Dear runner,

The fetus is human whether you call it a fetus or something else. I haven't renamed a fetus. That is the correct medical term. Those who call it an unborn baby have renamed it. Every sperm cell in a human male is human. Every egg cell in a human female is human. I am an undead human. Some day I will be a dead human. However, I think a woman has the right to terminate a pregnancy which means ending the existence of a fetus.

Jesus never disowned his religion. He was a Jew according to what is told of him. He was not a Christian. People who call themselves Christians have rejected the religion of Jesus. That is their right. They do not have to accept the religion of Jesus, but it doesn't seem honest to call themselves followers of Jesus and reject his religion.

I don't think there is a God. If I am right that means we are all godless. Some godless people think there is a God. You are a godless person who thinks there is a God. I am a godless person who doesn't think there is a God.

There are many religions. Most people with a religion have the same religion as their parents. I see no need for any religion. If a person is kind, considerate and caring it doesn't matter what that person believes. If a person is not kind, considerate and caring it doesn't matter what that person believes either.

'If a person is not kind, considerate and caring it doesn't matter what that person believes either.'

Yep tearing up the bodies of the unborn is very 'kind' David f.

Dear runner,

You don't really seem to care what a pregnant woman wants. Most people think a woman has the right to decide whether she wants to continue a pregnancy. Our current law reflects that view. If you ban legal abortion the backyard butchers, attempted abortion by knitting needle and suicide by desperate women will all come back. Whether you want it or not that is what will happen. In my view that is much more immoral than legal abortion. We differ on what is moral and what is immoral. Who are you to override a woman's choice? I think your opposition to legal abortion is immoral.

To David f.

Although I think pornography is a bad thing, I'd be more ok with it being only there for those who are at least adults. With that in mind porn shops aren't as much my concern as the internet's one click away from any fantasy. I'm not as knowledgeable of the apps or the devices that restrict access for parents to use for their kids. I hope they work well, and if so that helps relieve a lot of the burden for this topic in that I'm presenting for.

For that I just wanted to thank you. I don't know if they do a good job or not but at least it's something. And that's a start.

Dear NNS,

One problem with abortion, pornography, alcohol, prostitution, addictive drugs or other activities that satisfy human desires but also have bad effects is that if you ban them, they go underground. They continue as illegal activities. They finance crime. There is no way to protect the people who engage in those activities. They increase police corruption as police are paid off to let those activities continue.

I could live in a world where there was no abortion, pornography, alcohol, addictive drugs, gambling or prostitution. I've had one alcoholic drink this year. The community where I live is Prins Willem Alexander Retirement Village which is primarily for the Dutch in Australia. The one drink I had was a toast to the King of the Netherlands when the Dutch ambassador visited. Although I sometimes look at pornography it would be no hardship for me to be without it. I don’t gamble. I am very happily married. I have never smoked pot or used any other narcotic. I could also live in a world without prostitution, addictive drugs or abortion.

However, to live in such a world is not an available choice. There is no such world. The choice we have is to make these activities legal or illegal. If these activities are legal they can be regulated. Addiction to substances, gambling or sex can be treated as a medical rather than a criminal problem. Abortion can be a medical procedure which a woman can freely choose. Contraceptive devices and education can make it less likely that a woman needs an abortion. Police are free to pursue murder, rape, robbery and other crimes.

From “The Official History of Criminal Justice in England and Wales”:

“Adult sexual behavior not involving minors, force, fraud or public indecency belongs to the realm of private conduct, not of criminal law. Nearly all civilized countries recognize the futility of making into crimes what are regarded as sins against morality.”

To David F.

I disagree with the idea of making everything legal in order to try and control it. Some things you have to stand against by the laws saying this or that is illegal. By making an activity illegal, you remove it from being an industry that becomes a business, to being a criminal activity that has criminal elements in it. The trade off is that an industry will be more used being a business, but the criminal element will invite underground elements and feed both organized and amateur crime rates.

There are some drugs that should stay illegal. Don't let them become part of a cooperation. Don't make a business out of the same things that greatly harm people and society. It's asking for more trouble then is recognized.

With regards to legalizing or criminalizing certain behaviors, such as abortion, prostitution, gambling and such the same is true as it is for legalizing drugs. Making it illegal adds it to a chain of criminal undercurrents, but making it legal will make it an industry that will be used more. For instance can you imagine if murder was legal? If there was a legal route to have licensed hit men, and have that as a business plan? In the same way that certain drugs should not be legal because of the effects they put on a person (as well as the risk for death in one dose from certain drugs); certain behaviors should not be legal in order to remove them from criminal undercurrents.

(Continued)