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Originally Posted by Spektr
I'm sorry you misinterpreted what I wrote Mojo. My comment was in no way related to the existence or lack there of of a privacy clause within the Bill of Rights or the Constitution. That is a seperate discussion in and of itself. The debate over abortion can be solved on a infinitely more simple level than that:
The goal of a representative democracy is, ultimately, the unconditional accessibility to equal rights for the entire citizenry. No special treatment, every citizen is granted the same inalienable freedoms. If our elected officials create legislation which, in effect, limits the rights of a SPECIFIC group of citizens and ONLY that group, then they have instituted a policy that is radically anti-American.
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Unfortunately such a sound principle has been twisted by certain groups into the argument that not interfering with a woman's body is somehow unfair as it allows a woman to do something a man can not (abort a pregnancy), but yet to force a woman to carry a fetus to term is a perfectly balanced law because afterall it bans a man from having an abortion too, so is not gender discriminatory. As much as the absurdity of this logic is self-evident to myself and others, it doesn't dissuade its promoters.
Gender-specificity in legislation is not prohibited, as we recognize that there are unique aspects between men and women and that ignorance of the law does not necessarily promote the common good. I can walk around bare-chested all I want, but my wife would be cited for indecent exposure were she to do the same. I can see the point of those who would want to do away with this restriction, but the fact remains that no court finds this rule a violation of the Constitution or that too many Americans see it as a way to restrict the rights of women. It may be unequal but it is not unreasonable the law didn't give women breasts and men not, but the law does have to reflect the reality of the fact they have them and men don't. Likewise, the law didn't give women the ability to have a pregnancy and thus have the option to abort the pregnancy, thus there is nothing inappropriate about the law recognizing the reality that women have that option.
There are some valid reasons to oppose abortion, but the gender-equality arguement is not one of them.