[Vision2020] Response to Abortion Post

[Ted Moffett]

Nick, Melynda et. al.

I agree with Melynda's critique of your article on abortion, which echoed
with some different arguments some of the points I made in my post:

*Vision2020] A Woman's Right to Choose, Personal Choice & Social Harm *

Just in case you might want to respond to my points, thought I am just a
lowly male!

Ted Moffett



On 1/25/06, nickgier at adelphia.net <nickgier at adelphia.net> wrote:
>
> Greetings:
>
> Before I discuss responses to my abortion column, I just want to catch up
> on a few things.  First, I look forward to meeting some of you for the first
> time at the potluck on Feb. 4.
>
> Second, some readers may think that Keely and I have established a mutual
> admiration society, and that is true, but I don't want any of the articulate
> women posting on this list to think that I don't also admire your
> contributions as well.
>
> With regard to the abortion column, let me take Donovon's swipe at me
> first.  For the record I do not deny a woman's right to shop at Walmart.  If
> she lives in Moscow, she can just drive over to the existing store.  If she
> does not have a car, I will drive her there, but I will not go in to
> shop.  If she needs to get a good buy on groceris, we will then drive over
> to Winco.  Constrast this with the fact that in some states women have to
> drive hundreds of miles to exercise a crucial aspect of their
> constitutionally protected reproductive freedom.
>
> More serious critics were worried that my proposal would lead to
> eugenics.  I did a lot of research about brain development in order to avoid
> that criticism.  The results are in the full article on abortion at
> http://users.adelphia.net/~nickgier/abortion.htm, and I've added this
> paragraph to the column as it will appear in The Sandpoint Reader tomorrow.
>
> "A critic might say that this focus on brain power would make those with
> mental deficiencies non-persons.  Even though the average IQ for
> microcephalics is 10, they still have a mental life greater than the late
> term fetus. Down Syndrome people have an average IQ of 50, but their
> problems are due to brain metabolism not the amount of neo-cortex they
> have."  While most of the mentally deficient will always be beginning
> persons (=children) with a serious moral right to life, they will not be
> adults with both rights and duties.  Many with Down Syndrome can become
> adults, hold down jobs, and even marry.
>
> With regard to the health problems of abortion, I mistakenly conflated the
> horrors of no reproductive freedom with those problems with too much
> reproductive freedom.  Therefore, for the Sandpoint version I've edited the
> end of the column to read as follows:
>
> "Many claim that abortions cause health problems for women who submit to
> them.  A 2003 study done by the National Cancer Institute found that there
> was no connection between abortion and the incidence of breast cancer.  In
> 1989 the American Psychological Association published a study that concluded
> that there was no such thing as "post-abortion syndrome."  Nada Stotland,
> former president of the Association of Women Psychiatrists, states that "the
> incidence of diagnosed psychiatric illness and hospitalization is
> considerably lower following abortion than following childbirth."
>
> Abortion opponents do very little to support the social services and
> accurate information that would make abortions safer, earlier, and rarer, as
> is the case in most other industrialized countries.  For example, in Belgium
> and the Netherlands there are 7 abortions per 1,000 women in 1995 as opposed
> to 23 per 1,000 in the U.S.  Our legislators also do very little to
> improve the socio-economic conditions that would allow single mothers to
> raise their babies successfully.
>
> The most horrendous effects on female health are found in countries that
> do not allow reproductive freedom, and the Bush administration's
> restrictions on family planning in foreign aid are making this problem
> worse.  With a little over half the population, Brazilian women have more
> abortions than American women do. In those countries where abortion is
> illegal there were an average 35 abortions per 1,000 women in 1995.
>
> There are also examples of irresponsible reproductive freedom.   Current
> and former Communist states encouraged abortion rather than contraception
> and effective sex education.  In the 1995 there were 78 abortions per 1,000
> in Cuba and 90 per 1,000 in Eastern Europe. Except for these countries, the
> rate of abortion appears to be directly proportional to the restrictions
> placed on sex education and reproductive freedom."
>
> If I have missed any points that were made on or off list, please let me
> know.
>
> Nick Gier
>
>
>
>
>
>
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