The way I see it, unwanted pregnancies are a kind of Sophoclean tragedy: you have to betray one 'good' for another 'good', or do something 'bad' to prevent another kind of 'bad'. Which choice do you make, as an individual and as a society?
Personally, on balance, I don't think abortions are a good idea - I think the killing aspect is pretty powerful - but as you've suggested above, often there are understandable reasons why people make that choice, when given the choice, in the world the way it is. We could change things so the balance is tilted more favourably toward life more often.
I think another divide that's often going on between the pro-life vs pro-choice movements is about sex in general. There's a huge gulf between those who believe sex is sacred & should only happen within marriage and should always be 'weighted' with the possibility of pregnancy, versus those who see it as a normal biological impulse that should be as 'light' and risk free as possible (with pregnancy being just another of the manageable risks).
Unfortunately that divide also seems to get in the way of providing the information and medical assistance required to minimise the number of unwanted pregnancies in the first place.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2010-10-01 07:18 pm (UTC)The way I see it, unwanted pregnancies are a kind of Sophoclean tragedy: you have to betray one 'good' for another 'good', or do something 'bad' to prevent another kind of 'bad'. Which choice do you make, as an individual and as a society?
Personally, on balance, I don't think abortions are a good idea - I think the killing aspect is pretty powerful - but as you've suggested above, often there are understandable reasons why people make that choice, when given the choice, in the world the way it is. We could change things so the balance is tilted more favourably toward life more often.
I think another divide that's often going on between the pro-life vs pro-choice movements is about sex in general. There's a huge gulf between those who believe sex is sacred & should only happen within marriage and should always be 'weighted' with the possibility of pregnancy, versus those who see it as a normal biological impulse that should be as 'light' and risk free as possible (with pregnancy being just another of the manageable risks).
Unfortunately that divide also seems to get in the way of providing the information and medical assistance required to minimise the number of unwanted pregnancies in the first place.