Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site dartvax.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!mgnetp!ihnp4!zehntel!dual!amd!decwrl!decvax!dartvax!betsy From: betsy@dartvax.UUCP (Betsy Hanes Perry) Newsgroups: net.abortion Subject: Prohibition and Abortion Laws Message-ID: <2297@dartvax.UUCP> Date: Tue, 14-Aug-84 14:44:35 EDT Article-I.D.: dartvax.2297 Posted: Tue Aug 14 14:44:35 1984 Date-Received: Thu, 16-Aug-84 03:48:14 EDT Organization: Dartmouth College Lines: 57 Forgive me if I'm rehashing old arguments; I never read articles more than 100 lines long. Here's my syllogism: Thesis : Unenforceable or unenforced laws are bad for Society as a whole. Example: Prohibition in the U.S. Thesis : Any law which made abortion illegal would be unenforceable.. Example: My own experience, historical records. Conclusion: Any law which made abortion illegal would be bad for Society as a whole. Brief defense of Thesis 1: The Constitutional Amendment against the consumption of alcohol (otherwise known as the Volstead Act) was passed in the spirit of high-minded altruism. 'Alcohol is bad for THEM, so let's take the temptation away.' Unfortunately for the altruists, nobody took this thesis personally. Everybody broke the law. This led to several notable results: 1. There was a strong niche for organized crime to fill: guaranteed income, no public outcry against the 'crime', bilked suppliers had no legal recourse, etc. 2. Respect for the law in general plummeted. Everybody knew that policemen were corrupt, because everybody's favorite speakeasy was exempt from the law. 3. Many people were permanently injured by drinking illicit alcohol. Brief defense of Thesis 2: I'm 24, well-paid, and strong-minded. If I chose to have an illegal abortion, there are at least three ways that I could do so: 1. Suborning the family doctor (a reasonably common practice among the upper and middle classes) 2. Flying to Mexico, Canada, Sweden, et.al. for the procedure 3. Paying a psychologist to testify that an abortion was necessary for my sanity. If I were only poor and strong-minded, I would probably go to an illegal back-alley abortionist, putting my own life at severe risk. (Note parallels to subpoint (3) above.) In short, a law forbidding abortions would NOT stop them from occurring; it would, at most, make them more dangerous to the mother's life. I claim that my two theses are adequately proven; if so, the conclusion must follow. Leaving aside the question of when life begins (It's 'when the dog dies and the children leave home', by the way), can anybody out there disprove either thesis or the conclusion? I think that laws against abortion would not prevent abortion and would cause widespread contempt for the law. I'd be interested in proof otherwise. -- Betsy Perry UUCP: {decvax|linus|cornell}!dartvax!betsy CSNET: betsy@dartmouth ARPA: betsy%dartmouth@csnet-relay