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From: ark@alice.UUCP (Andrew Koenig)
Newsgroups: net.abortion
Subject: Reply to Paul Dubuc
Message-ID: <3322@alice.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 22-Jan-85 10:20:52 EST
Article-I.D.: alice.3322
Posted: Tue Jan 22 10:20:52 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 23-Jan-85 06:59:57 EST
Organization: Bell Labs, Murray Hill
Lines: 23

Dubuc claims that "Polls show that most people (over 70%, I think) would
favor a law prohibiting abortion except in cases of rape, incest, danger
to the mother's life and severe birth defects."

First, if abortion is murder, it's wrong regardless of whether any of
the exceptional cases apply or not, so any law that allows for these
exceptions is hypocritical on its face.

Second, as has been pointed out in several related contexts, mere
popularity does not justify a law.  In particular, the fact
that 70% of the population feel a certain way does not give them the
right to force the other 30% to go along with them.  That is what
minority rights are all about.

I was told about a poll a number of years ago in which people on the
street were asked how they felt about the part of the Declaration
of Independence that begins: "We hold these truths to be self-evident..."
and goes on to say that the people have a moral duty to overthrow
any government that does not protect their inalienable rights.

More than half the people questioned saied that that statement should
not be permitted to be published.  Would you claim that that poll
would justify the establishment of political censorship in the USA?