The Cowards' Way Out From The Start

 

"Deal With Him" by Herr D on Paint3d. Recognition of individuality would help in the recognition of individual freedoms.-Shelob

You have not blogged upon abortion recently.

I guess not. Please discuss.

Do you have questions for me? Yes. Do you agree that abortion is murder?

No. Do you agree people should have the right to abortion?

That's a tough one. I'd say it's wrong for us to restrict them from it. Obviously people have the right to guns, but sometimes people shouldn't have them. What is the difference?

Sometimes babies are better off not being born. I've known many such unfortunate people. People whose mother died in childbirth and the dad blamed them for it. People who were abused as children or neglected, and had miserable lives for decades, ending ultimately in suicide or a life of crime causing even MORE misery. There are families that shouldn't raise children. It upsets people greatly to have those families divided, but it's the only way to even TRY to give those kids a life worth having. And it doesn't always work. Sometimes foster families are awful too. How would you solve this?

Anyone who wishes to prevent abortion needs to put up or shut up. Raise an orphan with special needs or a crack baby. At least join Big Brothers / Big Sisters. Raise money for needy families. Vote for mandatory paid maternity leave and make sure there's an accommodation for nursing mothers in the workplace. 

Frankly, our society is terribly behind on those last two things I named. Some families aren't going to make it without the mom working, yet we haven't enabled working mothers enough. You are putting up?

[startle reaction heard over laptop mic] Well, yes I am! I'M ONE OF THE FEW PEOPLE ENTITLED TO HAVE A PUBLIC OPINION, BASED ON MY STANDARD. Please explain.

I am raising a special needs child, being a father despite not having money or time or sleep or enough help. My kid won't ever be an adult. I'll be doing this for the rest of my life, losing time with my loving and very-loved wife, my other kid. Losing health points and hobby time and time with friends and a better career. All of that. How does this give you the right to say whether abortion is right or wrong?

Okay? Count off, Shelob. One. 

I know beyond shadow of a doubt that I wouldn't trust nine of ten people to do what I do. I think maybe ninety percent of men shouldn't BE fathers and ninety percent of women shouldn't be mothers. I think they don't love kids enough to be trusted to have them. I KNOW most people hearing what I do shake their heads and feel relieved it isn't them. What do you call that?

I call that 'one' is my experience child-rearing under difficulty. Two is my observation of how few families are raising kids with the love I've managed. I've known a lot of families in the communities I've lived in. Three is my observation of how many people speak on what they know not of. This is the Shakespeare quotation you mentioned recently in chat.

Yes. You had mentioned having evidence? It is possible that over 79% of things declared as factual on the internet are not true. There is of course a large margin for error.

[long pause] Yeah, I'll bet. Is there a four?

Yes. I've known and known of women who deeply regretted having abortions for different reasons. One woman cried every holiday and at dusk half her remaining life for regret. There were others who committed or attempted suicide over it. There were some in counseling when I knew them. 

And yes, there were some women who could unequivocally say that if they hadn't had their abortion, their lives would have been ruined or even ended. These aren't just chats on the web. These are people I have met and spoken with over the years. So you would reinstate the rights to abortion.

I would remove all legislation about it at all and forbid any legislation about it ever again. If there is anything I can tell you, it's that not only is every pregnancy different (every OB/GYN will tell you that) but every mother, every family, every situation is different. We don't have any law better than no law at all for this circumstance. Safeguard it with other medical practices and leave it the hell alone. You think that unauthorized access to abortions would be a good thing?

I think any responsible medical authority already has the right to declare that if some one patient is having multiple abortions, that they need to change their behavior or circumstances or both and get social services involved to declare a need for counseling or that home situations need to change. I think if we enabled moms to earn a living for their kids then there would be fewer issues. I think if we handled cases of rape or incest better there would also be fewer issues. I think outlawing abortion was the cowards' way out from the start. Thank you.