They're free. But when it comes to control, the people who are the most affected are the ones who need to have it.

Women are thoroughly capable of handling this issue. We are not intellectual midgets or ethical incompetents. Some of us understand the risks, for pregnancy is just as dangerous as it is natural, and some of us don't, so we need to learn all of our risks and all of our options. Our welfare is what's at stake. We make the decisions.

Men are welcome to give their input. They can use all their educational and persuasive skills to convince women to do what they want, as long as "No" is still an option. They are not welcome to keep women pregnant against their will. That's a form of slavery. They are not welcome to force abortions on women either. That's a form of battery. (Not referring to China, but to a woman I know.) It's the woman's decision to make.

There is a fundamental difference between sexual differences and racial or military/civilian differences. Every race is a human race, and the military is open to almost everyone. But the experiences of male and female are not transferrable or even translatable. Authors of great genius have sometimes bridged the gap. Most of us will never get there.

As for being shouted down, it's been tried. So I know how it feels. Sometimes it succeeds in shutting me up. It depends on how much energy I feel like putting into an argument. But usually, that means I spend time on the issue in other, less obvious ways. Because, to me, it's not so much the points I score in debate as it's the final outcome that matters.

Any man who thinks he's won an argument with a woman doesn't realize it hasn't ended yet.

Regards--
Mary Anne