jamcmullan (03/09/83)
From utzoo!decvax!yale-com!brunix!gh Tue Mar 8 20:07:25 1983
Subject: Re: pro-choice groups
Newsgroups: net.women
Okay, let's agree with trsvax!ljw that:
... Anti-abortionists (who are not "anti-choice", just "anti-
abortionist") believe that the human fetus is a human being,
and thus subject to the laws of the constitution (including the right
not to be murdered), whereas pro-abortionists believe that the human
fetus is not a human being, and thus the woman is free to deal with
this "thing" attached to her as she sees fit.
(......)
These people clearly believe the fetus is not human, or they could not
justify abortion in cases of rape, mother's life in danger (versus certain
death for the fetus), etc. When Cindy McMeekin says that 80% of Americans
are pro-choice, what she really means is that 80% favor some cases of
abortion, and therefore must not believe the fetus to be human....
I cannot agree that "pro-abortionists" must believe that the fetus is not yet
human. One could believe that the fetus is human yet be so overwhelmed by the
impending problems that the pregnancy would cause (social/financial/emotional)
that one could choose the lesser trauma of dealing with an abortion.
(Flamers note that an abortion is not the same as infanticide at all. There is
an emotional component that is similar but one does not have the physical
impact of seeing the child.)
Those who are pro-choice may be just as upset at the thought of full-grown
women, desperate enough to choose illegal abortions, dying from them. They
may believe that these lives are valuable, too.
I would feel a lot more pain and sympathy for a friend who is pregnant and in
despair about it than I could feel for her unknown child. I would rather see
her life salvaged than the unknown (unknowing) child's life preserved.
--Judy McMullan