here's my response to an online article [meganmcardle.theatlantic.com/mt/...cgi] on the presidential candidates forum, specifically, criticism of the candidates' responses to an abortion related question of when human rights begin to deserve legal protection.

>>stevo:
I've yet to see any journalist or blogger note the fact that the shamdidates were not asked when LIFE begins, but rather, when human RIGHTS begin to fully apply and warrant absolute protection under the law. The answer is in Roe v Wade and consistent rulings of lower courts that doctors do not have the right to force women to give birth by cesarean against their will (even though hundreds are coerced into doing so every day). Having given the fetal rights question relative to forced or coerced surgical delivery a good deal of thought over the years, my view rests on the old adage that the RIGHTS of citizenship are inherently linked with the responsibilities of citizenship. A person's rights and responsibilities are assumed incrementally, regardless of when life may or may not begin.<<

Posted by: stevo | August 18, 2008 12:44 PM