----- Original Message ----- From: "Horn, John" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Killer Bs Discussion" <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, May 20, 2005 12:20 PM Subject: RE: Abortion and the Democratic Party Re:TheAmericanPoliticalLandscape Today
>Hypotheticals are OK. But there comes a point when you have to say >"this is way too unlikely to worry about". Heck, if we worried >about an unethical doctor approving a diagnosis that doesn't apply, >they could just do it with a *real* DX that states the woman's life >is in danger. >Or should we get rid of the police and prisons because there is a >non-zero chance that an unethical cop might plant evidence on an >innocent person? This interpretation is 180 degrees from what I intended. So, let me restate my point. The Supreme Court case law states that that abortion of a viable fetus can be regulated by the state only for those cases where a continued pregnancy has no real chance of adversly affecting the health of the mother in any way. The obvious question is "how often would such cases occure?" The answer is that these cases are hypothetically possible, but in practice, they don't exist. There is always some risk to some aspect of a womans health if she is forced to continue her pregnancy. My point is not that we must consider unlikely hypothetical cases, but that the law allows no real state limitations on the abortion of viable fetuses, because a case where continued unwanted pregnancy has no negative effect at all on the womans health is a hypothetical possibility, but practically impossible. A reasonable counterarguement would be evidence of court rulings that, in in particular cases, there was no significant risk to the health of the mother, and thus the state could prohibit the abortion. To my knowledge, such an example does not exist because Blackman's decision, quoted earlier, gave such a broad understanding of a woman's health, that he clearly rendered this practically impossible. Dan M. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
