[MD] Morality, Abortion and the MoQ

[Ham Priday]

Michael --

> But what is the *moral* reasoning that it is by default
> her sole moral authority to decide on the issue of the
> *life* so created within her because she is the only one
> of the two that can see it to birth?

I think you have answered your own question, Michael.  Who, indeed, has the 
final authority on behalf of an unborn child?   Not the father.  Not the 
courts.  Not a philosopher's maxim.  Certainly not society.  A fetus is not 
a "person" capable of deciding for itself, thus it has no "power of 
authority".  This authority rests solely with the mother who conceived it, 
"because she is the only one that can see it to birth."

> This is not moral standing. This is just power.
> And power corrupts, in this case, moral standing.

And here you argue for a value system that denies individual freedom.  What 
is a "moral standing" but a relative position based on the norms of social 
acceptability?You are denying the power of a mother to exercise free choice 
over her personal property in deference to the conventions of society or the 
laws of the state.  And is free choice really "power"?  I would say it is 
the individual's "right" to act in accordance with his/her values.  So does 
the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees that "No person shall be ... 
deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."  And 
Roe vs.. Wade upholds that guarantee.

Collective morality is a convention of society, not a universal principle. 
While it's true that absolute power corrupts, you say that "power corrupts 
moral standing."  I submit, instead, that the surrender of individual 
freedom corrupts human value.  When we yield to third party authorities, we 
diminish the value of our freedom.  And by not accepting the responsibility 
to act on our own authority, we deny our autonomy as free agents of value. 
Failure to value and preserve our freedom will eventually reduce us to 
vassals of the state.

My opinion, for what it's worth, Michael.

Best regards,
Ham