of this one!! (Of course, it may not work...) The prime difference I see between abortion & slavery as issues in which the majority-rule yardstick can be twisted into a pretzel is the issue which has a pro-choicer saying "but it's obvious that slavery is WRONG (necessarily), while abortion isn't". It's called coercion. Slavery is the coercion of a person to perform tasks against his/her will. A law that requires a woman to bear (against her will) a child that she is pregnant with is coercion, and is therefore wrong. As is traditional slavery, which allows people to require another person to do work for them for no compensation. I remain CD Shaw