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I was raised to be staunchly in favor of a woman's right to abortion, but my position has modified over time. While I agree that the practice should not be illegal, I do believe we would have a healthier society without as many of them. I don't care for any of the words that would commonly be used to modify the word 'healthier.' Not morally, for I do not believe it is necessarily a moral issue. Nor spiritually, because that is too vague. It's more along the lines of an enlightenment or intellectual - psychological - health that I am referring to. I would like to see less abortions because less men and women are creating less doubtful, irrational, ill-conceived (no pun intended) pregnancies. In my mind this can only be induced (again, no pun, I swear) by a sweeping and radical change in the way we view matters of sexuality and, as a consequence, birth control. I think birth control should be free and widely distributed to individuals on demand. Perhaps even delivered through the mail as a public service. I think birth control should be as naturally a consumer commodity and as commonly considered as toilet paper or toothpaste.
Also, I have no doubt that irrational, moral/religious-based attitudes - in concert with a wild, puerile fascination - that we (in this country) have with the subject of sex serves to increase the amount of thoughtless, foolhardy sexual activity and, as a consequence, the number of abortions that we have. That's where the enlightenment comes in.
Do I have any hope that we will ever reach such a lofty place in my or my children's lifetimes? Or ever? Nope. From the looks of it, things are only getting worse.
And one last thing, I understand that it is really hard for a man to lose a child, a fetus, to an abortion that he had no control over. But, I'm sorry, if it ever becomes so bad for a man that he is equally as disturbed and distressed as a woman who has carried to term and given birth to a child against her own will, then I suggest there is more going on in that man's head than is rational and he should probably seek professional help. I will go along with the regret and grieving only so far.
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Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce
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