LETTER: Women need choice in abortion

To the editor:

    Regarding the opinion piece on abortion —

    Logical Fallacy No. 1: Limiting abortion is limiting women’s choice. This presumes that the woman had no choice in the action that caused pregnancy or the actions that lead up to sexual intercourse.

    Advocating such a stance — excluding instances of rape, extreme coercion or incest — is to actually assert that women are subject to an animal impulse, against which they have no “choice” but to inextricably succumb. How’s that for degrading women?

    Logical Fallacy No. 2: Imposing responsibility on the parents of conceived children is an attack on choice. Very much like the first fallacy, but addressing the “crying foul” of laws against abortion.

Recoiling at imposing law neglects the need for justice for the unborn child.

    While it is plain that both the man and the woman are responsible for the offspring conceived, unfortunately, physical laws place an unavoidable consequence on the woman.  On the other hand, government must intervene to place responsibility upon the male.

    Therefore ways are provided to mercifully assist the woman in dealing with her responsibility, such as no-expense adoption and health care, and no-questions-asked drop off points.

Logical Fallacy No. 3: Not recognizing the “fetus” as a human being whose life cycle has begun. This is coupled with the argument that there is no clear line of demarcation when “it” is considered “human.” Therefore arguing abortion is acceptable at certain stages of pregnancy.

    Here, there is one clear line of demarcation. Conception has occurred; the parents’ choice has already been exercised — and therefore extinguished. The life process of another human being has begun and must be protected if life is worth valuing at all. Here we must respect the most innocent and helpless human life.

    Again, this excludes instances in which the woman’s choice was taken away forcibly by the male, or when it is life against life, when the woman is actually mortally threatened by the pregnancy — exceptionally rare compared to ages past.

Christopher Atkinson