I thought that most of the religious right did think that adult men should refrain from having sex, except within marriage (and that the point of marriage was to make a bunch of babies). The abstinence-only education in schools is for teenage boys too, right? I guess I thought it was really more an anti-sex point of view than a simply misogynistic one.
The number of people who advocate rape/incest exceptions is, of course, further evidence that opposition to abortion is not about the morality of killing a fetus, but about passing judgments on women's morality. If killing a fetus is murder, it shouldn't matter how that fetus was created! So, almost nobody even entertains the notion that fetuses and adults have equal moral standing, which means that the supposed "moral complexity" of the question of when life begins is a red herring, and that we shouldn't engage with a disingenuous argument.
I've wondered if it might be about eugenics by limiting the reproduction of rapists. That's something I'd think about if I were pregnant by rape, but I don't know how common that thought would be for other people.
I think I largely agree with you, just not on the only bit. So I feel like I'm being kind of petty by trying to argue about it at all, and I should probably desist.
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Date: 2009-12-02 09:26 pm (UTC)The number of people who advocate rape/incest exceptions is, of course, further evidence that opposition to abortion is not about the morality of killing a fetus, but about passing judgments on women's morality. If killing a fetus is murder, it shouldn't matter how that fetus was created! So, almost nobody even entertains the notion that fetuses and adults have equal moral standing, which means that the supposed "moral complexity" of the question of when life begins is a red herring, and that we shouldn't engage with a disingenuous argument.
I've wondered if it might be about eugenics by limiting the reproduction of rapists. That's something I'd think about if I were pregnant by rape, but I don't know how common that thought would be for other people.
I think I largely agree with you, just not on the only bit. So I feel like I'm being kind of petty by trying to argue about it at all, and I should probably desist.