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From: garys@bunker.UUCP (Gary M. Samuelson)
Newsgroups: net.abortion
Subject: Re: Comment to T. C. Wheeler
Message-ID: <773@bunker.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 1-Apr-85 11:46:53 EST
Article-I.D.: bunker.773
Posted: Mon Apr  1 11:46:53 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 3-Apr-85 01:14:24 EST
References: <3513@alice.UUCP>
Organization: Bunker Ramo, Trumbull Ct
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> T. C. Wheeler says:
> 
> > Now, as I have often said before, and I will say
> > again, ABORTION FOR THE PURPOSES OF BIRTH CONTROL
> > IS MURDER.
> 
> Either abortion is murder or it is not.  If it is,
> the purpose is irrelevant.

Au contraire, ascertaining the purpose is essential to
determining whether an act resulting in the death of
a human being is murder.  If I shoot someone (for example),
it could be an accident, self defense, or one of several
degrees of murder; the determination is based on the
court's assessment of my purpose.

Murder, as I understand the term, means to wrongfully
and knowingly cause a human being's life to end.  Thus,
abortion is usually NOT murder, because (presumably)
the woman getting the abortion and the person performing
it do not believe that they are killing a human being.
I.e., I think that abortion in general is a wrongful
taking of life, but not a knowing taking of life.

(As an aside, occassionally someone claims that pro-lifers
want to throw everyone who has obtained or performed an
abortion into jail; it should now be clear that it is
possible to be opposed to something without wanting to throw
its proponents into jail.)

Gary Samuelson
ittvax!bunker!garys