Letters to the Editor
calcareous
Published Letters: 286 Editor's Choice: 48
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Same thing for vasectomies
[Read the article: Too young to tie your tubes?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Physician policy is the same for vasectomies. They are very reluctant to perform them on younger people, expecially if they don't already have children. This is (hopefully) out of concern for the patient. Ideally, rather than shopping around for an ethically uninhibited doctor, a person could instead find one who was willing to sit down and discuss the matter. I would expect concerns to diminish if it was clear to the doctor that you were of sound mind, and had thoroughly considered the consequences.
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Got nothin?
[Read the article: Hillary's chest war]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The media need to help the Republicans look good somehow, and the last thing the Republican party wants to be talking about right now are substantive issues. Hence the focus on red herrings like a dress, or a haircut.
At least Ms.Clinton hasn't yet been depicted bare-chested and suckling other politicians as Ms.Merkel of Germany was recently. I don't know if we should feel good about it, but lets not forget it could be alot worse!
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agree with melthough
[Read the article: A man's right to choose in Ohio]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]A man has a right to say this is an unplanned pregnancy and he would prefer termination. If said termination could be done without affecting the health of the woman, then it would be fair to mandate it. In terms of rights to the child, and the consequences of parenthood, both parents should have equal rights.
However, biological considerations make abortion of concern to not just the child, but to the mother. While both parties are of equal import and concern in making the decision, the outcome affects the woman more than the man, because it is her body the procedure will be performed on.
This law being proposed is surely an attempt to limit a woman's options in terminating their pregnancy. The reason it has any basis, is because current laws DO treat the father as a lesser entity in the parental system. This unfairness can be fixed, without hindering a woman's control over her own body, or trampling on the rights of a father. There is even legal precedent for it - adoption law.
I am no expert on the matter, but when people give their child up for adoption, they relinquish all legal rights to the child. They are in effect dissolving the legal aspect of the parent/child relationship. Any father who is suprised by an unplanned pregnancy should have the right to relinquish their rights, in the same way that a women who chooses an abortion does.
I've been familiar with numerous instances in my circle of friends and family of the father getting a raw deal. They have no recourse within the law, they are on the hook for 18 years of payments, and rarely get a 50% share of the parenting in return, because the courts have a bias that the mother is a more natural primary parent. Even if she is a mentally unstable barfly and spends the support money on herself instead of the child (thinking of one person in particular here).
So lets strive for fairness. The smart feminist isn't just fighting for equal rights for women, they are fighting for equal rights for everybody.
As for Ohio, I'm another ex-pat living on the coast. I know exactly why I left, but I have this lingering guilt that I (and those like me) are leaving a big wad of electoral votes in the hands of the ignorant and ideologically blinded. But I REALLY don't want to live there. Produces a delimma, for sure.
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delayed effect
[Read the article: Fatal enhancement]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Seems noteworthy that there is a time delay between the surgery and suicide. Almost by definition, a woman who gets breast implants has unresolved body issues. It makes sense that they might also not be comfortable with growing old gracefully. If one wants to adhere to stereotypical notions of what constitutes female beauty (as implant-ees probably do) then women only grow less attractive with age. If they are hanging most of their self esteem on their physical appearance, then I can see how aging could lead to the kind of self-devaluing and depression that plays into the suicidal impulse.
Looking at the numbers from the abstract, can give some perspective. Of 3527 women in the study, 175 died instead of the expected number of 133 deaths: 4.9% of the sample, instead of 3.8%. Not that those 42 lives aren't a sad loss, but they are only 1.1% of the total sample.
This quote from the primary source supports the cause and effect points other commenters have noted:
"The excess of deaths from suicides, drug and alcohol abuse and dependence, and other related causes suggests significant underlying psychiatric morbidity among these women."
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Keeping up with the Jones's
[Read the article: This is your subprime brain on drugs]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It is good to see an understanding of human psychology enter into the discussion. While Mr.Harrison can proudly say that he hasn't fallen for the hype of the predatory lending industry, I think its worth remembering that many people aren't as discerning. Predatory lenders have a financial interest in convincing people to accept refinancing, they directly profit from it. They engage advertising experts, who understand how to manipulate people's viewpoints to get them to think certain ways. The libertarian notion of people as rational actors is a great one on paper, but can be very hard to substantiate based on observation of "how the world works".
It has been shown that people adjust their personal expectations based on those around them. With American commercialism promoting constantly increasing consumption, while inflation adjusted wages are basically stagnant, people look around themselves and are encouraged to find ways to meet their expectations. With predatory lending, I think people get the impression that while it might sound risky, everybody is doing it, so why not me too? The sky couldn't possibly come crashing down on all of us, could it?
One can't easily attach a finanacial figure to the human misery that comes with having your home taken away from you, but we can quantify the overall cost of such a ponzi scheme when the party ends. It looks like the market is in the process of doing so, we'll see how it plays out.