Thanks Jay. Figured that’s all it was, but if we don’t say anything, you don’t know.

The missing song links was an oversight. They’ve been added now.

Song listings would have been nice

Hi there this is Brian from Pennsylvania.

I’ve found the ongoing discussion of abortion and the highlighting of bodily autonomy quite interesting on your program.

It seems to me there’s a major flaw with abortion being permissible given our right to bodily autonomy, which seems to posit that we should control our bodies without exception. Bodily autonomy is indeed a right possessed by a person with certain limitations that might cause that body from harming itself or other persons. Importantly, personhood is an attribute that society assigns to a human entity. As such we as society need to agree upon a standard under which personhood is assigned in order to enforce the rights associated with personhood..

So, a flaw in the abortion right argument by bodily autonomy is that personhood will be assigned at some defined point between fertilization and birth. In my opinion, and what seems to be the opinion of most people is that point is when the baby is viable and can live on its own, regardless it would seem that some societal certification of the personhood informed by secular mores needs to be ratified. Without that moment being ascertained, it becomes arguable that a mother could abort a viable fetus, even 5 minutes before birth.. Nevertheless, at that point, unborn or born as it may be, the point where society agrees (yeah I know good luck on that one) personhood exists for the new human, abortion would be illegal.

Ultimately, and I haven’t heard this point made on your podcast, the best solution to the issue is to eliminate all unwanted pregnancies from ever occurring in the first place so that the problems become reduced significantly.. This is where the common ground focus ought to be in the abortion debate to improve the situation overall.

Of course, the problem arises in how to avoid unwanted pregnancies when education which includes voluntary abstinence and contraception are not 100% effective.. One viable option would be to develop in the long run a plan which supports 100% choice before a human impregnation occurs. Is this even possible, you ask.

Well, one method to accomplish this would be require male vasectomy prior to puberty, ideally using a reversible technique which a man can reverse temporarily after a contract of responsibility for the child is agreed to. I recognize this may seem outlandish, alas with proper measures it would give individuals full control of their reproductive capability.

At a higher level, I feel our species through societal will needs to contend with human overpopulation. Society needs to find an effective way to encourage responsible reproductive choices by individuals to promote a world is balanced for all its living diversity.

Thanks.