gam@proper.UUCP (Gordon Moffett) (03/30/84)
> From: welsch@houxu.UUCP (Larry Welsch) > Sexual intercourse if done of free will contains an implicit contract for > both parties. In the case of no pregnancy, the contract becomes null and > void, but in the case of pregnancy then the contract is that if either > party wants the fetus then the mother must birth the child ... I disagree with this entirely. Men are not obligated to donate sperm against their will, why should a woman be obligated to bear a child if only the man wants it? Your `implicit contract' is arbitrary. Why doesn't the `implicit contract' state that its solely the woman's choice? The woman and the woman alone should have the choice to bear a child or not. It would be nice if the father's feelings were considered, but I do believe women have the right to control their bodies, including reproductively. It is one of the unfairnesses of this world that women bear children and men do not. It is perhaps unfair that women should have this choice -- this authority! -- but the alternative is society's tyrranical control of the individual's body. > As for the argument of about control over bodies, I argue that, > > a. No body has ever used this argument against the draft, I do. > b. No body has ever used this argument against the death penalty, I do. > c. No body has absolute control over their body. `c.' is an empty statement. If a man desparately wants a child, he should find a woman would wants to bear it (including `rent-a-moms'), or wait for medical technology to advance to allow him to bear it.
jbf@ccieng5.UUCP (Jens Bernhard Fiederer) (03/31/84)
Speak for yourself, Larry. The terms of the contract are not necessarily what you think they are. If I have sexual intercourse with a woman, the default "contract" is that if we BOTH want a child, she may bear it and support will be mutual. If she wants to support it herself, she can bear it without my consent. If neither of us wants a child, I would share the abortion costs. If only I wanted the child, I would be out of luck, but she would certainly have to pay for her own abortion. On the other hand, if asked in advance, I might agree to joint support if she waived the abortion option (although this is a contract impossible to enforce). Basically, if she made it clear that abortion was not an acceptable choice for her, I would either not have intercourse with her (this the more probable), or I would pledge my support (this if I were desperate). The Grey Mouser -- Reachable as ....allegra![rayssd,rlgvax]!ccieng5!jbf