Re: Ahumans [was Re: Cryonics and abortion- not happening!]

From: Damien Broderick (d.broderick@english.unimelb.edu.au)
Date: Thu Jan 20 2000 - 00:48:48 MST


At 06:00 AM 20/01/00 -0500, Robert B. wrote:

> Why do we have such a "magical mystery cult" about a collection of cells?

>Now, it seems likely within the next 10-20 years, that we will have
>artificial wombs. So the whole "growing babies"/motherhood concept
>gets separated from the putting sperm and eggs together to make
>a potential human being. When will we get to the point where
>people view this like manufacturing a car?

Robert, get a grip! Sorry to say this, but that kinda comment is what you'd
expect to hear from kids in the locker room without an emotional clue. (I
assume - I've never been in the locker room.) Women's bodies are changed
drastically by that clump of cells, and their minds, and their emotions,
especially given 15 or 20 or 50 years of profound personal immersion in a
(largely women's) culture of nurturance. Even women who go through the pain
and anxiety of in vitro conception (and I've known one at least and seen
others interviewed) don't and perhaps can't regard the process as if it
were building a car. Ach!

Which is what makes abortion (usually) so difficult an issue, even for
those without a religious bone in their brain. I've been involved in
several, and finally had myself speyed because it wasn't fair to put
another human at risk of that unpleasantness. (And I didn't wish to find
myself suddenly a father, with all those responsibilities; and yes, in each
case we had taken what seemed to be the best available precautions.)

And yes, at some point that technical proficiency will arrive. I hope those
in charge of it have some empathy for women's long suffering and creative
experiences of pregnancy.

Damien (yeah, yeah, the Pious) (but also the slightly angry)



This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu Jul 27 2000 - 14:02:23 MDT