>>Nathan wrote:
>>
>>And frankly on the abortion issue, I spent too much
>>time fundraising from Planned Parenthood members on the
>>phone not to recognize that the euthanasia strain of
>>pro-choice politics and funding is very real. I don't
>>agree with the "seamless garment" leftwing Catholicism
>>of David Bonior and Dennis Kusinich, but it serves more
>>respect on its own terms than many folks on the left
>>give it.
>>
>>-- Nathan Newman
>>
>
>"In the era between the Great Depression and Roe v Wade a
>significant number of activists, intellectuals, academics, and
>professionals viewed eugenics, euthanasia, and birth control as
>kindred causes." Ian Dowbiggen, "A Rational Coalition": Eugenics,
>Euthanasia, and Birth Control in America, 1930-1970. Dowbiggin
>teaches history at the University of Prince Edward Island.
>
>These intellectuals, says Dowbiggen, were concerned with the
>"responsible care of human life" and disabled persons as well as
>elderly persons were targets of this "care." I am certain not one
>damn one of them actually considered the oppression of their
>subjects.
Yes, this is alarming, but it shouldn't get in the way of seeing free access to abortion and birth control as a fundamental rights or principles.
This seamless web stuff sounds nice, but serious opposition to abortion is pretty recent and has a lot to do with anxiety about women's independence. I'm not inclined to give it much slack.
Doug