> The are probably occasions where war is justified -- revolutionary and
> liberation struggles, perhaps a few others. But a decent respect for the
> opinions of humankind requires a declaration of the causes. It would be
> odd to regard the acts of revolutionary violence as purely private
> decisions, immune to criticism.
Hmm, but abortion is more like having your tonsil removed - pretty much a private decision by you and your doctor; it should not be seen as subject to critisicm by third parties. And as a single payer activist, I don't see why paying for abortions should be any more problematic that paying for heart surgery or paying for blood transfusions (which by the way some Christians oppose as strongly as others oppose abortion).
I know some people on this list differ; but the two arguments they use seem invalid.
1) Assu me that a fetus is a human life (which I don't for a moment, and will rebut in a moment). Even then there is no justification for forced childbearing. An analogy, which was posted to this fucking list while you were on it: you wake up one morning, in a hospital. It is explained to you that a mad surgon has surgically connected you to a famous violinist whose life was in danger. The connection could be severed immediately, but that would kill the violinist. It can be severed in nine months, with some (but no much) danger to the violist. In the meantime, you will have to stay connected to the violinist. You will suffer many inconviences, and in some severe discomfort. You will be at increased risk for diabetes and a whole host of other conditions, some of them life threatening. You will be unable to work for at least some weeks of this connection. And the severing at the end of the nine months will be intensely painful, will leave you sore for some time afterwords, and will involve additional risks of injury or death.
Now does someone really have a right to tell you, "you must maintain the connection - refusal is murder"? Does anyone have the right to tell you, 'well do it if you must, but I'll tell you might tax dollars won't pay for it." And if you make the choice, afterwords is harangqueing you about it, and saying 'well, I support your right to choose, but that was murder old boy' really a deceent thing to do.
2) Now that was making the (false) assumption that a fetus is a potential human being. But the fact is whatever disinguishes us from say kittens, it is our brain function. A baby even after birth really has rather less brain development that a grown border collie. If you want to draw a medical line, it would be a few months after birth. But of course this is not a purely medical question. We consider babies immediately after birth (along with people who are born brain damaged, or people who lose brain fucntion to the point of not being able to speak or have more consciousness than many animals) to be human for two important reasons. One is that, as someone said above, birth is an extremely radical act (I mean in the broader rather than political sense). You want to draw the line somewhere clear, and birth is about the clearest line there is. And you don't want to use brain function after birth because that is a geniune slippery slope - at the far end leading to genocide against the disabled. But abortion, even a few minutes before birth, is actually well on this side of this slippery slope. You have the combination of brain function and a really clear and drastic dividing line.
Last point - even if you think that I'm being extreme in this last point, how about focusing on the other extreme. How about early in the pregnancy, when the 'fetus' can still fit onto a tablespoon. Can you honestly say that is a human being with full human rights?
============ OK on last point. Some forced pregnancy advocates argue that a fetus deserves full human rights because it is a *potential* human life. I once was given the opportunity to try authentic acorn bread. Did was I guilty of destroying a grove since I ate 12 potentials oaks? (BTW, if you ever get a chance to try authentic acorn bread, turn it down. Truly vile stuff.) I think Monty Python's flying circus pretty much answered the "potential human life" in their song: "Every Sperm is Sacred".