So I was thinking about the last thread that handfast posted, about the women who are having children with a new man while married to other men. And when I came to Retread's comment that she was not born to a married couple, it made me start thinking about why I care about this issue. Certainly, other people's ethics usually don't affect me. And I would never blame a child born outside of a marriage for the circumstance of their birth (which is why I shy away from using the term illegitimate). I think it comes down to the issues of women's reproductive rights. Babies born around the time I was born (which I believe Retread is similar in age to me), were not born in an era where reproductive rights were protected. Women struggled to have access to contraceptives, other than condoms, which require a partner's cooperation. There were plenty of OB/GYNs who would not prescribe birth control pills/ devices to women who were not married. And although Planned Parenthood was originated in the 20's, the first clinic was not until the 40's, and not widespread until the 60's. As a women who came of age in the late 70's, the Women's movement fought very hard to make contraceptives available, and to make them a women's right and a women's issue. At that time, there were some women who were not permitted to obtain contraception without their huband's permission. And whatever your opinion about abortion, that issue was also a central issue for women in that era as well.So, why I care about this topic -- I suppose that it is just as much a women's right to bear a child by choice while married to a different man. But the compications for both the woman and the child seem to me to be significant, and I question why someone would choose to saddle their child with a significant complication even before they are born. Also, I think that there are plenty of women who are just plain careless about contraception. They "find themselves" pregnant, as if there were ignorant of the mechanisms of unprotected sex=> pregnancy. And as someone who was part of the fight to make contraception available and affordable, it irritates me that someone would not take advantage of that option. It is not dissimilar to the way that I feel about abortion. In my opinion, it is important that abortion remain an available option to women. However, women who use abortion as a method of eliminating pregnancies they were too lazy to prevent is a focal point of the opponents. They have a hard time fighting against a woman who chooses to terminate a pregnancy conceived in rape, incest or some other forced manner. They focus less on the woman who chooses an abortion when a typically reliable and properly used form of birth control fails. But the abortion foes zero in on the woman who just couldn't be bothered to make the effort to obtain and use a reliable method. And who make the same mistake over and over again. There are some religions that do not approve the use of contraception and abortion. But, to the best of my limited knowledge, they also do not approve of sex outside of marriage, so I doubt a faith based argument would apply. There are some women for whom hormonal birth control is contraindicated. But, mechanical methods are also available, such as diaphragms and IUDs. Are there babies concieved while their mothers are using reliable birth control properly? Of course. But those numbers are far smaller than the numbers of pregnancies that occur each year. So...I guess that's my soapbox for today. What's your opinion? ~Donna