Thursday, July 21, 2005

Legislating A Morality?

I think the discussion about legislating morality is not about abortion per se. To anti-abortionists abortion is a crime (i.e. first degree murder), not merely immoral (like adultery). They aren't (necessarily) trying to make people be moral, they are theoretically trying to prevent "murders."

I think the accusation "legislating morality" reflects an awareness of the obvious sexual morality undercurrent to the anti-abortion movement. Among anti-abortionists there is the "you've made your bed, now sleep in it" mentality, which, in extreme cases, even extends to women injured or killed by illegal abortions (a version of "they asked for it"). I think that is what gets people's hackles up, and makes them suspicious that anti-abortionists aren't really concerned about "the unborn" but just want to control people's sex lives. Banning abortion is just one way they can do that. Banning gay marriage is another. And there is always the worry that this is the thin edge of the "legislating morality" wedge. What's next, outlawing contraception? We've already seen pharmacists refuse to dispense contraceptives. And we've seen people campaign against condoms in high schools and contraception education in Africa, no matter how many people get AIDS as a result. I think people, even those women who wouldn't have an abortion themselves, don't want to have their sexuality restricted by the law.
--comment by Sylvia to this post by grrrlmeetsworld

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