"we all wish there were fewer abortions"

Do we all agree that there should be fewer abortions?

The reason I'm asking is because President Obama has been quoted as saying that we do:

Notre Dame provost Thomas Burish said he thought Obama fared well in the face of controversy, delivering a speech the audience embraced and setting the tone for a conversation they want to continue.

"You heard the president say that we all wish there were fewer abortions, and I think that's a common ground that we can all agree with," Burish said in an interview.

Well, I didn't hear him say anything, but for the purpose of this post I'll take the provost at his word.

It's easy to say we should find common ground, but I think is wrong to suggest that we all wish there were fewer abortions. In fact, in another story about the same event, an abortion rights activist is quoted as demanding expanded abortion access (I have to assume expanded access would mean more abortions) as well as the lifting of "the stigma":

Sunsara Taylor, a New York City resident and a member of the abortion-rights group Abortion on Demand, said outside the school's gates that "there was a voice missing" in the controversy over Obama's visit.

"If women don't have a right to decide if they have a child, women aren't free," she said. "We need to expand abortion access and abortion rights and lift the stigma. Fetuses are not babies and women are not incubators."

I'm not sure what she means by asserting that women "don't have a right to decide" whether to have a child. What country is she referring to? China? I have never heard of a case in the United States where the government forced a woman to have either children or abortions.

Furthermore, except in the case of rape, the decision to become pregnant involves free will. Or is she saying that women do not consent to sexual intercourse? I don't know, but the statement makes no sense. I suspect she's one of those people who thinks that "reproductive rights" work only in one direction, and involve the right to have an abortion, but I can't be sure.

However, the Abortion on Demand leader has a blog which makes it perfectly clear that the president is wrong when he says we all agree that there should be fewer abortions:

NO! THE GOAL SHOULD NOT BE TO REDUCE ABORTIONS, BUT TO LIBERATE WOMEN

Let's be very clear: To talk today of reducing the number abortions is to talk about strengthening the chains on women. The goal should NOT be to reduce the number of abortions. The goal should be to break down the barriers that still exist in every sphere of society to women's full and equal participation as emancipated human beings. In this society, right now, that means there will be - and therefore should be -- more abortions.

I'm going to stick my neck out here and suggest that means we don't all agree.

MORE: Reproductive rights in the White House, anyone?

I just found this picture:

WH_Diaper.jpg

Caption: A military usher suggests to a guest a better location than the crosshall of the White House to change a baby's diaper before an event in the East Room in Washington May 1, 2009.

But I thought diapers were bad.

posted by Eric on 05.18.09 at 11:08 AM





TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://classicalvalues.com/cgi-bin/pings.cgi/8265






Comments

Part of what horrified me so much as to start rethinking my reluctantly pro-choice position was the realization that even though birth control is readily available, there are women who think that abortion is a better choice. A couple of choice tidbits from a Los Angeles Times article about an Arkansas abortion doctor:

His first patient of the day, Sarah, 23, says it never occurred to her to use birth control, though she has been sexually active for six years. When she became pregnant this fall, Sarah, who works in real estate, was in the midst of planning her wedding. "I don't think my dress would have fit with a baby in there," she says.

The last patient of the day, a 32-year-old college student named Stephanie, has had four abortions in the last 12 years. She keeps forgetting to take her birth control pills. Abortion "is a bummer," she says, "but no big stress."

Clayton E. Cramer   ·  May 18, 2009 01:02 PM

"Fetuses are not babies"

They are in California. If you intentionally kill a fetus, except with the consent of the mother, it's murder. I know of a case where two sheriff's deputy were sent to prison after causing a fetal death, while blasting a pregnant woman with a shotgun in the belly. (They started this tragedy by calling in a false 911 call so that they would have probable cause to kick in the door to look for drugs. No drugs found.)

And we all know that California is run by the Religious Right.

Anonymous   ·  May 18, 2009 01:11 PM

Mr. Cramer, I am amazed to hear that argument from you. Every single liberty we have is abused by some people. Abuse by some is not a good reason to eliminate or restrict that liberty for everyone.

I believe abortions should be legal. I do think abortions should be rare, as every one is the loss of a potential member of society, but there are some cases in which an abortion may be the least bad decision. In aggregate, I think we're far better off with individuals making the decision as they go than we are handing over that decision to the federal or state government.

Andrew C   ·  May 18, 2009 02:45 PM

For an interesting exercise, Google Sunsara Taylor. You'll find that her work for abortion rights is just the tip of the iceberg. This woman is a world class asshatted moonbat.

Steve   ·  May 18, 2009 05:05 PM

No woman with a moral compass can have an abortion, and not be profoundly guilt-stricken.

Removing the 'stigma' of abortion requires a series of lies:
1. That you didn't make your choice to roll the dice when you had sex.
2. That no sexual restraint is ever necessary, anyway.
3. That the fetus they have vacuumed out would not become the same sort of child they see so many other people enjoying the company of.

There are more lies one would have to accept, but that's enough for now.

dfenstrate   ·  May 18, 2009 09:32 PM

I have always said, like capital punishment, war and bankruptcy; abortion is an ugly thing, but it also sometimes a *necessary* thing. And so, to me, balancing all the various issues, the best public policy is to allow it.

But yeah, count me with those in favor of keeping the stigma, such as it is, and for it to be as rare as possible.

But, I am also a believer is wonders of technology in overcoming the many downsides of the "human condition". And I think that only way to escape this intractable debate is the development of artificial wombs. (In fact, this option was discussed in more depth in Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan books.) Basically, a fetus is legally a person from day one, and if the mother doesn't want to bear it, then it will be transferred to the artifical womb for gestation to full term - initially at the state's expense. Both the mother and the father (if he can be found) are on the hook for child support up to 18. Puts the men and the women more on the same footing, eh?

Eric E. Coe   ·  May 18, 2009 10:21 PM

(more) Of course, a woman who abandons her baby this way is cut off - she has no custodial rights later - she has disowned this child. And the father has the option of affirming his intent to be a custodial father independently of whatever the mother does. Makes things more fair all around.

Eric E. Coe   ·  May 18, 2009 10:28 PM

Dfenstrate, do you truly intend to argue that every single woman who has had an abortion and not been wracked with guilt is a sociopath? Women who have had abortions would typically reject all of the lies you presented. However, are the consequences of an abortion any greater than the consequences of birth control? Either way, sexual restraint isn't as necessary and there are fewer children in the world.

The only honest argument I've heard in opposition to abortion without also rejecting all birth control is that a fetus is a full person with all the rights that go with that. Sincerely pushing for that is very challenging, since it means 1/4 of American women should be in prison for murder. That figure alone suggests the majority of Americans do not believe a fetus is a full person.

Andrew C   ·  May 18, 2009 11:46 PM

Abortion should be alegal. That is, there should be no laws addressing it.

Failing that, it should be a crime to perform an abortion, inkeeping with the murder/pregnancy laws.

And yes, I know that people will still have abortions. And that these might be dangerous "back-alley" abortions. So what? If you can roll the dice with irresponsibility once, you can do it again.

gmpalmer   ·  May 19, 2009 11:05 AM

June 2009
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
  1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30        

ANCIENT (AND MODERN)
WORLD-WIDE CALENDAR


Search the Site


E-mail



Classics To Go

Classical Values PDA Link



Archives



Recent Entries



Links



Site Credits