On abortion

This is a follow-up to the post on the Debate.

It is funny to see two men debating about abortion since neither of them will ever, ever experience one. I cannot think of a good analogy. Well, suppose we someday invent a genetic therapy to straighten curly hair, and you see two people with naturally straight hair arguing about the ethics of such a practice. The curly hair people would probably say: "what right do you have over my hair?"

What right do those men have over my body?

Unfortunate for us women, we are the only sex that can be pregnant. More unfortunately, every contraceptive method out there is not perfect. Of course a few of us can always choose abstinence, which is 100% as long as you don't get raped, but for biological reasons this is not a practical way to prevent unintended pregancies in a large population.

So, in any society, unintended pregnancies are going to happen. Since we now know that both pregnancy and abortion are dangerous to the mother physically, but not to the father, and that being a good mother requires a lot of financial and psychological stability, many of these unintended pregnancies are going to be unwanted pregnancies.

What do we do with them?

Well, obviously, since we are not the one who is pregnant, we don't get to say what to do with them. It would be tremendously unfair for the poor women who are already in trouble to not have control over their bodies and their lives. Whatever they choose to do with themselves, they will live with it. It is none of our business.

If Bush has a daughter who is 14 and pregnant, will he let her have an abortion? Let's say that he doesn't, then is it fair for the poor 14 year old to be forced to have this kid because her father wouldn't let her choose? Is it fair for the poor baby to have a 14-year-old mother who is not up to the job?

Do you want to be that baby? Do you want to be born to a mother who is 14 and would rather not have you?

If I were to find myself pregnant now, there is a 70% chance that I will seek an abortion. I am almost thirty years old, but I don't think I am financially or psychologically ready to be a good mother. Having a baby right now would mean the end of my career. I cannot imagine how much resentment there would be toward this hypothtical baby. People can tell me that I would be commiting a murder and I would surely go to hell for this, but that is my body, my soul, my genes and my decision to make. My regrets and my pains too.

Some people would call me a selfish person for not having children. Selfish? Not having children is probably the most altruistic thing anybody can do to the human race right now, genetically speaking.

I read somewhere that if we wanted all the human beings on earth now to live like an American, we would need more than 4 Earths to support us. considering that and excluding the option of emigration to other planets, we would need a drastic reduction in population to make people live as comfortably as we do now in the US. How are we supposed to acheive this if we don't allow people who don't want children to have their way? By secretly irradiating male reproductive organs all over the world?