The Web site of Ms. Magazine--yes, it still exists--is calling on readers to sign a petition: "I have had an abortion. I publicly join the millions of women in the United States who have had an abortion in demanding a repeal of laws that restrict women's reproductive freedom."
Well, so much for the right to privacy. If Ms. readers hadn't had so many abortions, there might be more Ms. readers. As for the rest of us, here's a petition we could all sign: "I wasn't aborted."
Having narrowly escaped being aborted, I'd be the first in line. (full text here)
This article is a simple and poignant reminder of the self-defeating selfishness that characterizes the contraceptive mentality. Ms. Gorin's opinion column in today's Wall Street Journal highlights some tragic aspects of life in Soviet Russia that I had never heard of before, such as women with "double-digit abortion counts" being commonplace. Her protrayal of the dialogue between nurse and mother in Israel was especially enlightened for modern times.
The way she spoke of herself as a "second-born" reminded me of the sci-fi Ender's Game book series, a strong offering from Orson Scott Card. In the books Earth is facing a death struggle against possible alien invasion (the "Buggers") and couples are only allowed two children. Ender is a "Third," a pejorative conveying extreme disgust. In both the stories and this column, children who "should" have been aborted turned out to be great blessings to humanity - Ender defeats the Buggers and the men in Ms. Gorin's column become master violinists.
Wouldn't it be great if we could accept the children regardless of whether they were going to be world-savers or great musicians? Wouldn't it be something if we could look at the pregnancies that resulted in tyrants like Nero or Stalin and still say spare the knife? If we can't, we're still utilitarians, nothing more.
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