554 Comments

“On January 22, 1973, Roe v. Wade effectively ended federal and state laws that required pregnant women to give birth.”

“Required to give birth” is a very funny way of saying, “not permitted to murder.”

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“ On January 22, 1973, Roe v. Wade effectively ended federal and state laws that required pregnant women to give birth. ”

I stopped reading here. This is a profound example of misdirection which is distracting from the fact that abortion necessitates the execution of a human and instead pretends it is nothing more than liberation for females. If one does not want to give birth, do not have sex. No one is forcing anyone to give birth, we simply ask that you not murder. No one is seeking to control women, we simply ask that you not murder. No one is seeking to take choices from women, we simply ask that you not rob others of their choices by killing them.

I would have loved to keep reading and discover what this article is about but the issue of executing the unborn is the most important issue of our time and anyone who fails to regard it with the same seriousness and urgency is not worth being listened to on any other topic. It is wrong to kill children.

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"...the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill in the 1970s and 1980s in the name of individual rights and dignity..."

Why can't/don't folks recognize this is one of the main causes of the homeless crisis?

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Growing the animal in a bag was part of developing methods to help extremely premature babies survive. You are being paranoid but I agree some nut will take it all that direction.

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A missed opportunity to probethe difference between the type of pain where we should build resilience, and the type we can reduce. Instead, this reads like an intro to a paen to pre-scientific approaches where acceptance was our only option.

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founding

I think some people aren’t clear about the distinction between effort and suffering. I do think alleviating pain is valuable. It’s a complex issue.

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Before she drowned, I was married to the perfect woman, perfect mother, and perfect friend. We had six children and she refused even tylenol, not wanting to take the chance an artificial substance which might enter the baby somehow. But women are as different as anything else, and most feel great pain at birth. In general, however, most forget their pains once their infant starts feeding.

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But my greater concern is Ms. Boyle's war on pain. I agree percocets were once handed out like candy but the media creation of a mom with a sprained arm becoming "hooked on oxy" and then searching the streets for more drugs. The vast majority of overdose deaths are those hooked on fentanyl or heroin far from prescriptions for percocets. Using that statistic as a basis for making it harder for doctors to prescribe pain killing medicines.

The lawsuits against Perdue and now pharmacies and pharmacists has these businesses less keen to stock needed drugs. At least half a dozen times I have presented legitimate prescriptions to a pharmacy that i used for years, only to find they no longer carry them. I am going through this once again today. I wore a minimal dose fentanyl patch for several years. It has worked well to keep the roller coaster ride of waves of pain better than any I have yet tried. Now the pharmacy cannot get them anymore. When this happened 18 months ago I went to 9 pharmacies for help until i went to one near my doctor's office. Now what? You are not allowed to have more than 30 days supply, Pharmacies legally cannot fill such scripts until time.

Another instance of those imaging they know better making life worse for common people. I truly hope Ms. Boyle never suffers chronic debilitating pain as it is hard and becoming harder to find medicines that help take the edge off. Yes, doctors never give enough to make the pain go all the way away. Only enough to make life bearable.

I really don't care if I become addicted to something which makes me feel better. People take medications for their heart, blood pressure, diabetes, etc., so why not for pain. Only those with years-long chronic pain understand. Oh, well.

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A lot of BS here. I hurt my back 25 years ago in the army. I live in pain pretty much every day.

If I ever find a way to fix that I'm going to do so right away.

Also, caring a child is REALLY hard on the body, and for many women will cause permanent problems. For a lot of women that tradeoff might be worth it. But for many women it won't be.

People need to make up their own minds.

Life will give us plenty of suffering to go through.

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Brilliant! Thank you, particularly for those last questions every one of us should analyze and resolve.

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People are so silly. Anything worth achieving takes experiencing discomfort and yes, even pain. It’s how we grow.

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Taken to its logical conclusions, this is an argument against civilization.

The entire civilizational project is devoted to the alleviation of human suffering. It’s why we live in buildings and sow crops into the earth.

Do people grow from the trials and tribulations of life? Sometimes. Does hardship make lives better? It can.

But it is not necessarily so. And while some may rise above their difficulties, others may be left to flounder in unending misery until the die.

Reduce suffering wherever possible. Full stop. You’ll still find it everywhere, regardless.

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Well said

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We would be remiss if we didn't include the standup comedian Brian Regan's classic "The Emergency Room" https://youtu.be/d2Vg3iSd5ms , the famous giving childbirth pain at #9.

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What a timely read. I will be cross posting this one. I host a monthly zoom call for my paid subscribers called Monthly Moments where we focus on one area of life and work to become better. This month I’m encouraging my readers to get interested in the darkness. To open up and embrace suffering because without the dark, the light cannot be seen in its full glory. Opposites are necessary. Our obsession with avoiding suffering is exactly what’s making us miserable as a society. For anyone who like to listen to the discussion here’s the link: https://open.substack.com/pub/eviefatz/p/monthly-moments?r=yw1ci&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post

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We grow through our suffering . We r forged through the fire. We learn from our mistakes and must accept the consequences of our actions. I hate suffering but it’s necessary for growth.

A good read is A Brave New World. They create fake wombs and women no longer give birth. There is no family . If u feel stressed u get a soma holiday . Free love for all but they all remain children.

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Excellent, thought provoking essay. Although cliched, there is no joy without pain, no sunshine without rain. Resilience is totally undervalued. This essay makes be think about suffering in terms of disease. With the invention of CRISPR, the medical community will be able to edit germline genes. Should they?

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