abortion

[Dennis Perrin]

> At 03:02 PM 10/10/2002 -0400, Dennis wrote:
> >Oh, by the way, though I am pro-choice, I am anti-abortion. A living
thing
> >_is_ snuffed out. And that stat from Russia is quite disturbing if true.
>
> It's not a living thing apart from its mother. I don't exactly celebrate
> the right to abortion and, thank god, I've never had to have one...but
> given that this decision will be made by someone, I think right now the
> only person who has the right to make it is the mother.
>
> If a woman has no rights over reproductive choice, she has no rights
period.
>
> If you want to reduce abortions significantly, you need sex education and
> probably free contraceptives. My mother had sixteen abortions on someone's
> kitchen table (Romania:abortion illegal, contraceptives unavailable), and
> what that did to her is indescribable.
>
> Joanna

I agree with the majority of what you say, Joanna, though I think the father
should at least get to put his two cents in regarding the ultimate decision
(for without him, no pregnancy). But, ultimately, the choice is the
mother's.

And no, the developing baby could not live outside his or her mother, but
the baby is alive. I saw this with my son when my wife could still legally
abort him (which was never considered, of course). His heart was beating,
his arms and legs were formed, his bones growing. Could he play a video game
or eat a bowl of Cocoa Puffs? No. But he was alive.

DP