<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><FONT SIZE=2>It is possible to construct slippery slope arguments both ways on this issue:
<BR>on the one hand, to euthanasia, as Marta did, and on the other hand, to the
<BR>suppression of a woman's reproductive freedom. That is why I think that some
<BR>nuance and distinctions which recognize that there really are two sides to
<BR>this issues, that we are deal with competing goods [respect for all human
<BR>life, women's reproductive freedom] and competing evils [disrespect for human
<BR>life which does not fit an 'ablist' model of perfection, disrespect for a
<BR>woman's right to chose when and where to carry a fetus to full human life]
<BR>are badly needed. One could write a science fiction dystopia either way on
<BR>this issue.
<BR>
<BR><BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">Leo said:
<BR>
<BR>>But it seems to me that you are also very close to arguing a "right to
<BR>life"
<BR>>position here. Shouldn't a mother have the ability to choose not to bring a
<BR>
<BR>>child into the world with cystic fibrosis, for example? All things being
<BR>>equal, is it not right for a mother to want to spare her children and
<BR>herself
<BR>>pain? To wish a long, full life without undue physical hardship for them?
<BR>
<BR>(Woo, Leo! Were you smiling evilly while typing this one?)
<BR>
<BR>I suppose, all other things being equal, you're right. Buuuuuut . . . all
<BR>things are not equal. Following that logic, one then can conclude that too
<BR>many "unfit" (by any criteria) working-class fetuses is a bad drain on the
<BR>capitalists' pocketbooks as well as on that of their mothers' (with
<BR>predictable results). There never would be "unfit" bourgeois-class fetuses
<BR>since their parents would have enough money to deal with their situation.
<BR>Hmmm. . . I sense a good science-fiction story here.
<BR>
<BR>Todd <smiling evilly>
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<BR>
<BR>Leo Casey
<BR>United Federation of Teachers
<BR>260 Park Avenue South
<BR>New York, New York 10010-7272 (212-598-6869)
<BR>
<BR>Power concedes nothing without a demand.
<BR>It never has, and it never will.
<BR>If there is no struggle, there is no progress.
<BR>Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation are men who
<BR>want crops without plowing the ground. They want rain without thunder and
<BR>lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its waters.
<BR><P ALIGN=CENTER>-- Frederick Douglass --
<BR>
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