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THE PARTY LINE “The BPW/PAC’s endorsement reflects Senator Kerry’s long standing support of pay equity for women, his opposition to activist judicial nominees who would interject their personal beliefs into the legal process and his unwavering support of women’s reproductive rights. John Kerry’s record demonstrates that he is the clear choice for workingwomen.” (Emphasis mine) (1) Thus sayeth the official website for the John Kerry for President website. Just the Facts, please! Throughout the pro-life/pro-choice debate, time and again we hear the term “reproductive rights.” What, exactly, is the definition of this term? Does it refer to the right to reproduce? Or perhaps it refers to the right not to reproduce? Then again, maybe it is designed to give women and men the choice with whom to reproduce? According to the UN International Conference on Population and Development, the definition of reproductive rights is as follows: "Reproductive rights embrace certain human rights that are already recognized in national laws, international human rights documents and other relevant consensus documents. These rights rest on the recognition of the basic right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health." (2) It appears that the UN views reproductive rights as pertaining to both men and women, and mostly dealing with the having of children, and the methods of birth control. In light of this, it appears that the Kerry campaign, and the pro-choice camp, have hijacked the term to refer to women (excluding men), and to also cover the killing of an unborn child under the banner of “reproductive rights.” Of course, this now begs the question exactly when reproduction takes place. Does a woman reproduce the moment she conceives a child? Does it take place when she is at a certain point in her pregnancy? Or perhaps it takes place at the time of birth of an infant? According to the "http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry?id=r0165600", reproduction is: The sexual or asexual process by which organisms generate new individuals of the same kind; procreation. The term “procreate” is then defined at the "http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/procreate" as To beget and conceive offspring; reproduce. The Truth? You can’t handle the Truth! Hmm...what is this? Does this mean that the conception of offspring means that a woman has procreated/reproduced (past tense)? Why, yes it does! So why this little excursion into the world of definitions, dictionaries, and politics? Well, if (wo)men do not question the rhetoric, terminology, and rethinking of definitions that have taken place in the abortion debate, they will soon find themselves propelled from a world where “reproductive rights” refers to contraception into a world where “reproductive rights” is synonymous with the murdering of the unborn. Not sure on the latter? Well, then tell me this, if abortion is a legitimate aspect of “reproductive rights”, why is it limited to only being freely available during the first trimester? How does the baby’s “state of being” (other than the biological development) change from the first to the second and to the third trimester, that s/he may no longer be murdered as freely in the latter part of pregnancy as in the earlier part thereof? ---- 1. "http://www.johnkerry.com/communities/business_women/bpw.html", statement made by BPW/USA President Carolyn Grady 2. Paragraph 7.3, Programme of Action, UN International Conference on Population and Development, Cairo, 1994, as quoted on the "http://www.cath4choice.org/lowbandwidth/howtotalk.htm" website
You can reach Ms. Cochran at: sylviacochran@hotmail.com © 2004 Sylvia Cochran. All Rights Reserved
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