Technology as liberator: an example
Until recently, induced abortion was always a surgical procedure, one which had to be performed at clinics; and as we all know, the visibility and easy accessibility of those clinics made them, their clients, and their employees easy targets for harassment and for terrorism (if you think the word "terrorism" is an exaggeration, see the list of crimes about four paragraphs into the GNB posting).
But now RU-486, available in the US since 2000, is emerging as an alternative to surgery for most early abortions. Prescribed by a doctor and taken at home, it does what cars, home computers, the internet, and other such innovations have done in other areas: it decentralizes power by enabling individuals to do what formerly only some large institution could do.
It's not hard to imagine that in the near future, most abortions will be performed using RU-486 and abortion clinics will practically disappear because they are no longer needed. Robbed of a high-profile single target, the fanatics will, as the GNB puts it, be left "all dressed up and no one to terrorize".
There'll just be women here and there at home, carrying out their own decisions without having to go to some central location which is permanently fixed in the cross-hairs of the fanatics. Once again technology gives a boost to individual freedom.
==============================================
A note: This is my 1,000th posting on this blog.
Labels: Freedom, Technology
8 Comments:
I must confess my ignorance and admit that I'd never heard of RU-487. Thanks for enlightening me.
Congratulations on #1,000. I look forward to reading the next batch.
Chaplain -- thanks!
This is a great post, and with a really unique perspective (or at least new to me). The next time we do a Blog Against Theocracy, you mustpick up this theme again, and take a bow.
Marvelous!
Regards,
Tengrain
Tengrain -- thanks for your encouraging words!
Congratulations on your thousandth post.
I knew that Christian jihadists had been conducting a war against abortion for years, but the specific numbers in the list “. . . medical clinics that ended up with this kind of casualty list” posted by THE GROUP NEWS BLOG” is amazing.
Also, it’s fun to watch the frustration and helplessness these jihadists must feel as RU-486 takes away their power.
Congrats!
Women will continue to make their own decisions, ones that benefit them and any potential babies, no matter what. This pill would certainly make it safer, in many ways, if it were more widely accepted for use. The downside? There will always be fanatic doctors and pharmacists too, who will put their personal agendas ahead of providing the services that best fit each patient.
Congrats on your thousandth post! I look forward to the next thousand, and the next... you RAWK!
Oh, good 1,000th post!
Post a Comment
<< Home