MCLC: abortion and politics (1)

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: Bill (billgoldman at mac.com)
Subject: abortion and politics (1)
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This useful article shows also the lie hidden in the heart of what is
called "liberalism" in the West.
Discussing Chen Guangcheng, the author writes:

"His campaign to protect the rights of women and individuals from abuse by
an authoritarian state shares more philosophical D.N.A. with liberalism
than with the religious right. In that sense, Chen has always attracted an
odd alliance of admirers, and I¹ve half-wondered if there won¹t come a day
when he will point out in his relentlessly honest way that, actually, he
is not in favor of policy that deprives people of control over their own
bodies."

To the writer of the piece, it seems self-evident that to be "liberal"
includes giving "people ... control over their own bodies", which of
course translates as legalising abortion for most women who want it. No
consideration, of course, is given to the body of the unborn infant, who
is an alive, albeit "embryonic", human individual more dependent for
survival than perhaps all other human beings on his or her mother and
other adults.

To some people it seems, to the contrary, that true liberalism must be
about defending the rights of those who have no voice to speak for
themselves, no media to trumpet their demands, but who depend on those
with consciences to speak up for them. I don't know if Chen Guangcheng is
opposed to the widespread practice of abortion that exists in the US, or
whether he is only opposed to its being carried out by an authoritarian
state in defiance of the parents' wishes, but if the former, there would
be nothing contradictory about that whatsoever.

Bill