Friday, February 5, 2010

For the Record

This story is making the rounds in pro-Life circles in many versions; here is a version told by British Conservative MP Norman St. John Stevas, supposedly a conversation between two doctors:
"About the terminating of pregnancy, I want your opinion. The father was syphilitic. The mother tuberculous. Of the four children born, the first was blind, the second died, the third was deaf and dumb, the fourth was also tuberculous. What would you have done?"

"I would have terminated the pregnancy."

"Then you would have murdered Beethoven."

For the record, Beethoven was his parents' second child, his father was not syphilitic, and so far as we know, none of his siblings were born with severe birth defects, although four of the seven Beethoven offspring died in childhood.

3 comments:

  1. I'm sure that argument sounds really deep to the kind of people who make arguments like that.

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  2. I saw this coming. It, or similar versions, make the rounds, using different, stellar people, and different disabilities etc.

    It is very formulaic.

    and disgusting

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  3. And how many female geniuses have died in high-risk pregnancies, or have been unable to pursue music, art, literature, or other jobs after being worn out from too-frequent pregnancy or endless childrearing?

    I guess womens' lives, choices, desires and potential don't matter as long as we end up with just 1 (male) Beethoven...

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