Oh my.
In spite of your disclaimer that you are not saying a child is a disease, you are equating becoming pregnant with a disease. Yes, both are risk. And yes, I believe that you should receive treatment for STDs. There are still consequences to suffer - you run the risk of sterliziation, having something that you can spread to others and never be rid of yourself, etc. I believe this also is a risk you accept when you choose to have sex, because NOTHING is 100% guaranteed.
I am saying that if you are willing to engage in the activity, you are willing to accept the consequences. I've been in 3 car accidents. (One was my fault for those wondering.) Do I stop drinving? No, but I understand that I may one day be in another accident and that is a risk I accept because I need to drive to work, school, etc.
I believe children are a gift. There are those that do not want to have children, and I understand that as well. I do not agree with doctors that refuse to perform a vasectomy or tubal ligation.
I believe there is a difference in performing one of these surgeries than in an abortion - they take place prior to conception and an abortion takes place after.
Quote:
Originally posted by godfrey n. glad
If you believe this, do you also believe that people who, by having sex, get an STD should accept their consequences and not seek treatment? Now, note that I am not saying a child is a disease, but as is characterized by the post I am quoting, getting pregnant is a risk, as is getting an STD. One may use protection, which may sometimes fail, and suffer the consequences of the risks they have taken. Yet, I never see anyone claiming that people should suffer through gonorrhea or crabs because they deserve it, having taken a risk they knew full well could lead to this consequence.
Similarly, there is the oft-quoted car accident analogy. Knowing that driving will often lead to accidents, you are only getting what you deserve, or taking on a consequence you knew was inherent in driving (or even riding in) a car, therefore you should not seek treatment. The point being that people will and should still drive, trying their damned best to avoid the consequences. All of life is about measured risk taking for rewards. Should we all quit doing anything at all risky because we may have an undesired consequence?
Also, what about those people who don't want to have children ever? What would you say to them? That it is not their right to choose whether or not to reproduce? That they should go through life as virgins? Keeping in mind that any ethical medical practictioner pretty much makes it policy that women that have never borne a child shall not qualify for sterilization and that men younger than 35 or so with no children still have a hard time getting sterilized, it would seem that there is no realistic solution to this problem. People will have sex. It's a natural part of a relationship, and in primates, is NOT just for reproducing. People, IMHO, should have the ability to choose whether or not they will bear children. There are many of us out there that practice safe sex and have been monogomous for about a decade, don't want children but no doctor will sterilize us. If I get pregnant, having done MY very best to avoid it, I don't think I should be punished.
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