Welcome one, welcome all!!!!
Today was one of those days. The day didn't start very well, as I was simply too tired to get up and do anything, but I still had to get Emma off to school and get myself and the kids to class. When I started doing my schoolwork, however, I had an even harder time. I am taking a bioethics class, and the topic of study for this week is on abortion. Those of you who know me well, know that I hold some pretty strong opinions about that, ever since I watched a video of an abortion being performed while an ultrasound image captured the procedure, I cannot fathom how a mother could do such a thing. I have felt strongly that fetuses are more than a part of a woman's body, or an extension of it. They are human beings (if you would like to consider them potential human beings, I can agree with that assessment as well), and the arguments that I have often heard have gone in the face of logic. In one of my course assignments, there was a comparison of a pregnancy to kidnapping a woman and connecting her kidneys with a sick violinist so that he can remain alive. First of all, a fetus that is biologically related to a woman is not the same as a stranger. Second, and this, I assume would be true for most pregnancies, women are not kidnapped into a pregnancy. Most know there are risks when being sexually active, and one of those risks is a pregnancy. On this account, the same author compares this argument to this scenario: If children were like pollen, and could float into your house when the windows were open, and you knew there was a chance that if you left the windows open, the children could fly in and start growing in your house, you would put a mesh screen on your windows, but that would not guarantee that pollen would never get in. If a child got in even after all the necessary precautions, you wouldn't say to the woman that she can't get rid of the pollen, simply because she knew that there were risks to leaving the window open. Therefore, the argument that if women don't want children, they should not engage in sex is not fair.
I wonder if this writer in particular ever had children of their own. I get tired of hearing people comparing unborn fetuses to kidnappers, tumors, just human tissue, etc. Besides that, you don't get pregnant by engaging in everyday activities like opening your window, or walking around outside, yet all the attention of this particular writer seems to go away from individual responsibility, as if becoming pregnant was a spontaneous act that without one's consent, takes a body hostage for 9 months without provocation.
There was, however, another article that was far more convincing and logical in their argument titled Abortion from a feminist perspective (or something like that), which in effect detailed the reasons why abortion should be allowed, but did not go as far to dehumanize the fetus. I cannot go into every argument, but in essence, this author details the fact that in a male dominated society in which females have been taught to be submissive and care more about others than themselves, many times, sexuality (whether overtly or not) has been used to manipulate and control women. I guess I have a better idea as to why some women believe abortion should remain legal. I can understand it, and see very well that they are right on a number of levels. Of course, my religious and moral beliefs are not in agreement with abortion, and I still despise the practice, but I see why some support it. Because of this, I am having a bit of a crisis of sorts. I cannot come to terms with the fact that while abortion is morally wrong, it should still be allowed to prevent further subjugation of women in this culture. Should the cause of Women's liberation be worth the life of so many human beings, allowed to die before their time?
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