nap@druxo.UUCP (Parsons) (01/31/85)
I maintain that the practice of abortion is a vicious, though perhaps
subtle, exploitation of women (and like much exploitation is often seen by
the victim as desirable or at least the lesser of other evils). Consider
the following:
+ Prevention of pregnancy is a responsibility that can be shared by
both women and men. When the focus is shifted from prevention to
"postvention", women bear the risk (Japanese studies indicate it
is considerable) and unpleasantness alone.
Granted that abortion is, in the opinion of many, a lesser
consequence than the bearing of a child, the fact is that it is still
women who face it alone. Why aren't we demanding that men take equal
responsibility instead of demanding the right to bear it all
ourselves? (Yeah, I know, this male-oriented society foists it on
us, but that still seems to me where we should be taking our stand.)
+ The young and the poor are often coerced into having abortions by
people who "know better than they do what is good for them."
In their eagerness to procure the right to choose, proponents of
abortion seem to have created a situation in which many are denied
(via covert and overt pressures) the right to choose to give birth
rather than abort their babies. (I've talked with a number of such
women.)
+ In some instances, women are denied access to information about
alternatives, and are not even given the kind of information about
risks that are required for other, similar surgical procedures. If
there *are* risks, do we really want that information withheld (even
if it turns out to be less risk than carrying to term--which is
debatable)?
+ It is primarily the male medical establishment that has lined its
pockets from the millions of abortions done in recent years. Is it
so cynical to suspect a connection between their profits and the
coercion brought to bear when a woman seeks information?
The plain fact is that women are being pressured...sometimes by pro-lifers,
sometimes by pro-choicers. No one really seems willing to present an
unbiased examination of all alternatives; hence "choice" has become a
joke, whatever its proponents mean for it to be.
I would like to know if there are others who share my point of view.
Send me mail if you do.
Nancy Parsons
AT&T ISL