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From: tan@iwu1d.UUCP (William Tanenbaum)
Newsgroups: net.abortion
Subject: Re: This newsgroup
Message-ID: <193@iwu1d.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 27-Apr-84 13:55:29 EST
Article-I.D.: iwu1d.193
Posted: Fri Apr 27 13:55:29 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 28-Apr-84 09:41:04 EST
References: <7602@watmath.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL
Lines: 32

Bravo to Sophie Quigley!  Finally, someone has hit the nail on the
head!  Also, just think how much worse it is for the mother if the
pregnancy is a result of forcible rape.  Not only would the
"right-to-lifers" deny the mother a legal abortion, they would insist
that the act of such an abortion must be legally murder.  They
would thus insist that, were she to have such an abortion after
much painful deliberation, that she would then be guilty of
premeditated murder and must be punished accordingly (possible
execution in my state of Illinois). Anything less would be to deny
the full protection that the laws provide to all of us to fetuses.
	I think that the "right-to-lifers" take a noble sounding
principle, take it as a moral absolute, and apply it across the
board with little regard for the massive suffering that such an
application causes.  Many of the rest of us regard abortion
as a moral evil, but (please forgive the cliche) moral choices
are often choosing the lesser evil among a choice of evils.  Such
a choice comes down to a value judgment.  I personally (being male)
will never have to face such a painful choice, but simple human
compassion tells me that society should not pass laws telling
the mother what to do in such a situation, and CERTAINLY not
punish her if she chooses an abortion.  Anything else strikes
me as SADISTIC.  The life of the fetus does have value, and the
right-to-lifers have a valid point here, but alas, we have hard
choices to make.  Unless, of course, the right-to-lifers get their
way, in which case they will make all such choices for all of us.
				Bill Tanenbaum
Here's to the perfect contraceptive, which will make all of this
academic.  Of course, if it works by preventing implantation,
it would still be murder in the eyes of those in posession
of the ABSOLUTE TRUTH.