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Our ‘autonomy is a given right’; Maria Besong; Beaver County Times; April 20, 2011.
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“Unsafe abortions kill 200 women a day according to IPAS, a non-governmental organization based in the United States.”
[RWC] Ms. Besong was a little less than forthcoming about Ipas. In its own words, “Ipas is a global nongovernmental organization dedicated to ending preventable deaths and disabilities from unsafe abortion.” In other words, Ipas is an abortion advocacy group.
The “200 women a day” figure dates back to at least 2004. Even if it is correct, it’s a worldwide figure. Funny how Ms. Besong failed to note that, isn’t it? There’s more about this after the next paragraph.
Finally, you’ll note throughout the letter Ms. Besong not once expresses any concern for the unborn child killed by an abortion.
“There is not enough being done to make abortions safe and accessible. This is where the Planned Parenthood Federation of America can step in to help the situation if funded properly.”
[RWC] According to the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute, in the U.S. “The risk of abortion complications is minimal: Fewer than 0.3% of abortion patients experience a complication that requires hospitalization.”
“Although the Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s main focus is not abortion, this is all that Republicans can see and focus upon. They simply do not want their tax dollars to fund an organization that performs abortions.”
[RWC] Most Republicans oppose killing unborn babies for convenience so “They simply do not want their tax dollars to fund an organization that performs abortions.” How evil!
Though the government has no business being in the healthcare business as Planned Parenthood claims to be, the real problem many people have with PP is taxpayer funding of abortions as Ms. Besong noted. Since dollars are fungible, all PP needs to do is shift money around from their various funding sources. As a result, there’s no way PP can credibly claim tax dollars aren’t used to fund abortions unless they stop performing abortions or stop receiving tax dollars.
“What is the harm in performing abortions, especially if they done in such a manner that promotes safety for the woman? Simple Kantian ethics would state that autonomy is a given right. Women should act autonomously to be morally correct, and, therefore, autonomous women have the right to an abortion.”
[RWC] “What is the harm in performing abortions,” aside from killing unborn babies for convenience?
“In other words, they have the right to control what happens to their bodies because others would be morally incorrect if they were to tell a woman what to do with her body.
“In regards to autonomy and morality, all situations that violate autonomy are immoral. Not granting a woman an abortion is the same immorality as rape because autonomy is violated in this situation.”
[RWC] You’ll note Ms. Besong ignores the “autonomy” of the unborn baby. Since Ms. Besong asserts “all situations that violate autonomy are immoral” and abortion violates the “autonomy” of the unborn baby by forcing him/her to die, this should mean she agrees abortion is immoral.
© 2004-2011 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.