Having it both ways (Chinese abortion policy & Pro-choice/life considerations)

Most of the criticism that I've heard about China and abortions is directed to the government's policy that requires women to get abortions under certain circumstances. The reasons for any thinking person to oppose this policy are clear. (Curiously, Pat Robertson's criticism of the policy was mild at best.) You don't have a great track record here for getting details right, so I'm skeptical of your description of the program.However, you seem to be laboring under the misunderstanding that many in the anti-abortion camp have; the idea that supporting the right to get an abortion equates with agreeing with the reasons someone is getting an abortion. People who believe there should be a right to get an abortion free from governmental intrusion into the decision are not "pro-abortion." They simply believe that it's not the government's place to dictate when and under what terms it should be allowed. That isn't the same as saying they agree with every reason anyone would have for getting one. One can easily argue for a right to an abortion and still argue against whether someone should have an abortion in any given case.It's analogous to free speech. I firmly beleive that Nazis, the KKK and any other hate group has the same right to speak that I do, but I vigorously oppose the message that they send.

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Those who would sacrifice an essential liberty for a temporary security will lose both, and deserve neither. -- Benjamin FranklinWe see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- Phat

Well, this is what Pat Robertson had to say about it:

quote:

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"I don't agree with it," Robertson said. "But ... they've got 1.2 billion people, and they don't know what to do. If every family over there was allowed to have three or four children, the population would be completely unsustainable.... They're doing what they have to do."

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Not much moral outrage there. It is exactly like saying that you have a right under the First Amendment to say any irrational thing that comes out of your mouth, but criticizing you when you do so.The silly thing is that you think that you are going to "force[ ] proponents of abortion to face the humanity of their decision...," as if nobody who has ever had to make the choice or thought about the issue has done so. This displays your arrogance, the apparent belief that anyone who disagrees with you simply hasn't been "forced" to look at it correctly and once they do, they will necessarily agree with you. It doesn't work that way, Binky. I've spent a great deal of time thinking of abortion and its consequences, and come to my conclusion. For you to presume that I just haven't given it enough thought and you can bring me to my senses with one question on a forum board is rather insulting.

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Those who would sacrifice an essential liberty for a temporary security will lose both, and deserve neither. -- Benjamin FranklinWe see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- Phat

Ok, rather confused here. I can't begin to imagine why you felt it necessary to direct that comment to me, but I'll address it nonetheless.That's bullshit, because such a law assumes that the pregnant woman hasn't fully considered the issue of abortion and presumes that the state must tell her what information she must consider before making her decision.

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Those who would sacrifice an essential liberty for a temporary security will lose both, and deserve neither. -- Benjamin FranklinWe see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- Phat

You are ignoring the fact that the reason people are upset about China's policy is that it interferes with the woman's right to choose. In addition, to the extent that folks are upset that more females are aborted than males, that objection is focused on the fact that the reason for it is that females are undervalued by China's society. The objection would be the same, although perhaps raised by a different group of people, if the society undervalued males.

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Those who would sacrifice an essential liberty for a temporary security will lose both, and deserve neither. -- Benjamin FranklinWe see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- Phat