Editor,
In regards to Danielle
Townsend's letter in the Daily
Lobo on Monday, I believe the
term that best describes my reaction
is "flabbergasted."
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For the purpose of this letter, I
will not even try to argue whether
it is morally defensible to bring
an innocent child into this horrible,
pain-filled world - except
to say that it is not. Rather, I will
attempt to show why abortion is
not wrong.
I should say, firstly, that abortion
is perfectly natural. All creatures
that raise their young will
abandon them if they cannot raise
them properly. Indeed, all females
will have a miscarriage if the fetus
is unable to live, or reabsorb it if
they cannot spare the nutrients.
From that standpoint, abortion is
natural and normal. However, as
there is no reason to model our
behavior on nature, I will take a
different tack.
This is the crux: A baby cannot
think, even to the level of knowing
that it exists, or demonstrate
even an instinctual layer of selfpreservation.
Ethically, murder is
wrong because it robs a person of
their right to express their preference
to continue to live. A fetus or
neonate has no such preference,
being intellectually incapable,
and thus no right to life. If you
accept my reasoning, you must
decide to not object to abortion.
If you think I am wrong, I must
respectfully disagree.
A final point: Townsend's central
point was that abortion is
wrong not only because it is, in
her view, murderous, but also because
adoption is a viable alternative.
This is not entirely the case.
While many families are waiting
for children, this is because of two
factors. First, most of those families
are not yet officially waiting,
as they have to be approved by
the stringent safeguards against
adoption by those deemed unsuitable.
Secondly, these families insist
on adopting only the youngest
babies, which leaves a lot of children
left as wards of the state. It is
untrue to imply, as Townsend did,
that children put up for adoption
all find happy homes.
While I think it is wrong to
bring life into the world, surely
many mothers, with their children's
best interests at heart, realize
it is better to let a child die,
without fear or understanding of
death, than to risk that child being
abandoned to live alone, unloved
and in poverty.
Izek Miller
UNM student
