FUSsa-talk Mailing List: Fwd: The primary issue in human reproduction

[Robert Tapp (tappx001]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Robert Tapp <tappx001 [at] umn.edu>
> Date: January 12, 2010 6:57:03 PM EST
> To: Humanist Institute Discussion List <hidisc [at] humanistinstitute.org>
> 
> 
> A revolutionary scientific advance around 1900 was the means of effective 
> contraception. Many human goods then became possible: separating sexuality 
> from procreation, family planning, liberation of women, de-gendering of 
> worlds inside and outside the home, equal education of girls, intended 
> children, reduced birth rates, elimination of lethal amateur abortioning, 
> elimination of shotgun weddings. 
> 
> Some religions welcomed this revolutionary result of scientific modernity, 
> but others continue to oppose it. As humanists help explain and commend this 
> new world, effective refutation of its enemies is very important. The current 
> US attack on women (and all who support modernity) comes in the Stupak and 
> Nelson tag-ons to congressional healthcare programs. These are insertions of 
> religion into the democratic political process, and it is important to expose 
> them as just that. But if the argument is allowed to pit pro-life against 
> pro-choice, the deeper issues will be obscured.
> 
> The attached essay by Steven Jonas makes this very clear. The issue is When 
> Life Begins. This is NOT a question of fact or an issue solved by science. We 
> MUST recall that a recent congressional attempt to extract a common judgment 
> from scientific and medical experts failed precisely for that reason. 
> Therefore none of us enter the public arena with a position that must or 
> should be accepted by others!
> 
> Jonas rightly warns that focusing on <woman's right to choose> leaves other 
> desirable human goods such as stem-cell research open to future political 
> manipulations. The long-coming decision of Roe v. Wade expanded our US 
> cultural delineation of a human right that must not be now constrained by 
> differential financing or political restrictions.
> 
> Let's keep liberty of conscience central, keeping our religious and 
> philosophical convictions in their protected private realm. Our secular 
> political tradition has room for us all, but demands reasoned arguments.
> 
>       http://blog.buzzflash.com/jonas/182
> 
> Bob
> 
>