Quote of the Day 1-13-11
I’ve argued before that the “I don’t want that fetus in my uterus” argument is akin to a kidnapper arguing that he has a right to kill his hostage because she’s in the trunk of his car. The woman’s sexual activity, after all, put the fetus there in the first place. And abortion advocates have cried foul, saying that the sex act, unlike the kidnapping, was intended for other purposes, and the fetus sort of sneaked.
But in this case, the couple put the twins there at great trouble and expense. So it’s more akin to a kidnapper killing the prostitute in his trunk on the grounds that he found out she was actually a transvestite and he’d wanted to rape a woman, not a man.
~Christina Dunigan, commenting on the case of an Australian couple who aborted twin boys conceived through IVF because they wanted a girl, RealChoice, January 8
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
I just don’t understand this. Why couldn’t they have just placed the boys for adoption if they didn’t want them? People would line up to adopt those babies. Sick.
Killing those kids because they were boys was just unspeakable.
Wow. I hopped over to RealChoice to read it. Those trolls hate babies even more than ours. $50. I admire Dunigan’s moxie. I detest those awful “bodily autonomy” arguments that compare babies to parasites, criminal trespassers, and the one I hate most ‘the siamese violinist.’ I found that one on more than one pro-abortion blog and comment. Some of the abortionists are so depraved, it boggles my mind. That is why I refer to it as a sickness. I was once pro-choice, I think as a coping mechanism post-abortion. I feel healed, as if I were not whole then but am more healthy and whole now. It’s not unlike a terrible viral infection, or the temporary sickness of grief. Even though a lot of the abortionists on the web don’t believe, I’m going to continue to pray for them.
Ninek,
“the one I hate most ‘the siamese violinist.’ I found that one on more than one pro-abortion blog and comment”
This goes back to the 1971 article by Judith Jarvis Thomson called “A Defense of Abortion.” http://spot.colorado.edu/~heathwoo/Phil160,Fall02/thomson.htm Quite crazy indeed.
Ninek wrote:
Even though a lot of the abortionists on the web don’t believe, I’m going to continue to pray for them.
Amen, and thank you! I have to remind myself constantly of this truth, but: the effectiveness of prayer is not a function of how convincing it is to other humans who hear it, but rather a function of how much grace it calls down from Heaven (to flood hardened hearts). Our prayers change the landscape of everything, even if the visible effects aren’t seen until long after we look for them!
Wow. I hopped over to RealChoice to read it. Those trolls hate babies even more than ours.
I agree, Ninek, some of that stuff is truly appalling. I’m sure even some PC’ers would be shocked at the sheer animosity. I’m just wondering: do they really believe that stuff or are they just trying to stir things up? I hope the latter is true.
The “criminal trespassers” argument just does not apply to this case, because these babies were planned (and wanted, until it was discovered that they were the “wrong” sex). And any Biology 101 student knows that a fetus is NOT a parasite.
IVF, while seemingly providing a service that appears loving, is ultimately exploitable. People are products. What’s needed to expand the market for such services? Make everyone sterile. Keep the supply of children available for adoption low.
Abortion provides those as clear benefits to the medical community that promotes IVF. Poorly performed abortions render women sterile, and if the child is not going to be raised by the parent, the more profitable approach is to kill the child, or in this case children, to keep supplies limited. It’s not in the long-term interests to perform IVF as as non-profit adoption effort. I’m quite sure there was strong advisement against completing the pregnancy.
Once upon a time, I thought it possible to be ethically neutral on IVF. I’ve come to the conclusion, that when it comes to life, neutrality is not an option. People will exploit any seeming advantage, and will kill provided there is no retribution. (They forget God…)
Chris,
IVF is not just exploitable. It is an exploitation.
Ninek & Bobby,
I’ve don’t have an issue with the “siamese violinist” argument. I point out the difference between being kidnapped & getting pregnant, and then I argue that yes, if you were to have, say, signed a contract agreeing to perform this function in the highly unlikely scenario that he needed it, you would be morally responsible for his life and therefore it would be wrong to walk away from this man knowing that the action would result in his death.
Bobby, how’s the family? : )
RealChoice has some posters who are just trying to push pro-lifers’ buttons.
With the mapping of human genes, I wonder where we will end up in all this. I can understand people’s objections here, but I can also understand having all boys, having lost a girl, and wanting another one.
(While none of the families I’m related to have lost a girl, my mom and dad, two of my brothers, my sister, and a brother-in-law all have families where the last child was a girl, and the only girl.)
Past a point, there would be less and less approval for it. What if the aim was a girl that had one green eye and one blue eye, and this meant that it would likely take 10,000 tries before success could be expected?
Or, perhaps what would be wanted is a kid with an IQ above a certain number, or one that would be able to jump so high at a certain age. So, many trials are undertaken, and a baby is born. I’m wondering what happens if it works out that the kid really can’t jump that high.
Doug,
We’re foolish if we think we can have the little girl we always wanted. No amount of trait selection will result in the perfect child. Neither of my boys were quite what I was expecting, but they were both exactly who I needed. How arrogant was I, to think that I knew what sort of child I would best be able to parent!
Children are not commodities. You do not tell your doctor, “Put it back. I don’t want this one.” That sort of mindframe is delusional.
One of the things that amazes me is that highly educated Economic development experts, poverty reduction experts, social scientists etc. etc. in seeking answers to the worlds and societies problems promote and suggest abortion as a viable solution– probably without blushing! I mean these experts will be well paid and THAT is their greatest offering as a solution. All that education and that’s the best they can come up with!? Moral bankruptcy. Dank souls.
Hey Doug.
“Bobby, how’s the family?”
Expanding, my friend. We are now expecting our third in June! Golly, when you and I “met”, I had just gotten married… how time flies…
Alas, now you will need to tell me if you are ever sent out to the greater Philly area because that is where I am now. Take care, my friend.
Cool, Bobby. I work out of Wheeling, WV, which is only a dozen or so miles from the PA line, and 5 or 6 hours from Philadelphia. Will get back there eventually, I’m sure.
Used to have a recurring job on the transformers that provide power for the lights in the subway stations on the Broad St. and Market-Frankford lines. Wait until midnight when the trains quit running, then take this little “work car” – just a rolling wooden platform with a light on the front and a tiny cabin for the operator – from the end of the line to wherever you had to go. Quite lonely, rolling through the dark and silent underground.
The wee hours of the morning passed, and you HAD to get done, get packed up, and have the work car back off the line before 5 a.m., for then you had trains coming at you.
Children are not commodities. You do not tell your doctor, “Put it back. I don’t want this one.” That sort of mindframe is delusional.
MaryRose, I agree, after a point. Sex-selection is a real issue as I see it – lots of people, worldwide, are trying for it (for better or worse). I do think it’s crazy to try and “fine-tune” the kid you’re going to get. Some people are never going to be happy with their children, looking at it like that.
_____
Neither of my boys were quite what I was expecting, but they were both exactly who I needed. How arrogant was I, to think that I knew what sort of child I would best be able to parent!
I like what you said there, very much. I do credit you for thinking of what you would be best at, be it arrogant or less-wise than you are now, though, comparing that with my perhaps far-fetched example of somebody just wanting a kid that could jump very high.
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“They were both exactly who I needed.” : )
Leaving the abortion debate aside for a moment, in considering what would happen were parents to try and be too selective, for the sake of the kids I hoped that the parents would love them for themselves, whatever the case may be. At the time I only knew that Bobby had one child (now he tells me that the third is on the way), but I thought, “I hope the parents love them like Bobby loves his daughter.”
Bobby @ 2:10 – Congratulations! Our youngest just turned 17 – don’t blink your eyes.
One of the most beautiful things to see is our children loving each other. While they have their differences they do get along great and when the house is filled with laughter you understand what a blessing a full family is.
May God bless with you and your family with an abundance of joy!
Yes…congratulations, Bobby! * I have two uncles( one on my mother’s side, one on my father’s side), a cousin and a second cousin named Bobby. * :)
One of the most beautiful things to see is our children loving each other.
My mom always said, “The best gift I ever gave you was each other.” Cliched, but oh so true!
I hoped that the parents would love them for themselves, whatever the case may be.
Doug, I find that parents who approach their children from an open & loving perspective find themselves very accepting of who their children are. As with most things in life, I feel like it mostly comes down to attitude. If you’re always looking to the next & better thing, you’re always going to be missing the gifts in front of you.
As with most things in life, I feel like it mostly comes down to attitude. If you’re always looking to the next & better thing, you’re always going to be missing the gifts in front of you.
MaryRose, agreed 100%. Sounds to me like people who would be “always looking to the next thing” would be unhappy, by definition.
The greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions, and not on our circumstances. — Martha Washington
Congratulations Bobby!