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Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!umcp-cs!flink
From: flink@umcp-cs.UUCP (Paul V. Torek)
Newsgroups: net.abortion
Subject: Re: Are Laws what is really needed?
Message-ID: <1001@umcp-cs.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 25-Jul-85 20:48:25 EDT
Article-I.D.: umcp-cs.1001
Posted: Thu Jul 25 20:48:25 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 28-Jul-85 00:12:29 EDT
References: <509@scc.UUCP>
Reply-To: flink@maryland.UUCP (Paul V. Torek)
Distribution: net
Organization: U of Maryland, Computer Science Dept., College Park, MD
Lines: 20
Keywords: other -- repeat, OTHER -- dogmatists

In article <509@scc.UUCP> steiny@scc.UUCP (Don Steiny) writes:
>...   Anti-abortionists promote legislation to prohibit
>abortion because of their inability to convince people of the
>merits of their arguments.

"Anti-discriminationists promote legislation ... because of their
inability to convince people ...".  Seriously folks, similar arguments
were heard a few decades ago, but we all (except libertarians and a
few other dogmatists) reject that line of argument now.  And part of
the reason discrimination came to be seen as wrong was the existence
of the laws.  Of course, a lot of convincing people has to occur before
the anti-abortionists could get any laws passed -- fortunately.  I hope
that some convincing will occur on both sides and they meet somewhere
near the middle (somewhere near MY position! :->).

Convincing is important, but so is passing laws, at least once a critical
level of consensus is reached.  I won't say what that critical point is, 
but it's definitely NOT unanimity, and probably not even close.

--Paul V Torek, author of "How to Win Enemies and Infuriate People"