610: Abortion and Sustainability
Here are the notes I read from:
- 40% of pregnancies are unplanned. Overpopulation is a major problem for environment so it’s a topic for this podcast.
- Girlfriend who pressured me into unprotected sex and got pregnant
- Not only women’s issue. Men have as much value to add as anyone who hasn’t been robbed or murdered to speak on robbery and murder.
- Her power, reversing her word, pressuring, irresponsibility, tear
- Financial abortion. If you support abortion, it’s consistent and will help you win your case
- Stories of pro-lifers getting abortions
- Many men who support abortion and many women who oppose it
- What if someone believes unique human life begins at conception
- To me, fertilized cell is not a human being. Like an ant, not an anthill, nor are a dozen ants or even thousands. Yet at some point an anthill forms. Or a cloud. Water vapor everywhere, yet where cloud begins in space or time not clear.
- Somewhere clump of cells becomes human capable of suffering, before nine months.
- If you believe the cells don’t become human until late and don’t accept that others could consider it murder, have some compassion. It may help to learn that many past cultures, including likely yours into the twentieth century, and many others today consider infanticide after birth within days, weeks, or even longer acceptable. How do they look to you? Would you kill a born baby? Can you see that others might see you that way? What would you do if you saw a parent preparing to kill a baby already born that was viable? What would you say to a society that left twins to die from the elements or hunger?
- Democracies debate life, death, self defense
- Seems to me a conflict to resolve democratically. No scientific proof
- Let’s say you’re absolutely right and not a unique human life at conception or even until birth. People can vote however they want. Can you at least acknowledge their point of view? To lead, you have to go where they are. You’re losing. Maybe reconsider your tactics.
- Likewise, say you can prove unique life begins at conception. Still not well defined. When sperm enters egg? Can’t be. When DNA combines? If DNA doesn’t finish combining, you’d allow some birth defects to be killed. My point is you still haven’t found a hard line
- Or what if we can clone humans from one cell. Then you must do everything possible to keep that machine running and build as many as possible.
- Both sides keep pushing toward greater extremes, listening less, not more, trying to circumvent democracy. Stating more extreme positions.
- I think democratic debate is best solution at high level. Also practically, I think it will win you more support and disarm opponents more.
- I can’t help mention a creative solution from The Satanic Temple. It’s making abortion a religious ritual protected by law that health care providers apparently have to honor. If all it takes to force by law a doctor to give an abortion is converting to a religion, I suspect TST may see an influx, new religions may start forming, or existing religions will begin their own rituals. I’ll link in the text.