As you know, I don't have a lot of respect for Richman, but he hits the nail on the head in this article.
On Sun, Sep 16, 2012 at 3:27 PM, MJ <[email protected]> wrote: > > *The Right to Choose What? > *by Sheldon Richman <http://www.fff.org/aboutUs/bios/sxr.asp>, August 2000 > > Regardless of one's position on abortion, believers in freedom and > individual rights should be offended by the pro-abortion advocates' > opportunistic shrinking of "a woman's right to choose" down to a single > choice. The use of that euphemism hints at a certain squeamishness on its > users' part. Can't they say the word "abortion"? > > If a woman has a "right to choose" an abortion--if this is a matter of her > very dignity--then it is perplexing why, according to these folks, she > doesn't also have the right to choose to: > > Keep a handgun in her purse and nightstand drawer without having to get > permission from the government. > > Send her kids to private schools without having also to pay taxes for the > government's schools, which are playgrounds for unionized teachers. > > Decide how to plan and save for her own retirement and to opt out of the > government's dependency-inducing Social Security system. > > Decide how to plan and save for her own medical care in retirement and to > opt out of the government's dependency-inducing Medicare program. > > Purchase medical insurance free of government mandates requiring coverage > she does not want. > > Ingest whatever substances she wishes without checking to see whether they > are on the government's controlled-substances list. > > Gamble however she pleases. > > Trade sexual favors for money. > > Keep all her income without fearing a visit from armed agents of the > Internal Revenue Service. > > Buy imports from anywhere in the world, such as clothing for her children, > free of tariffs and quotas designed to protect domestic products she finds > inferior or too expensive. > > Buy milk for her children without paying artificially high prices created > by government programs to subsidize the dairy industry. > > Take a job that pays less than the legislated minimum wage. > > Abstain from paying dues to a labor union she wishes not to join. > > Select an automobile from an array not tilted toward more dangerous > lighter models by the government's superfluous fuel-efficiency standards. > > Buy gasoline for her car that is not made artificially expensive by taxes > and irrational environmental regulations. > > Earn a higher salary instead of seeing some of her income diverted to > satisfying the government's OSHA regulations, which have had no bearing on > workplace safety anyway. > > Use life-saving medicines and medical devices currently kept off the > market by irrational and onerous FDA procedures. > > Patronize doctors, lawyers, and other professionals whose credentials are > vouched for by someone other than government licensing boards, which exist > simply to keep the licensees' incomes artificially high. > > Smoke tobacco free from government regulations. > > Throw trash away without wasting time recycling. > > Give more than $1,000 to a political candidate. > > Leave her entire estate to her children and not a penny to the government. > > Go to college without having to pay a tuition artificially inflated by > government loans and grants. > > Start a business without undergoing a gauntlet of licenses, taxes, and > regulations. > > Surf the Web without fearing that the government is monitoring her journey > through cyberspace. > > Send e-mail without fearing that the government is reading it. > > Put an NRA or pro-tax-cut bumper sticker on her car without wondering > whether the police will think she's an "extremist." > > Join an off-beat religious group without fearing that the government will > decide to launch a SWAT invasion and gas her and her children. > > Develop her land even if the Army Corps of Engineers insists it's a > wetland. > > Develop her land even if the Environmental Protection Agency believes that > some insect, rodent, or bird is "endangered." > > Buy something to make her life more pleasant rather than see that portion > of her income spent to bomb people in other countries or to starve them > with economic sanctions. > > Go about her business without fearing that the government is compiling > dossiers on her. > > Associate in any way with people born in other countries regardless of > whether the INS thinks they should be here. > > Purchase a toilet that flushes properly, rather than one conforming to > idiotic environmental regulations. > > Not pay for someone else's "right to choose" to have an abortion if it > violates her convictions or if she simply doesn't want to. > > By the way, why shouldn't men have these same rights to choose? > > http://www.fff.org/comment/ed0800a.asp > > -- > Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. > For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum > > * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ > * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. > * Read the latest breaking news, and more. > -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
