In a weird way, I'm pro-Choice because I think abortion sucks, and because I'm glad my biological mother didn't abort me. I don't know if she chose not to abort me or was compelled not to abort me, but she didn't, and I'm glad. I want her to have been able to make the difficult decision to carry her baby to term, to give birth, and to give her baby up for adoption because she felt it was the right choice for her.
It isn't twisty at all. I know just how that feels. Maybe it takes another adopted kid to understand it? I don't know.
Okay. Maybe it does, though Sabotabby wasn't adopted, and she got it. So maybe I'l just less elegantly complex than I think I am :-P
I guess I think it's twisty because I've come across the anti-abortion argument "But if your biological mother was free to abort, then she might have aborted you! Just think how many babies like you aren't getting born!"
And of course, the subtext is always "And wouldn't you be sorry, if you hadn't been born?" (Answer: no, I wouldn't exist, so I couldn't be sorry! Small discarded blobs of genetic material can't feel sorry.)
And maybe she (my bio-mother) didn't feel free to abort: she was Catholic after all, and while "therapeutic abortion" was legal in Canada, it wasn't especially easy to obtain (a woman wanting an abortion had to convince a three-doctor tribunal that continuing a pregnancy would endanger her health); Dr. Morgantaler's appeal had not yet been heard by the Supreme Court and the Bedgely Report (on the application of Abortion Laws in Canada) hadn't been published (I don't know if the
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I think that the core of your beliefs can be summarised to my take on the matter: "I'm pro-choice because the world isn't perfect and the alternatives are worse."
And I agree with sabotabby and onceupon about your biological mother comments not being that twisty. (And I'm not adopted, but my sisters are).
While your summary is interesting, "alternatives are worse" implies that abortion is bad.
I think it's icky, true. But that doesn't mean I think it's bad. For women who don't have my particular issues, abortion may well be a good thing, and I don't have a problem with them believing it is.
I mean, it's a surgical procedure; obviously it's not as much fun as, say, a good waltz, a hot bath, or even a math class.
But the core of my belief is I don't get to say what's right for someone else, and I don't want to, rhetoric about how things would all be so much better run if people would just listen to me notwithstanding.
While your summary is interesting, "alternatives are worse" implies that abortion is bad. ... I mean, it's a surgical procedure; obviously it's not as much fun as, say, a good waltz, a hot bath, or even a math class.
I'm using a scale in which just about any surgical procedure is bad - they almost all damage the body and render it less functional than would otherwise be the case. (I'll grant that a few are neutral). Having your arm amputated is bad - doesn't stop it being a hell of a lot less bad than letting gangrene spread.
Ideally, I'd like to see absolutely no abortions - but due to there being no unwanted pregnancies, no serious birth defects, no backstabbing bastards etc. rather than because some hamfisted person has banned them.
And mmm for the thought of good waltzes and hot baths.
But the core of my belief is I don't get to say what's right for someone else, and I don't want to, rhetoric about how things would all be so much better run if people would just listen to me notwithstanding. Ah - my version is that I get to
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It isn't twisty at all. I know just how that feels. Maybe it takes another adopted kid to understand it? I don't know.
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I guess I think it's twisty because I've come across the anti-abortion argument "But if your biological mother was free to abort, then she might have aborted you! Just think how many babies like you aren't getting born!"
And of course, the subtext is always "And wouldn't you be sorry, if you hadn't been born?" (Answer: no, I wouldn't exist, so I couldn't be sorry! Small discarded blobs of genetic material can't feel sorry.)
And maybe she (my bio-mother) didn't feel free to abort: she was Catholic after all, and while "therapeutic abortion" was legal in Canada, it wasn't especially easy to obtain (a woman wanting an abortion had to convince a three-doctor tribunal that continuing a pregnancy would endanger her health); Dr. Morgantaler's appeal had not yet been heard by the Supreme Court and the Bedgely Report (on the application of Abortion Laws in Canada) hadn't been published (I don't know if the ( ... )
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I used to ask my parents if they were sure about that, mind you.
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And I agree with sabotabby and onceupon about your biological mother comments not being that twisty. (And I'm not adopted, but my sisters are).
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I think it's icky, true. But that doesn't mean I think it's bad. For women who don't have my particular issues, abortion may well be a good thing, and I don't have a problem with them believing it is.
I mean, it's a surgical procedure; obviously it's not as much fun as, say, a good waltz, a hot bath, or even a math class.
But the core of my belief is I don't get to say what's right for someone else, and I don't want to, rhetoric about how things would all be so much better run if people would just listen to me notwithstanding.
Reply
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I mean, it's a surgical procedure; obviously it's not as much fun as, say, a good waltz, a hot bath, or even a math class.
I'm using a scale in which just about any surgical procedure is bad - they almost all damage the body and render it less functional than would otherwise be the case. (I'll grant that a few are neutral). Having your arm amputated is bad - doesn't stop it being a hell of a lot less bad than letting gangrene spread.
Ideally, I'd like to see absolutely no abortions - but due to there being no unwanted pregnancies, no serious birth defects, no backstabbing bastards etc. rather than because some hamfisted person has banned them.
And mmm for the thought of good waltzes and hot baths.
But the core of my belief is I don't get to say what's right for someone else, and I don't want to, rhetoric about how things would all be so much better run if people would just listen to me notwithstanding. Ah - my version is that I get to ( ... )
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Perhaps it's a matter of only being able to determine what is ethical (on a personal level) when all options are equally permitted.
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