wesman, that was very well thought out and written. i appreciate that. in fact
it was the most persuasive anti abortion case i've ever read.

this subject is inherently charged with a no win feeling. i'm not being
pessimistic, just realistic. as i've said before and i'll say again, in a
perfect world, we wouldnt need abortions at all. the debate would be
rendered obsolete. but, yeah yeah, we dont live in a perfect world.

i thought the point about whether the result of the pregnancy is wanted
or unwanted was well made. its a baby or a fetus depending on the value
placed on the outcome. this is undeniably true because the person most
affected by that value judgement at that particular point in time is the
person carrying the fetus or baby. neither a fetus nor a baby can make
that value judgement. while science has proven that yes,
earlier and earlier we can see and recognize all the raw material of the
human the fetus is and will continue to develop into, it is still a blank slate.
tabula rasa if you will. it has all the capacity to think and feel but as yet,
has experienced little or nothing and has no framework in which to place
the meaning of its life. inarguably, an innocent.

please allow me to give in imperfect analogy. one which will undoubtedly
draw heated fire but that i still think is useful. many people are aware
that there are problems keeping up with all the unwanted domestic
animals that are constantly born. people allow these animals to be born
for all kinds of reasons. mostly ignorant reasons. sometimes for lack
of funds to get the parent animal spayed or neutered. vets and animal
shelters routinely kill innocent kittens and puppies all the time.
we dont, in general, perform abortions on the mother animal. but we know
why they are killed. there simply arent enough people to adopt them
all, care for them all, love them all. they would pose a serious problem
just to let them out onto the streets to become semi feral health hazards.
we can say "if only" until we are blue in the face but some pet
owners still dont spay and neuter and flat out accidents just happen.
so the end result is to "kill the innocents". and we do it after they are born,
truly a tragedy. if it were even remotely possible, an abortion would be
kinder to these unwanted innocents than killing them after they have
made their way into the world all the way. dont get steamed or get me
wrong. kindest of all would be to prevent an unwanted pregnancy
to begin with. i propose that it is the same with people. this is where
i will surely be blasted.

i am a "quality of lifer." the quality of life of the person already making
decisions (the woman) needs to be protected. this means rape and
incest victims. this means terrified young women whose lives will
forever be changed by this decision. and by the way, planned parent
hood ensures that the woman has all the choices available to her, not
just abortion. planned parenthood is just as active in procuring inexpensive
birth control, counselling abstention,and seeking adoptions for unwanted babies
as they are for setting up abortions. i know. been there done that in
my youth. if you think that the people at planned parenthood would
rather see an abortion happen than prevent a pregnancy you need to
educate yourself just a little more.

by placing such a high premium on the "right to life" at all costs, you
devalue the woman and place her human rights low. in effect you rend
er her a second class citizen. oh wait, she already is that. as long as
we are the victims of rape, date rape, incest, genital mutilation and a
long list of other crimes, our human value is not at a premium. "if only"
you and all other right to life believers could ensure me that the babies
being born were going to be adopted, have a decent quality of life, and
not ever be the victim of a sex crime- i would willingly give up my right
to choose. if not, i would rather a woman keep her right to choose that
her fetus never open its eyes on a world that is capable of making that
baby one day say 'I wish I had never been born!"

i hate making it a political issue but in fact it is. modern science has
proven that it can only come down to a value judgement.