Correspondence
Correspondence Defining life, yes Mt. Ranier, Md. To the Editors: John Garvey's reasoning in a recent article that Congress should not define when human life and/or per-sonhood begins with...
...A child who is the result of incest or rape faces parental - and societal - rejection...
...What Mr...
...It is difficult to bring to mind an advocate of justice whom history has condemned for a too "liberal" view of the range of human life and personhood...
...He said: The Supreme Court in its Wade and Bolton decisions set limits to the legal definition of personhood - limits which cannot be justified by fundamental biological reality...
...To set a legal precedent for restricting the view of personhood according to certain artificial criteria is to open the way for the abuse of our most fundamental and treasured ideals...
...To the Editors: Determining specific norms to guide concrete forms of sexual expression would not be as difficult as Deane Ferm believes in "Is Swedish Sex for Us...
...The "miracle of birth" cannot be restricted to human beings alone, no matter how superior we like to think we are...
...While we can learn from the Swedes what not to do, we cannot learn what we can do...
...That is nonsense...
...And to choose not to inflict such worldly tragedies on an innocent is an act of love, not of murder...
...Ferm points out, even some of the "Swedish leaders who earlier had bravely cried 'Freedom!' are now ruefully shouting 'Restraints!' 'Restraints...
...What really differentiates man from other animals and makes us truly unique is our foreknowledge of mortality, our capacity for long-term caring, for intel-lectualizing, for reasoning.'And it is in this capacity, whether God-given or not, that those who opt for abortion are caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place...
...Sagaponack, N.Y...
...Mark Hatfield in 1974 before the Senate Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments during hearings on proposed HLAs are very apt...
...But to be a champion of the quality of life, the evaluation of which God or nature bestowed upon human beings, is not a crime...
...But if this aura is lacking or dissipated before the couple has established a trust-sustaining environment through committed, continuous mutual giving and receiving that nourishes trust and self-esteem in both, communication of emotional needs is limited to pleasure fulfillment...
...How can there be more - or less - mystery in a woman conceiving a child than in a cow conceiving a calf...
...The point is this: what the lessons of history teach us is that where societies have erred, they have erred on the side of bigotry and narrow-mindedness...
...Indeed, as Dr...
...He is obviously correct in his evaluation of the non-effectiveness of the Lutheran church in Sweden...
...But what he is really saying is that all human life is sacred, and lesser animals whose biological beginnings duplicate those of human beings, are not so sacred...
...Its intent is inclusive, then, rather than exclusive, which is the kind of intent that produces the type of problems Mr...
...And abortion itself was condoned as late as the nineteenth century by the Catholic church, using a time clock of the "ensoulment" of the fetus...
...Without this environment of trust, sex is ineffective as a way of knowing...
...LINDA BIRD FRANCKE Ed...
...But it is an argument that pro-life advocates never address...
...Church morality rests on different foundations: revelation and not social contract...
...We learn from experience...
...Such legislation should not be subject to the will of any religious group...
...Ferm is to be commended for bringing these issues to the forefront...
...Basic emotional needs remain insulated and unfilled...
...One has only to read the contradictory testimonies of medical doctors, doctors of the law and of theology in the recent Human Life Statute hearings in Washington, to conclude, yet again, that '' life'' cannot be pinpointed on a convenient chart...
...To the Editors: I must take exception to John Garvey's thoughtful, but questionable comments on the issue of abortion [June 19 ]. "The ordinary pro-choice argument assumes that there is no intrinsic value to life," Garvey wrote...
...The pendulum of our society's religious, moral, and social attitudes is certainly swinging as far to the right as it had to the left...
...The nation's definition of personhood, as set forth by its system of law, has potentially profound and crucial consequences on the rights of every citizen...
...A child who is maimed by genetic defects suffers...
...Term's essay is that with an "unheard" church and a confused legal system, where do we turn...
...MARILYN KRAMER Sex & human nature Alexandria, Va...
...Ferm's article lacks a robust and realistic idea of the human lust for gratification and power - in a word, sin...
...It is not a quality which is inherent in the fact of our having been conceived...
...June 19 ], if there were greater understanding of the role sex plays in our mental and emotional well-being...
...There is no doubt in Mr...
...His positions invite comment along two lines...
...Or lack of fulfillment may provoke efforts to dominate the partner, psychologically or physically, because the dominator avoids the risk of emotional vulnerability and the sense of control gives a feeling of security that partially compensates for his lack of trust and self-esteem...
...There is nothing new about abortion, or even the definition of when life begins...
...Such a definition, in a free society which separates church and state, must be a matter of personal faith...
...the failure of the Roman Catholic church to be heard even in Italy is documented in the same issue in the article, "Abortion 1, Pope 0 - A Crusade that Failed...
...The so-called "Moral Majority" obviously feels that morality and virtue can be legislated...
...And nobody wants them...
...let us hope that he and others will also find some solutions...
...It is hard, of course, to know ahead of time what is "reasonable...
...Failure to achieve emotional vulnerability or establish a trust-sustaining environment are the primary reasons why some marriages begin to drift apart after the first few years...
...For one thing, I wish he had made a clearer distinction between the roles of church and state in establishing norms for social behavior...
...To be a champion of life is commendable...
...Deane W. Ferm in his article, 'is Swedish Sex for Us...
...It reminds me of a comment I often hear these days on the contemporary American scene, to which Dr...
...The institution of slavery, reducing human beings to the level of economic commodities, the ovens of Auschwitz and the slaughter at all the My Lais of Indochina demonstrate what becomes possible, tolerable, and even legal from a philosophy of human life and personhood too narrowly perceived...
...The church-synagogue must not only change but act or else what is now a dilemma will become a victory for extremism of one side or the other - and a loss for most of us...
...Sexual intimacy can be a way of overcoming these barriers...
...In a secular, pluralistic society like ours, where church and state are legally separate and people (for the most part) like it that way, legislation in this area, and all areas, should permit as much freedom as possible, consistent with reasonable protection of citizens from exploitation and danger...
...In less civilized times, the problem of the unwanted child was solved by infanticide...
...Like Dr...
...Note: Ms...
...I suspect that abortion will inevitably become a form of birth control, much as we may deplore the fact, and therefore will need more state control than he suggests...
...A child born into chronic poverty suffers...
...Second, Mr...
...Because we are deciding beings faced with choices, we have an intense need for the sense of security that comes from feelings of trust, self-confidence, and self-worth...
...Primitive forms of birth control and abortion have been practiced worldwide since man first learned to count time...
...The emergence of depersonalizing pornography, exploitive sex, abortion as sure-fire birth control, and other distortions as well, should surprise no one when these matters are completely free and unregulated...
...Garvey alludes to...
...To Mr...
...I have fallen back on that argument which has had little effect in this endless abortion debate, the argument of the unwanted child...
...Ferm suggests, can be implemented is very much open to question...
...The court, and our nation, have dealt in the past with the legal definition of personhood...
...Recognition that the basic human drive is not the need for sexual expres sion, but the need for the security that comes from trust, self-confidence, and self-worth...
...Garvey, this argument represents a comfortable leap of faith...
...and that without the trustsustaining environment a loving mar riage provides, sex frustrates rather than aids fulfillment of this basic emotional need-such recognition would change attitudes and the way sex is used without the need for legal restraints or religious prohibitions...
...Those latter standards degraded sex and put women in a subordinate position...
...To the extent that the church's teaching has succeeded in conforming to the Christian norm of the love of God revealed in Christ - agape - it must continually be reaffirmed, even if it seems to be out of touch with contemporary life...
...This is why the use of pornography increases and pornography becomes increasingly exploitive and violent toward women and children when a society encourages non-marital sex...
...To the Editors: John Garvey's reasoning in a recent article that Congress should not define when human life and/or per-sonhood begins with respect to pre-natal human beings because such an action establishes a precedent which invites definitions that could produce new Holocausts does not withstand scrutiny [June 19 ]. First, no matter what Congress does, just as the Supreme Court in fact did in its 1973 decisions, it in effect makes a judgment as to when human life and/or personhood begins by its decision as to when to extend legal protection of the right to life to members of our species...
...The aura of romance can be dissipated in prolonged premarital sex or in marriage when one partner is too emotionally or sexually repressed or too emotionally insecure to permit emotional vulnerability...
...June 19 ], raises some very pointed and disquieting issues...
...It is also demanding that we correct any notion that sex is nasty or evil...
...Ferm's article deserves careful study and attention as well as expansion and discussion...
...SOLOMON M. KAPLAN Rabbi, Tree of Life Congregation Sex & security Wausau, Wise...
...Because the purpose of live-in arrangements is to avoid or postpone commitment, they do not foster the sense of security necessary for the trust required for vulnerability...
...We learn to insulate these feelings and hide our need for them to protect ourselves from possible unloving, avoiding the emotional vulnerability necessary in loving relationships...
...In the area of sex, it seems unquestionable, at least to me, that the standards upheld by the church in the past have been partly based on biblical norms and partly on the standards of the pagan world into which Christianity was introduced...
...Nevertheless, we surely must keep trying...
...The aura of romantic love creates a sense of well-being and urgency that initially makes vulnerability easier...
...Garvey misses or ignores the crucial difference in the intent of human life legislation, whether it be statute or constitutional amendment...
...John Garvey returns to this topic on page 485 in this issue...
...Justitiafiat, caelis delendis...
...Garvey's argument that man, conceived by God's will, is then perfectly justified in changing the rules and bestowing - or withholding - such "intrinsic values" on the lives of others...
...Intense, unrelieved frustration of this need engenders a feeling of helplessness that can provoke suicide or violence against others...
...Whether or not in a pluralistic society such as ours the "Swedish solution," which Dr...
...Ferm's first two concrete proposals seem eminently sensible...
...We all like to think of ourselves as the children of God, yet there are presently six thousand legally adpptable children of God in New York City institutions alone...
...This is why, throughout our lives, we need loving relationships that nourish these feelings...
...CHARLES PRICE Professor of Systematic Theology Virginia Theological Seminary...
...Value is given, or withheld, by human beings...
...Ferm draws a parallel, to the effect that some of the more liberated among us are in the process of reinventing marriage...
...Vulnerability requires considerable trust and self-esteem...
...The author is in essence suggesting some possible solutions, but is well aware of the differences between thcsociety on which he is reporting and the society in which he lives...
...CHRISTOPHER McGATH What sort of life...
...Only if those in the middle speak up, reach agreement, and take a positive course of action, can we avoid losing the battle that is already in progress...
...Francke is the author of The Ambivalence of Abortion (Random House, 1978...
...Lack of fulfillment evokes the vague restless dissatisfaction we label boredom, provoking efforts to relieve frustration through sexual variety...
...is enlightening and suggestive...
...The other area which invites comment is in the understanding of human nature...
...Can those of us in the middle come to an agreement without opening a Pandora's box of new issues, or are we indeed fated to leave the field to the extremists on both sides and have our own values either outlawed or discarded...
...To the Editors: Deane Ferm's article, "Is Swedish Sex For Us...
...And Sweden's example may be a helpful one at this time...
...But such relationships become more difficult as we learn distrust and suffer loss of self-esteem from the unloving of others...
...that lasting sexual fulfillment depends on fulfilling this emotional need...
...They have more often than not erred in the direction of failing to grant rights where those rights were subsequently recognized to be legitimate...
...To me, it is elitist hypocrisy...
...In defining human zygotes, embryos, and/or fetuses as human beings with legitimate claim to legal protection of their continued existence, Congress would be expanding the range so covered...
...To the Editors: Dr...
...But foresight is also a unique and burdensome human quality, and the knowledge of what sort of independent existence this "life potential" will be born into governs a woman's decision to abort - or carry her pregnancy to term...
...Sweden, sex, & us Pittsburgh, Pa...
...It has also shown the necessity of revising our society's estimate of the status of women, as it required us to revise our views of slavery over a century ago...
...But because the basic emotional need remains unfilled, any relief of frustration is only illusory and temporary, leading to a cycle of ever-increasing frustration that can create a dependency on sexual variety or domination and lead to increasingly violent sex, especially against those most easily dominated-children and women...
...I suspect that we all will move on a long-term cycle from one to the other, as in the past...
...Without these feelings, we become indecisive, anxious, distressed, self-absorbed...
...Garvey suggests is that all life is God-given and therefore sacred...
...Ferm, I would like to steer a middle course between undue restric-tiveness and undue promiscuity, but I am much less sanguine about any society's ability to do so...
...The self-absorption caused by emotional insecurity makes us more sensitive to our own needs and less sensitive to others, making us less capable of the caring, sharing, and cooperating necessary for building a trust-sustaining environment...
...The dilemma posed by Dr...
...An unwanted child suffers...
...In this respect, comments made by Sen...
...The truth of history is that the most tragic consequences have directly resulted when we, or another nation, have taken a too restrictive view of personhood and the value of human life...
...Now it is solved first by birth control, and failing that, abortion...
...Garvey purports that pro-choice sentiments began with the Age of Enlightenment, and that present pro-choice supporters resent the fact that "an older orthodoxy is not willing to accept their victory, and die quietly...
...Of course there is life, a potential for life, the beginnings of a human being in a fertilized egg which successfully implants itself on the uterine wall...
...Two thousand years of Christian experience in trying to understand this norm have confirmed the importance - so I would argue - of insisting on fidelity in marriage and on the undesirability of full sexual intimacy outside marriage (not of any sexual expressions outside marriage...
Vol. 108 • September 1981 • No. 16
