. Page 4 Opinion University Daily Kansan, February 9, 1981 The abortion question One of the hottest issues of recent times, abortion, is debated here on the editorial page today. Abortion is an unusual issue because it goes beyond opinion. It's not like the question of whether the city should issue municipal bonds, or whether Congress should restrict Japanese auto imports. The question of abortion inherently involves a moral decision—the hardest kind of decision. It's even more complex because both sides really address separate topics when discussing the issue. For the anti-abortion side, the fetus is the central issue, with the question revolving around whether the fetus is a human being or not. In or out of the womb, anti- abortionists say, the fetus is human and therefore aborting its life is murder. A clean-cut argument. For the pro-choice side, the mother is the central issue, with the question revolving around whether a woman has a right to do with her own body as she pleases. It's not a matter of murder, pro-choice advocates say, it's the basic right of privacy, meaning only the individual woman can decide whether to have the abortion. Also a clean-cut case. Abortion is a religious issue, an ethical issue, a women's issue, a human rights issue and a moral, biological and legal issue all rolled up into one. And in the arguments below, you'll find some of the reasons why abortion promises to be one of the major issues of the '80s. Fetus may be a human being, so give it the benefit of doubt i adamantly favor a constitutional amendment banning abortion. I don't eat my young. I am no wild-eyed evangelical demagogue, the possible reincarnation of John Brown who spouts hellfire and damnation like a fire-breathing dragon. I am not even presuming self-righteously to impose my own antiquated morality on other people. Look at my picture. Is there the slightest sign of smoke escaping from my nostrils, from between my teeth, or from either of my ears! And those牙齿 of mine, does one a bone that bear any resemblance to a fang? is there any blood streaming from the corners of my mouth? No. The fact of the matter is, that no matter how murdererly wild-eyed its proponents may 1. 2. 3. ERIC BRENDE sometimes seem, the strong anti-abortion position is one that is rooted in reason and compassion. If, however, you are still wondering how people can at the same time be both fanatical and sensible, consider the following inarguable point, a point that often fails to make its way through the smoke of a typical "pro-life" tirade. Only one thing is required for the years from 1793 to 1818 to be the worst period of officially condoned mass murder, in terms of numbers, in which the world: that the unborn fetus is a human being. That dire possibility was left up in the air when the Supreme Court handed down its decision to make abortions legal nationwide in 1973; it is still up in the air today; and it may always be the court—in a highly unlikely interpretation of the 14th amendment and "possibly" the Ninth, of which make not the slightest mention of abortion—said that the fetus was not legally a person and therefore none of a person's legal rights, and all but cited the Dred Scott decision as precedent. As with the Dred Scott ruling, the court had ruled that an aborted black slave—a was not a person, the court was making a legal determination, not a biological one, at least in any truly definitive manner. That would be left for biologists to argue their little heads over. And without a moment's thought, indeed, the day the decision was made official, the systematic destruction of fetuses began. Since February 1973 there have been over 8 million abortions. That's just a statistic. That's one abortion for every five live births, one abortion for every five minutes that go by. Even now that eight years and eight million fetuses have passed, however, no definitive evidence has emerged of the community. I challenge any "pre-choice" advocate to assemble a jury of, say, 12 biologists selected at random from the population and live long enough to see them reach a consensus either through direct evidence or a consensus furthermore achieved without reasonable doubt on the part of any of the participants. To make matters worse, what biological evidence there is about the humanness of the fetus strongly suggests that it is, in fact, human—during all stages of pregnancy. From the moment of conception it possesses the 23 pairs of chromosomes that enjoin it with its own individual human identity, one separate from that of the parents. Human traits from hair color to temperament are now already decided. By the third week of pregnancy, the heart begins beating; by the sixth or seventh, brain functioning is detectable. Still, the only moment that can be seen clearly, the line can clearly be drawn is that of conception. In any event, giving the benefit of the doubt to the fetus seems the only prudent thing to do until an unclosed determination about its true biological status is made. Otherwise, we risk having posterity, which may know better, regard our society as one that callously practiced the ideals of modernism and placing itself alongside Nazi Germany or the Pot Pol regime in the annals of world barbarism. The wiser course of action, however, is not without its consequences. It entails the regulation by the state of wombs of mothers irresponsible or unlucky enough to get pregnant when they don't mean to. It entails being willing to accommodate a substantial increase in the number of unwanted births, even though at the present time adoption waiting lists are miles long and the black market for babies thrives through the tragic deaths of women desperate and foolish enough to seek illegal and medically unsafe abortions. But wait, interjects the "pro-choice" advocate triumphantly, doesn't all this only prove that there is and always will be a never-ending demand for abortions, and that passing laws against them won't change that? Beyond a doubt. There also is and always will be a demand for hired murders. Should they, therefore, be legal also? Put another way, should laws that are usually observed be taken off the books because they are also often ignored? Some still might argue that the matter is out of our hands, that under the supreme law of the land—as interpreted by the Supreme Court, anyway—the subject under question is not officially recognized and therefore can have no impact on us. The last time this argument was advanced in 1857 to justify slavery under the Dred Scott decision. It took a constitutional amendment to set the court's right then, and it will take nothing less. The University Daily Kansas welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should be typewritten, double-spaced and not exceed 500 words. They should include the writer's name, address and telephone number. If the writer is affirmed by the committee, they should include the writer's class and home town or faculty or staff position. The Kansan reserves the right to edit letters for publication. Letters Policy Issue is personal liberty, not murder In Patrick Henry's renowned ultimatum, "Give me liberty or give me death!" life was the issue; life, that is, and one's right to live that life as one chooses. More than 200 years later, Henry's words still ring true, life and liberty being the very core of his legacy. But abortion is not murder. We are not "baby- But today there is a fiery force threatening our dear liberty, and curiously, its title is "Pro-Life." They want my liberty, your liberty, even their own liberty, and with it our lives, and they're calling themselves "Pro-Life?" Patrick Henry wouldn't approve. What this is all about, or rather what is threatening this most fundamental individual liberty, is the bitter anti-abortion battle. And it really wouldn't be a battle at all, except that it would not be a battle to impose their will on the rest of us. And we are determined to preserve our freedom. Those of us devoted to freedom are fighting in defense of choice, against forces set on stifling this choice. Every woman has the right to live her life as she wishes, and that includes prematurely terminating her pregnancy if she wishes, or carrying her pregnancy to term if she wishes. As author Linda Bird Franke asks, what is to say what she should or should not do?" or course individual freedom does have a limit, particularly within the bounds of a civilized society. Obviously, murder, rape and torture are not acceptable exercises of personal freedom. The answer is simple: she is. Opposition to abortion is not really the issue here. Opposition to oppression is. Because although anti-abortion forces are infinitely free to express their beliefs, they are not free to impose them on others; they are not free to suppress another's freedom. killers' or "murders" we who support the choice faction in the abortion issue. We are not promoting abortion. We are simply citizens in a democracy who believe in individual liberty. If abortion were murder, then by no means should it be condoned, both for moral and legal reasons. But a constitutional amendment, such as that proposed by President Reagan, banning AMY HOLLOWELL legal abortions performed within the currently prescribed legal time limit (up to the twelfth week of pregnancy, without a physician's consent) is most unconstitutional. It would be, at the very least, an infraction of one's constitutional right to privacy. Not to mention one's right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Remember Henry's考 Moreover, realistically, banning abortions would not stop them from being performed, it would only prevent them from being safe. It would send the abortionists underground, away from government supervision and standards. Unsafe abortions would become the rule rather than the exception, and even the most safe of the unsafe would be available only to the rich. Anti-abortionists say, first, that abortions are Thus, although reproductive freedom is a fact of every woman's life, should abortion be constitutionally banned, this freedom would be justified. How can denial of this freedom be justified? murder, and second, that they are not necessary. After refuting the former, the latter can easily be refuted. Do we ask an individual why he demands free speech, what it is he so desperately has to say and for what reason? Do we want a government, what it is he plans to vote for and why? The answer is, of course, no. So why ask a woman why she wants an abortion? It is not a question of motivation -why a particular woman chooses to exercise her freedom; it is simply a question of having the opportunity to exercise it. And in the midst of this fray, it is actually no one's business what someone else thinks about abortion: This is personal stuff. All that matters for those who so choose, the opportunity is there. The issue is simply liberty. Simple but dear, just as were Patrick Henry's words of simple eloquence. "Give me liberty," he said, "or give me death." Indeed, there is nothing else. The University Daily KANSAN Postmaster: Send changes of address to the University. 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