{"id":29988,"date":"2012-08-27T18:39:45","date_gmt":"2012-08-28T00:39:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/08\/27\/a-consistency-right-or-wrong-of-approach-on-abortion.html"},"modified":"2012-08-27T18:39:45","modified_gmt":"2012-08-28T00:39:45","slug":"a-consistency-right-or-wrong-of-approach-on-abortion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/08\/27\/a-consistency-right-or-wrong-of-approach-on-abortion.html","title":{"rendered":"A consistency (right or wrong) of approach on abortion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paul Ryan is being consistent. He is, in fact, being more consistent than Mitt Romney, or any number of other politicians who favor outlawing abortion except<\/i> for cases of rape or incest.<\/p>\n

If<\/i> you accept the premises that (a) an unborn fetus is a human being and (b) the rights of a human being to life trump all other considerations (without due process of law judging otherwise for the human being's crimes), then all<\/i> abortion is wrong, except for the horrid trade-off cases of saving the mother's life vs. the fetus' life.<\/p>\n

I can understand that position and respect it (even though I disagree with it) more than the idea that human life is of infinite value unless<\/i> conception occurred because rape or incest. \u00a0Because that's visiting the sins of the father on the child, which I think most people would agree is wrong.<\/p>\n

Of course, those are very different circumstances for the mother in these cases. \u00a0To be violated or abused in such a fashion is awful; to be compelled to be reminded of said violation or abuse for nine months through a pregnancy could be even more awful.<\/p>\n

But<\/i> … if we're talking about a coequal human life here, it's difficult to see how even that extreme unpleasantness and anguish justifies the moral equivalent of infanticide.<\/p>\n

My own personal opinion is that the decision in this case of how to value that unborn life has to be left to the person most intimately involved in its development: the mother. \u00a0I have neither\u00a0the wisdom nor the standing to tell a woman — any woman — what she is compelled in such a case to do or not to do.<\/p>\n

(And, no, even my personal contribution of genetic material does not trump such a right. \u00a0When men are able — or forced — to undergo pregnancy, they can have a say in the matter.)<\/p>\n

My personal theology, while valuing human life, does not consider a fetus to be the equivalent of a born child, nor does it consider abortion the worse fate that can happen to a human soul. \u00a0<\/p>\n

So I remain, personally, very pro-choice.<\/p>\n

But I respect Ryan's position for its consistency, even if it's politically or emotionally unpopular. Because either a fetus is a human life as worthy of protection as a newborn infant, or else it's not, and having special cases for the circumstances of conception only muddies the waters in a way that falls far short of a Solomonaic splitting the baby.<\/p>\n

Reshared post from +David Badash<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Embedded Link<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPaul Ryan Calls Rape A \u2018Method of Conception\u2019 As Romney Expands Abortion Position<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPaul Ryan, while discussing rape, Todd Akin, and abortion, told a reporter that rape is just a \u201cmethod of conception,\u201d totally ignoring the woman who was raped.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Google+:<\/strong> View post on Google+<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paul Ryan is being consistent. He is, in fact, being more consistent than Mitt Romney, or any number of other politicians who favor outlawing abortion except for cases of rape or incest. If you accept the premises that (a) an unborn fetus is a human being and (b) the rights of a human being to … Continue reading “A consistency (right or wrong) of approach on abortion”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9067,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/02\/24\/south_dakota.html","url_meta":{"origin":29988,"position":0},"title":"South Dakota","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 24-Feb-06 10:31am","format":false,"excerpt":"While I'm quite unhappy with South Dakota's new law outlawing pretty much all abortions except to save the life of the mother, I do have to respect that they've not...","rel":"","context":"In "Politics & Law"","block_context":{"text":"Politics & Law","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30900,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/10\/26\/john-scalzi-on-rape-and-abortion.html","url_meta":{"origin":29988,"position":1},"title":"John Scalzi on rape and abortion","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 26-Oct-12 6:41am","format":false,"excerpt":"John addresses an aspect of the debate that politicians who oppose abortion in case of rape may not have thought of. Or may not have thought of enough.It's probably not as effective an argument as it should be, since ostensibly the key point of their position has to do with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32315,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/01\/24\/abortion-as-felony-evidence-tampering.html","url_meta":{"origin":29988,"position":2},"title":"Abortion as felony evidence-tampering","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 24-Jan-13 2:37pm","format":false,"excerpt":"In a sane world, this would be a reasonable, even important piece of legislation, New Mexico HB 206, creating a felony penalty for tampering with evidence in a rape or incest case:'Tampering with evidence shall include procuring or facilitating an abortion, or compelling or coercing another to obtain an abortion,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27189,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/03\/21\/because-yknow-so-many-of-them-are-just-baby-killing-sluts-right.html","url_meta":{"origin":29988,"position":3},"title":"Because, y'know, so many of them are just baby-killing sluts, right?","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 21-Mar-12 10:07pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The mind boggles.Of course, given what his bill does, his suspicion of women seeking abortion using rape as an oh-so-convenient excuse sound right in line with his legislative agenda.\"If Winder's mandatory ultrasound bill becomes law, a victim of rape or incest or a woman with a medical emergency who is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30862,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/10\/25\/in-very-slight-defense-of-richard-mourdock.html","url_meta":{"origin":29988,"position":4},"title":"In (very slight) defense of Richard Mourdock","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 25-Oct-12 8:07am","format":false,"excerpt":"In a debate Tuesday night for the Indiana Senate race, Mourdock (a Republican) was asked about abortion exceptions for rape and incest. He replied:\u201cI struggled with myself for a long time, but I came to realize that life is that gift from God. And, I think, even when life begins\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29905,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/08\/19\/well-glad-we-dont-have-to-worry-about-pregnancies-from-legitimate.html","url_meta":{"origin":29988,"position":5},"title":"Well, glad we don't have to worry about pregnancies from "legitimate"…","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 19-Aug-12 8:54pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, glad we don't have to worry about pregnancies from \"legitimate\" rapeOr so claims Todd Akin, GOP Representative of Missouri, and candidate for Senate in that state. \u00a0Because, of course, in \"legitimate\" rape (as opposed to rapes that are, one assumes, \"illegitimate\" or not really rapes, because, y'know, so many\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29988\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}