5 ms·

It's a little presumptive to say substantially higher risk, there's no way to know what technology will look like in 100+ years. I think it's a fairly reasonabl

It's a little presumptive to say substantially higher risk, there's no way to know what technology will look like in 100+ years. I think it's a fairly reasonable guess to say that 100 years from now, there will be negligible to no risk in undergoing any medical procedures that are common today. I think a technical solution to abortion is more likely in that time than a cultural one. I'm making that prediction based on current development. Factor in the likelihood of AGI, and you're potentially looking at an entirely alien reality. Alternately, we've peaked or nearly peaked and we'll stall out in a few decades. I think this is highly unlikely but not impossible. You can imagine a farmer in 1000AD hearing that we'll ban slavery in the future and thinking, "Awful, only the rich will be able to afford food."

schreiaj 6y ago
Surgical procedure vs non surgical procedure always seems like a higher risk to me. Sure we will build systems to lower those risks but removing it entirely is currently well beyond our capabilities. Sure I can make up miracle solutions but given the data we have today removing abortion and saying “just have it surgically removed and implanted in this tube” seems less than great. I still ignored the obvious questions of who pays for that given it likely ends up more expensive than abortion (ongoing costs) and that it really doesn’t solve the moral issues given there’s still be the shaming that happens around abortions, the usual crap about “irresponsible women”. I think this is all a great option but I don’t see it replacing abortion for multiple reasons.
Stupulous 6y ago
Can't edit from here, but wanted to add: Birth control developments will probably be the dominant factor in this area going forward. Someone will develop a way to control your fertility on the fly, and the issue will nearly evaporate (deliberate but regretted pregnancies and whatever the failure rate of the tech is will remain). External wombs will have a place as a voluntary procedure for women who want children without going through pregnancy and for gay male couples.
- arkh 6y ago
  What about single men who want children? I think that's the scenario which will get a lot of pushback from usually progressive people.
  - klyrs 6y ago
    Speaking as a progressive woman, that was actually the first thing I thought of. Y'all can have babies without us. More power to you.
  - tacocataco 6y ago
    I've been reading your comment for a while now and I honestly can't think of a reason progressives would be against single parent fathers. Is it because he needs a egg from a woman? I must be missing something.

schreiaj 6y ago

Surgical procedure vs non surgical procedure always seems like a higher risk to me. Sure we will build systems to lower those risks but removing it entirely is currently well beyond our capabilities. Sure I can make up miracle solutions but given the data we have today removing abortion and saying “just have it surgically removed and implanted in this tube” seems less than great. I still ignored the obvious questions of who pays for that given it likely ends up more expensive than abortion (ongoing costs) and that it really doesn’t solve the moral issues given there’s still be the shaming that happens around abortions, the usual crap about “irresponsible women”. I think this is all a great option but I don’t see it replacing abortion for multiple reasons.

Stupulous 6y ago

Can't edit from here, but wanted to add: Birth control developments will probably be the dominant factor in this area going forward. Someone will develop a way to control your fertility on the fly, and the issue will nearly evaporate (deliberate but regretted pregnancies and whatever the failure rate of the tech is will remain). External wombs will have a place as a voluntary procedure for women who want children without going through pregnancy and for gay male couples.

arkh 6y ago
What about single men who want children? I think that's the scenario which will get a lot of pushback from usually progressive people.
- klyrs 6y ago
  Speaking as a progressive woman, that was actually the first thing I thought of. Y'all can have babies without us. More power to you.
- tacocataco 6y ago
  I've been reading your comment for a while now and I honestly can't think of a reason progressives would be against single parent fathers. Is it because he needs a egg from a woman? I must be missing something.