No problem, lindalove. I do what I can.
But seriously, I do think it's fascinating to see the effect of different cultures' cosmologies on their perception of abortion, etc. I don't see anything wrong with the Japanese view, though I wonder at what point in pregnancy they believe the child gains a "soul" and should not be killed?
Comparing American views on abortion, gay marriage, and other controversial topics to other cultures' views can be very enlightening. Some people might take the chance to be judgemental, but most of those individuals are middle-class, modern-living Americans who could never dream of a situation where they had very limited options and resources.
Of course, I speak this as a cultural anthropologist...
But seriously. Next to breast feeding, voluntary abortion was most likely humanity's most common form of population control for most of our evolutionary history. Medicine men/women were very educated on how to get rid of an unwanted pregnancy LONG before birth control was ever available, and especially when a woman simply could not provide for any more children (in other words, rape or obligatory sex was the order of the day for many women, and a secret visit to the medicine man/woman was often their only form of control over their lives... sometimes to prevent their own deaths, which happened often during the birth of a child).
Anyway, cross-cultural stuff is cool. Thanks for bringing it in!
