Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.3 4.3bsd-beta 6/6/85; site l5.uucp Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!lll-crg!well!l5!laura From: laura@l5.uucp (Laura Creighton) Newsgroups: net.suicide,net.religion,net.abortion Subject: Re: A modest proposal Message-ID: <274@l5.uucp> Date: Wed, 20-Nov-85 02:21:24 EST Article-I.D.: l5.274 Posted: Wed Nov 20 02:21:24 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 23-Nov-85 07:48:31 EST References: <925@utcs.uucp> <1117@mtx5a.UUCP> <1863@hao.UUCP> Reply-To: laura@l5.UUCP (Laura Creighton) Organization: Nebula Consultants in San Francisco Lines: 44 Xref: linus net.suicide:739 net.religion:7900 net.abortion:2190 In article <1863@hao.UUCP> woods@hao.UUCP (Greg Woods) writes: > > On the contrary, that modifier is the entire issue. If you consider >a fetus to be life from the moment of conception, and I or someone >else happens to disagree, what on earth goves *you* the right to >impose YOUR belief on everyone else? What GALL! What an ego! You >think you can determine morality for everyone. Your way is best for >everyone. People like that make me want to puke. Greg, you are not thinking straight. If a fetus is human being, then abortions are murder. If a fetus is not a human being, then they are not. If a fetus is a huamn being at 6 months, but not at 6 weeks, then an abortion is a murder at 6 months and an abortion is not murder at 6 weeks. This is the whole issue. If you think that a fetus is not a human being, and a fetus is, then you are advocating murder. That you are doing this in innocence doesn't lesson that you are advocating murder (though it will certainly influence my opinion of you). The question is ``do we know whether a fetus is human or not, and when it becomes a human if we are agreed that at some time it is a human''? The answer, as far as I know, is no. This leaves me with a real dilemma. I would like to know whether a fetus is a human so that my moral position would be very clear cut -- but I can't know this. So I prefer to maintain a position that one should not have an abortion, simply because I am not willing to err on the side of murder. If it is later determined that 3 month old fetuses are human I would find it hard to live with myself if I have been advocating murder. The real problem is that there is such a fuss made about having a child out of wedlock. If people could just get pregnant by mistake, have a baby, hand it over to an adoption agency, and continue on with life without such a condemnation being made, there might be no need for abortions except where the life of the pregnant woman was in danger. But I am not all that sanguine about the possibility of getting that much of a public attitude change in a big hurry. Laura Creighton -- Laura Creighton sun!l5!laura (that is ell-five, not fifteen) l5!laura@lll-crg.arpa