[clue-talk] How do CLUEbies vote?

[Brian Gibson]

--- Collins Richey <crichey at gmail.com> wrote:

> The one thing I like about this interchange. None of
> is going to
> persuade the other to change his political or
> religious
> beliefs/non-beliefs, but for the most part we're not
> getting into the
> personal invective that frequently shows up in these
> threads.
> 
> Kudos for a rational interchange of ideas.

Well often it's not the actual arguments that's really
at issue, but the premises on which they're based. 
For the most part, the premise on which a person
stands is not necessarily right or wrong.  

For example, on the abortion issue, being in favor of
life and being in favor of having a choice of
remaining pregnant are both valid stances.  No one is
going to deny that life is worse than the alternative.
 (We'll leave the right to die debate out of this.) 
Abortion in and of itself is not a bad thing given the
fact that it occurs naturally (miscarriages,
infanticide typically observed in species that have
litters, cannibalism in other species, etc.), not to
mention selective termination in multi-birth
situations is available.  The fact is that abortion in
one form or another has existed for centuries and even
if the pro-life camp manages to re-criminalize the
procedure, all that means it'll go underground and
become an even riskier procedure than it already is,
or simply move offshore.  

If history is any indication, abortions are going to
happen---legalized or not.  At least when legalized,
the procedure can be regulated.  So it's pretty much
when do you permit it and that's really the crux of
the problem (assuming you're not a hardliner in either
camp).  Where do you draw a discrete line where one
doesn't exist?  It's akin to when should someone be
allowed to vote, acquire a driver's license, or be
able to drink/smoke.  The line is somewhat arbitrary
but with those latter examples we've at least come to
a consensus (not that any one individual is guaranteed
to agree with each prerequisite).  

Life is good.  Choice is good.  Make the choice more
restrictive later in the pregnancy to the point where
eventually it's not just an elective choice but one
made at the recommendation of her doctor.  Empower the
woman who has to make that choice with as much
knowledge that's available (without propagandizing or
bullying her one way or the other).  The choice is
hard whether she chooses to carry the pregnancy to
term or chooses to terminate the pregnancy.




       
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