[Vision2020] What if other cartoonists . . .

Paul Rumelhart godshatter at yahoo.com
Mon Mar 19 18:52:21 PDT 2012 

Abortion is an amazingly divisive issue.  It's a question for which I, 
personally, don't have a simple answer to.  You have a continuum from 
just conceived to just about to be born.  Where on that line does the 
fetus become a baby?  Anytime before it would have been born naturally?  
When it has developed certain organs?  When it could live on it's own 
(with or without medical help) if it were delivered?  When it can first 
feel pain or react to stimuli?  And then you have the conception side, 
which brings up questions of potential life.  If full rights begin at 
conception, then if a mother loses her baby for whatever reason early in 
her pregnancy should she be brought up on charges of accidental 
manslaughter, or something similar?

It's such a resoundingly hard problem that has so many aspects to it 
that I can't believe we'll ever find an answer to it that everyone can 
easily agree with.  For example, if you can determine very early in a 
pregnancy that the baby has a debilitating disease and won't survive 
it's first week after birth, would the moral thing be to let it come to 
term and die horribly or take it's life now while it's not much more 
than a developing organ?

Because of this complexity, I generally fall into two camps.  Those who 
think abortion should be legal and those who think every option should 
be explored other than abortion before an abortion takes place.  I can 
see times when most people would agree that abortion should be allowed.  
When neither the mother nor the baby is expected to survive the birth 
process, for one simple example.  I can also see that taking abortion 
lightly is dangerous.  In this I agree with Jay (if I'm understanding 
his post correctly).  I'm for any reasonable measure to give the parents 
more information and to re-think their options when contemplating having 
an abortion.  I can also see my views on this topic changing because of 
unexpected ideas or information that I've never run into before now or 
have thought about very deeply.

I suggest strongly that everyone out there look with skepticism on those 
who think they have a simple answer to this question.  That goes for the 
"abortion is murder" crowd as well as the "it's a woman's body - she can 
do what she likes" crowd.  I would also suggest that we respect each 
other's points of view on this topic.

Paul

On 03/19/2012 09:58 AM, Jay Borden wrote:
>
> As I’m witnessing the level of “smugness” from the progressive-left 
> approach epic proportions… I’m still left with a feeling that there is 
> an grain of truth coming from some of these “hare-brained” legislatures.
>
> I’m not sure the religious-right is the one to carry the torch.. but 
> the message they are awkwardly trying to bring around is one of **shame**.
>
> We’ve lost an element of shame in the last generation of America… 
> shame from making wrong decisions… shame from making bad choices… and 
> without shame comes shielding/coddling/protecting from repercussions 
> for ones actions and decisions.
>
> We’re now a “do what feels good” generation… you are your own person… 
> a unique individual (just like everyone else)… everyone should get a 
> trophy for mere participation, and no one should feel bad for not 
> being an ACTUAL achiever.  (In fact, it’s the reverse… when a WINNER 
> emerges, they are SHAMED for the assumption that they WON at the cost 
> of someone else… but I digress)…
>
> It used to be following through on a bad idea carried its own social 
> connotations.  Are you a woman sleeping around?  Yes… for shame.  
> (And, are you a guy who prides himself in bedding as many women as he 
> can?  Yes… shame as well).  Didn’t plan accordingly and got pregnant?  
> SHAME.
>
> Getting an abortion because you want to erase that mistake?  Yes… it 
> should be shamed.  And it should be uncomfortable… and it should carry 
> the full gift of bureaucracy as can only be provided by our government.
>
> Abortion should be shamed.  And it should be a last resort.  And it 
> should NOT be socially acceptable.  Having an abortion should be the 
> LAST line of defense, not the first action of choice.
>
> Is having an abortion killing a human being?  Yes, it is.   Does that 
> mean under ZERO circumstances that an abortion should never happen?  
> No, I don’t believe so.  But the more push-back I see from a 
> population that is against ANYTHING that would have a woman at least 
> RE-THINK the decision (yes, RE-THINK IT AGAIN and AGAIN) before taking 
> a human life… the more I see a population that has grown far too 
> comfortable with the notion.
>
> Abortion should be a practice of EXTREMES… not something as 
> commonplace as we have made it.
>
> It’s a tired cliché (from a movie, nonetheless, I know)… but it rings 
> true to the core.  “With infinite power comes infinite 
> responsibility”…. and women have been handed the keys to create life. 
>  That’s a pretty big responsibility.    Is it is raw deal that women 
> have been dealt a uterus?  (Depends on who you listen to… the woman 
> who think her rights supersede the ones of a child, or the woman who 
> finds the joy in the sacrificing of child-rearing).  But it is the 
> hand that nature has dealt our reproductive process… like it or not, 
> it is what it is.
>
> But when people see women not taking responsibility for the power that 
> they have been given, OTHERS step in and try to re-introduce the 
> weight and the gravity of the decision behind taking another human 
> life… and often its old white men in public office.
>
> How shameful that its these same old white men that have more interest 
> in saving human life than the women going in and killing their children.
>
> With all of this talk about how SHOCKING it is that anyone would 
> trample “women’s rights”… I find it shocking that no one is at least 
> bringing up the LARGER issue of: “maybe we SHOULD be doing something 
> to make killing a child just a little more difficult.”
>
> I’m waiting for some news story to pop up about a woman walking out of 
> a clinic fresh after having an abortion, and walking right over to 
> some anti-war demonstration, holding up a picket sign, and saying, 
> “stop killing our sons and daughters!”
>
> I’m sure I’ll get all sorts of hate-mail from the “pro-choice” folks 
> out there… and I’m sure I’ll be called “uneducated” and “stupid” and 
> be accused of living in a tree, or whatever else the progressive left 
> like to call people they can’t otherwise classify through logic or 
> reason.   And I’m sure I’ll get more than a handful of people claiming 
> that “I have no idea what it’s like having to be put in that position”…
>
> And… to that last point… they’re right.  But I don’t have to be a 
> woman to know that killing an innocent child is wrong.
>
> And I realize I’m spitting in the wind when it comes to the general 
> opinion of this crowd.
>
> With all of this outrage on how SHOCKED people seem to be on the issue 
> of women’s rights… I can’t let it go much further without at least 
> raising my hand and writing SOMETHING to the effect of “do you REALLY 
> think that having an abortion should be as socially acceptable as it is?”
>
> Jay
>
> *From:*vision2020-bounces at moscow.com 
> [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com] *On Behalf Of *Tom Hansen
> *Sent:* Monday, March 19, 2012 5:59 AM
> *To:* Moscow Vision 2020
> *Subject:* [Vision2020] What if other cartoonists . . .
>
> Good for Garry Trudeau. It kinda makes you wonder though . . . what 
> would it look like if other newspaper cartoonists ran abortion 
> stories? Hmmm . . . I wonder . . . what would that look like . . . 
> *cue harp*
>
> Courtesy of the Blogs section of the Houston Press at:
>
>
> http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2012/03/abortion_comics_peanuts_archie.php?print=true
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Doonesbury
>
> image.jpeg
>
>
>
>   Forget /Doonesbury/: What If Other Comic Strips Took on the Sonogram
>   Bill?
>
> ​Some testicle-free newspapers got a bit nervous when Doonesbury 
> creator Garry Trudeau incorporated a story arc about Texas's 
> controversial "Sonogram Bill," which requires women seeking an 
> abortion to undergo a trans-vaginal ultrasound at least 24 hours prior 
> to the procedure. Doctors must also present audio of the fetus's 
> heartbeat. The requirement may only be waived in a medical emergency; 
> there are no exceptions for cases of rape.
> Making the bill even more weird is the proviso that neither party can 
> be penalized if the woman "chooses not to receive the information," 
> which apparently means that if the woman closes her eyes and covers 
> her ears, she won't have to go to jail. How compassionate.
>
> A few papers pulled the comic for the week, opting to run older strips 
> in its place. We applaud those who stood firm, and we applaud Trudeau 
> -- never one to shy away from controversy -- for tackling this icky 
> subject. We just wish more cartoonists would have done the same. But 
> since they didn't, Hair Balls took it upon ourselves.
>
> ---------------
>
> Dilbert
>
> image.jpeg
>
> ---------------
>
> Mary Worth
>
> image.jpeg
>
> ---------------
>
> Archie
>
> image.jpeg
>
> ---------------
>
> Family Circle
>
> image.jpeg
>
> ---------------
>
> Peanuts
>
> image.jpeg
>
> ---------------
>
> Apartment 3-G
>
> image.jpeg
>
> ------------------------------
>
>
> Seeya round town, Moscow.
>
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
>
> "If not us, who?
> If not now, when?"
>
> - Unknown
>
>
> =======================================================
>   List services made available by First Step Internet,
>   serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
>                 http://www.fsr.net
>            mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
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