[extropy-chat] Famous author self destructs in public!Filmateleven.

[Olga Bourlin]

From: "The Avantguardian" <avantguardian2020 at yahoo.com>
>... so have come up with the perfect personal solution.

> Since my Y chromosome makes me highly unlikely to ever
> have to make a choice as to whether or not to get an
> abortion, I don't feel a need to have an opinion on
> this matter. It's the same reason I don't bother on
> opining on whether tampons are superior to maxipads. I
> say leave the woman business to the women.

Same reason?  Why, you must be independently wealthy or something.

Because - assuming you are fertile - if you should find yourself the party 
to woman's pregnancy - she will then decide for you (whether you like it or 
not), and if a child ensues from her decision - it is *you* who will be 
responsible for forking over a good deal of money for the child's rearing 
and welfare.  This is, of course, also assuming she is one of those "old 
fashioned" types who believes in observing this particular privilege women 
have had in past year - and takes you to court if you object to her decision 
to make you pay.

> I have, however, made some observations regarding this
> issue.

> 1. I have never met a woman who has admitted to
> getting an abortion that did not express some degree
> of remorse about it or wasn't otherwise profoundly
> affected by it.

I - on the other hand - have met many women whose only regret was that they 
got pregnant (accidentally), and when they went ahead to get their abortion 
were *not* profoundly affected by it.  I never had an abortion, but I did 
have a miscarriage - and was not affected by it (seems to me that the reams 
written about these events practically *encourage* women to be profoundly 
affected).

> 2. I have never met a woman who admitted to having
> more than one abortion.

The Pill and IUD have helped women out as far as not getting pregnant as 
often as they did in the past.  But accidents have been known to happen - 
even with these advanced form of contraception (I can attest to this 
personally).

Before the advent of The Pill/IUD, women who got pregnant were often married 
(we are talking early 1960s and the decades before ...) - or they suddenly 
"got" married - this institution served as a safety net, from social and 
financial fronts, at a time when abortions were illegal.  When I was a child 
I knew of several women who got illegal abortions - they were usually women 
who were not dependent on men (single women or single mothers), and took 
care of their own business - i.e., took responsibility for their "oopsies." 
My own mother had several abortions (although I did not find out about these 
as a child - only later, remembering her trips to Tijuana a couple of 
times).  My mother was not "profoundly affected" by the abortions - but she 
would definitely have been "profoundly affected" had she lost her livelihood 
(i.e., her job) as a result of these pregnancies.

It is a blessing to have safe, legal abortions for women.

> 3. People who are the most adamant against abortion
> because of "fetal rights" are typically against
> welfare and for capital punishment.

You are speaking about the religious right faction.

> 4. Biologically speaking an umbilical cord is the most
> extreme form of welfare yet devised and some women DO
> have children for the express purposes of getting more
> free money from the state.

>From the state?  Do a majority of women depend on welfare to rear their 
children?  Do you know how difficult it is to get welfare? (a great deal of 
this goes to blind people and people who have various disabilities, by the 
way)  Do you know how financially compromised those women are who may need 
to resort to welfare to help rear their children?  You don't really believe 
in "welfare queens - do you?"  Please, get serious.  (Did your mother work 
for a living?)

> 5. Violent sociopathic criminals tend to have troubled
> childhoods wherein they are neglected, unwanted, and
> abused. So I ask, "are we sparing them in the womb
> only to put them on death row when they turn 18?"

What a sweeping generalization.  I wouldn't know where to begin with this.

> 6. Most people who so zealously champion the
> preservation of unborn fetuses of this country don't
> give a moments thought to the millions of children the
> world over that are already born and starving to death
> or dying of AIDS.

Yes, the religious right group tends to be exclusive and ethnocentric.

> 7. The guys who blow up abortion clinics probably
> don't get laid often.

And they probably have milk in their refrigerators ... so your point is ...?

> So much for my two cents. :)

That's a lot of sputtering for two cents!