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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Ashland upskirt photography suspect arrested ... Rogue Valley doctor runs for governor on climate change platform ... Our View: Learning to survive ... Ashland upskirt photography suspect arrested ... Rogue Valley doctor runs for governor on climate change platform ... Our View: Learning to survive ... RELOCATIONS Herb Rothschild Jr: Framing the debate Comment DailyTidings.com Writer Posted May. 2, 2015 at 12:01 AM Posted May. 2, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News This is the last of four columns exploring what happens when we address social issues from the differing perspectives of the individual or of the collective. In the first two I explained how differently the analysis plays out if we prioritize our freedom to act on our own perceived self-interests or we prioritize our obligation to support the collective good. Last week I shifted from the individuals’ obligation to enhance the collective good to the collective’s obligation to enhance the good of its members. That shift led to considering whether we should address problems like homelessness by asserting rights or mobilizing care. I expressed misgivings about coming up with new rights, such as a right to sleep in public places, as a substitute for properly caring for each other. And I promised to show how, in the case of abortion, doing so makes it simply impossible to resolve the problem. We have framed abortion as a rights issue — right to life versus right to choose. The former “right” logically dehumanizes the mother, dismissing almost all regard for her physical and mental well-being. She becomes an incubator. The latter “right” logically dehumanizes the unborn up until the moment of birth, including those last weeks (ever-increasing) when the process of abortion may result in a live birth unless the fetus is deliberately destroyed. This zero-sum conceptual approach has had dreadful consequences. It has pitted Americans against each other in an ideological and political contest with no end in sight. And it has obscured, even from ourselves, what the great majority of us in reality feel about abortion. We do care about mothers, and we begin caring about the unborn as they develop toward maturity. Careful polling reveals areas of significant consensus. Few of us want to force a woman to carry to term the product of rape or incest. And few of us sympathize with women (there aren’t many in this country) who use abortion as their birth control method of choice. Few of us care what happens to a zygote, whether it fails to attach to the uterine wall thanks to an IUD or never gets into a uterus because of in vitro fertilization. And few of us would be emotionally easy with the surgical killing of an eight-month foetus before it is expelled. Our practice reflects these feelings more accurately than do our debates. In sum, once we move from rights to care, from the isolated individual to the connected community, areas of agreement and possibilities of resolution open to us. We might begin by acknowledging that God is the great abortionist. The number of fertilized eggs that in the course of nature never come to term far exceeds those that do. Thus, there is no basis in reality for humans to legislate that they must. That acknowledgement should allow us to view the “morning-after pill” as a huge asset in avoiding a journey across what is an inherently difficult terrain. Along with more vigorous promotion of contraceptive technology, we should make the morning-after pill readily available and promote its use when circumstances indicate. Framing abortion as a rights issue tends to convince each ideological camp that it has a monopoly on care. Right-to-lifers brandish photos of late-term fetuses. Right-to-choosers brandish coat-hangers. It’s not their care that’s the problem; all care is commendable. It’s their pride. You’d think we would experience humility before the immense joys and sorrows of life and death, and therein affirm our common humanity. Herb Rothschild Jr. is chairman of the board of Peace House. DailyTidings.com Writer Posted May. 2, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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