In a message dated 99-12-14 00:08:09 EST, you write:

<< Subject: Presidential candidates

 Yeech, are any of you worried?  Not a woman candidate, not a woman
interviewer, and not one single women's issue raised.   I see some of the
violence and callousness of youth (some youth, not all!) as directly related
to some men who see themselves as all powerful since the most heinous crimes
are committed by white males in the name of power or anti-homosexuality...
And I am not pro-life since after working with many low-income women who are
easily made to feel guilty regarding abortion, go ahead and have the baby
they can't afford, don't have a participating father for the child, and must
go from welfare to work...   Where are the pro-lifers when the child is
getting up all night with an ear infection because the culture does not
support breastfeeding... or the child needs someone to help with homework or
watch their soccer game.   well, it is a complicated issue.  But better to
sound off on Lactnet than rattle the windows of my house with a big ARRRG   >>

I hesitated to respond as the above post did not seem to fit with the
"exploration and discussion of ideas about lactation and related
breastfeeding issues," per se. In addition, I truly recognize this as "a
complicated issue." However, I have to say I found this post to be very
offensive. Perhaps it is because the human beings I know to be "pro-life"
live that declaration by providing different types of assistance to those
women who have made a decision in favor of life. These are the persons I know
to volunteer at the "free foodbank," the soup kitchens, the baby care
classes, adoption counseling, the school mentor programs, etc. It is a huge
assumption and generalization to say that those who call themselves "pro
life" don't also act in ways that support that life after birth. And I find
it a complete contradiction to point to the escalating "violence and
callousness of youth (some youth, not all!)" and then condone violence and
callousness against an innocent human during fetal life.

Karen G.

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