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Dear Senator
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Post by
MyTie
Recently I struck up a dialog with a member of the US Senate. I will post that dialog in this thread for your viewing pleasure. Please note that I will not be debateing anything in this thread, but just posting my conversation.
Initial Email:
Dear Senator,
I would like to open a dialog with you about your views on abortion. From what I have read about you and your voteing record, I see that we disagree. With this in mind, I would like to gain a better understand of your philosophy concerning the subject, and express my views to you in an appropriate manner.
Sincerely,
Senator's Response:
Dear Mr. ,
Thank you for contacting me with your views about abortion. I support a woman's right to choose, as well as efforts to strengthen family planning.
Like most Americans, I believe that we must work to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies through education and family planning. But I also believe that our Constitution protects a woman's right to privacy, and that this constitutional right encompasses the decision of whether to terminate a pregnancy.
In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court held that women have a constitutional right to an abortion. That decision - Roe v. Wade - was carefully crafted to be both balanced and responsible while holding the rights of women in America paramount in reproductive decisions. Roe v. Wade held that women have a constitutional right to an abortion, but after viability, States can ban abortions as long as they allow exceptions for cases in which a woman's life or health is endangered. Since then, the Court has consistently ruled in favor of this right.
I believe that it is necessary to support family planning measures to prevent unintended pregnancies and the health, economic and emotional struggles that can accompany them. Studies show that the use of family planning reduces the probability of a woman having an abortion by 85 percent. Unfortunately, the United States still has three million unintended pregnancies each year, half of which end in abortion. Please be assured that I will keep your views in mind should the Senate consider legislation on this issue.
Thank you so much for contacting me to share your thoughts on this matter. Finally, I would like to keep you informed of what is happening in D.C. Every Monday, I provide a brief outline about my work in the Senate and issues of importance to . If you are interested in getting this update, please visit my website at . Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future if I can be of further assistance.
Sincerely,
United States Senator
My Reply:
Senator,
Thank you for your prompt and candid reply. There is no more sensitive and dividing political issue than abortion. With that in mind, I will continue to respect your beliefs as we continue an open dialog.
A number of items in your letter caught my attention. The first was the overall amount of fact and statistic you brought to the argument. You are obviously well informed about the issue, and that relieves me. I hope that you are also aware of some statistics that you did not list. Did you know that less than 1% of performed abortions are performed due to the mother's safety? If you combine those abortions with the ones attributed to rape, the statistic remains less than 1%. Did you also know that in 2006, over 50% of pregnancies in New York City were aborted? Over half. If you can imagine those statistics from the eyes of someone, like me, who views pregnancies as babies, then you can feel your heart breaking.
The next part that caught my attention was the citing of the Supreme court case 'Roe v. Wade'. As notable, and historic, as that case was, and still is, I find it unconstitutional, since there is no mention of 'privacy' or 'abortion' in the constitution. Whether or not abortion is legitimate, or not, I believe that the Federal Government overstepped its bounds. There are a number of other court cases brought before the Supreme Court where this is the case. To summarize my views on that court case, I believe the judicial branch did rule against my beliefs, but they had no right to do so, no matter how wrong my views are.
The last part that I took particular note of was: "Please be assured that I will keep your views in mind should the Senate consider legislation on this issue". I feel much more at ease knowing that you will do this. Although I know you may not agree with me enough to vote on the issue in a manner I would prefer, at least you will remember my thoughts as you face those tough decisions. Your willingness to face these tough challenges earns my respect.
Regards,
Post by
MyTie
Reserved
Post by
ruleofthumb
MyTie. For Christ's sake. Stop posting about abortion. While may of us (including me) enjoy your debate threads, we don't want to hear anymore of your abortion views.
I understand that you are against it, and I respect your view (despite disagreeing). But the topic is old and done.
Thanks.
Post by
MyTie
MyTie. For Christ's sake. Stop posting about abortion. While may of us (including me) enjoy your debate threads, we don't want to hear anymore of your abortion views.
I understand that you are against it, and I respect your view (despite disagreeing). But the topic is old and done.
Thanks.
So... this sounds like "I disagree with what you are saying, so could you please stop saying it?"
My reply is, obviously,
no
.
Post by
307081
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
ruleofthumb
So... this sounds like "I disagree with what you are saying, so could you please stop saying it?"
My reply is, obviously,
no
.
Eh, A for effort, but sorry. In no way did I say that, or imply it. Please stop trying to change my words around to fit you.
I enjoy the fact that people don't always agree with me, and by no means do I expect them to. The world would be a boring, quiet place without people's individual opinions.
While I respect the time you took to write your senator, you don't need to try and resurrect a dead topic. A debate I enjoyed taking place in for its entirity, but please. Spare me. Lets move on to something else.
Post by
MyTie
Wow, senators reply? Cool!
MyTie, just one thing: About your view that the federal government is overstepping its bounds to rule that abortion is legal if the state recognizes it as legal - wouldn't the federal government be
really
overstepping its bounds if it rules that abortion is illegal?
Really a key question. Thanks for bringing it up. As much as I would like to debate this, I already said that I will not be debateing in this thread.
@Ruleofthumb - The topic of abortion is not 'dead'. I really have no idea where you got that indication. If I had made a thread about how great disco music was, then maybe you could complain. As it is, your concern is laughable. Besides, if you don't like the topic, leave.
Post by
Ghoso
The senator is voting based on the decision of Roe v Wade, not his/her own values. Until there is a new supreme court ruling that states that the fertilized being is protected by the constitution (because it is alive), it would appear the senator will always vote in this way.
The only way I can see this happening is scientific evidence that states the moment a egg+sperm becomes a living being in its own right is at the moment of conception. This also means that life has to be accurately defined. Does life begin when a single cell is present, or does the being have to be self aware, and can we prove that it is self aware? Or is it simply the potential for life that gives something life?
This is all gray, at least to me. and because i think the same might be said for this particular senator, he will always vote according to history.
edit: this thread has loads of potential to be a non-argumentative conversation on the topic. which will be very constrictive compared to past threads. so please, everyone, keep the conversation as open minded as possible.
to sum up my own question, when does life begin?
Post by
Billa
Women should be allowed to decide themselves. It is their body, and their life. In my opinion, it is not the business for the government to decide. I'm glad I live in Norway, where abortion is very much legal, and used without people raising their eyebrows.
And by the way, if my girlfriend got pregnant (which I hope she won't of course) I would support her no matter what she wanted. I would of course state my opinion about keeping the child or not but I would never force her to do something she don't want to, be it keeping it or not, and neither should the government.
Post by
ASHelmy
Right on MyTie ;). But I think that you should consider the validity of abortion if it presents a risk to the mother's life. But other then that, I think you are right to pursue something you think is a good cause. And don't worry, we always want to hear what you think :D.
Post by
MyTie
This thread is NOT for abortion debate. I would appreciate it if everyone would leave my thread alone. The last thing I want is for it to get locked.
THIS THREAD IS FOR A CONVERSATION TRANSCRIPT BETWEEN MYSELF AND A SENATOR.
Please leave your debate out of it.
Post by
307081
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
ruleofthumb
This thread is NOT for abortion debate. I would appreciate it if everyone would leave my thread alone. The last thing I want is for it to get locked.
THIS THREAD IS FOR A CONVERSATION TRANSCRIPT BETWEEN MYSELF AND A SENATOR.
Please leave your debate out of it.
So you post a thread to show you wrote a senator, and don't want anyone to reply. Gotcha.
Post by
MyTie
This thread is NOT for abortion debate. I would appreciate it if everyone would leave my thread alone. The last thing I want is for it to get locked.
THIS THREAD IS FOR A CONVERSATION TRANSCRIPT BETWEEN MYSELF AND A SENATOR.
Please leave your debate out of it.
So you post a thread to show you wrote a senator, and don't want anyone to reply. Gotcha.
Dude. You really have something personal against me. Anything I do is flameworthy to you.
Post by
TheMediator
THIS THREAD IS FOR A CONVERSATION TRANSCRIPT BETWEEN MYSELF AND A SENATOR.
That's not how these forums work. No conversation/discussion = lock.
Post by
ruleofthumb
Dude. You really have something personal against me. Anything I do is flameworthy to you.
Negative. I have nothing against you. I find you an educated man that has enjoys discussing current events and debating about said topics. Its just our opinions tend to clash.
We had an abortion discussion a long time back and that thread was locked. Although it was a civil discussion, the mods sought to keep it from going further. What I don't understand is why you would post this. What were you looking for from the Wowhead community? A pat on the back for getting a reply from a senator? If so, here you are;
/pat MyTie
If not, then what? You specifically told people to leave this thread alone. While I agree with you, that this should not be turned into another debate, what do you want from us?
Post by
MyTie
THIS THREAD IS FOR A CONVERSATION TRANSCRIPT BETWEEN MYSELF AND A SENATOR.
That's not how these forums work. No conversation/discussion = lock.Then lock it, TheMediator, if it is up to you.
Post by
Ghoso
Silenced by the loudest people. I guess my tiny effort to get this discussion under control was pointless. But I will reiterate.
Please, try to keep an open mind people.
Post by
MyTie
Dude. You really have something personal against me. Anything I do is flameworthy to you.
Negative. I have nothing against you. I find you an educated man that has enjoys discussing current events and debating about said topics. Its just our opinions tend to clash.
We had an abortion discussion a long time back and that thread was locked. Although it was a civil discussion, the mods sought to keep it from going further. What I don't understand is why you would post this. What were you looking for from the Wowhead community? A pat on the back for getting a reply from a senator? If so, here you are;
/pat MyTie
If not, then what? You specifically told people to leave this thread alone. While I agree with you, that this should not be turned into another debate, what do you want from us?
The point of this thread is to give everyone an opportunity to read a senator's own words considering the topic of abortion. I will ask decisive questions. I will ask questions that are hard to answer. Who wouldn't want to see that dialog?
As far as me being educated? Hah. My education is lacking significantly. I barely made it through high school. My senior year I had no teacher, and was self graduated through poor 'home schooling'. Almost everything I know comes from solo research.
Post by
Skyfire
The point of this thread is to give everyone an opportunity to read a senator's own words considering the topic of abortion.
Bullcrap. The use of the forums in this manner is that of merely thumbing your nose.
Who wouldn't want to see that dialog?
I would like to see it. But you on the other hand, would like to show it (note that I did not use the word "and"; I'll leave it to you about the implications of what that means).
Wow, senators reply? Cool!
It is very likely that this was an unpaid intern or other medium control person that wrote this. All the Senator had to do was sign the letter.
This was locked by me, because it is obvious to me that people are tired of abortion on this forum for the time being, and with the specific individuals involved in this thread discussing it. What is not obvious is if this topic will return with new individuals and new discussion at a later date.
I hope that it does. But that day is not today.
Post Reply
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