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"It seems obvious to me that planetary problems demand planetary government." That does not seem obvious to me at all. And I can't imagine a common set of gove

"It seems obvious to me that planetary problems demand planetary government." That does not seem obvious to me at all. And I can't imagine a common set of governing principles acceptable to Iceland, China, Russia and the Taliban. For example, looking at what is currently rocking the U.S., what would be the global policy on abortion?

jka 4y ago
> what would be the global policy on abortion? The U.N. Human Rights Committee has a recent (2019) publication[1], "General comment no. 36, Article 6 (Right to Life)" that contains an entry that is relevant to this question. Page two, item eight under "General Remarks": "Although States parties may adopt measures designed to regulate voluntary termination of pregnancy, those measures must not result in violation of the right to life of a pregnant woman or girl, or her other rights under the Covenant. Thus, restrictions on the ability of women or girls to seek abortion must not, inter alia, jeopardize their lives, subject them to physical or mental pain or suffering that violates article 7 of the Covenant, discriminate against them or arbitrarily interfere with their privacy. States parties must provide safe, legal and effective access to abortion where the life and health of the pregnant woman or girl is at risk, or where carrying a pregnancy to term would cause the pregnant woman or girl substantial pain or suffering, most notably where the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest or where the pregnancy is not viable. In addition, States parties may not regulate pregnancy or abortion in all other cases in a manner that runs contrary to their duty to ensure that women and girls do not have to resort to unsafe abortions, and they should revise their abortion laws accordingly. For example, they should not take measures such as criminalizing pregnancy of unmarried women or applying criminal sanctions to women and girls who undergo abortion or to medical service providers who assist them in doing so, since taking such measures compels women and girls to resort to unsafe abortion. States parties should remove existing barriers to effective access by women and girls to safe and legal abortion, including barriers caused as a result of the exercise of conscientious objection by individual medical providers, and should not introduce new barriers. States parties should also effectively protect the lives of women and girls against the mental and physical health risks associated with unsafe abortions. In particular, they should ensure access for women and men, and especially girls and boys, to quality and evidence-based information and education on sexual and reproductive health and to a wide range of affordable contraceptive methods, and prevent the stigmatization of women and girls who seek abortion. States parties should ensure the availability of, and effective access to, quality prenatal and post-abortion health care for women and girls, in all circumstances and on a confidential basis." [1] - https://www.refworld.org/docid/5e5e75e04.html https://www.refworld.org/docid/5e5e75e04.html
- sofixa 4y ago
  So Poland and US restrictions are blatantly against the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That's a fun fact to know.
  - freedom2099 4y ago
    Poland is not exactly a doing well at the moment!
ultim8k 4y ago
Abortion should be a human right. All countries that don’t respect that should pay huge fines. Thanks for giving that example.
- h2odragon 4y ago
  Until when? I advocate parental "take backs" up til the kid's 18, but some think I'm a bit extreme. I don't think forcing my opinion on anyone who disagrees is correct, but then neither do I want others' opinions forced on me.
- sparkie 4y ago
  Pay fines to who? What about the human rights of the unborn babies?
  - sofixa 4y ago
    Legally they aren't humans, and hence have no rights, until birth.
    - sparkie 4y ago
      "Human" isn't a legal term, and it pre-dates modern laws entirely. It simply refers to a member of the homo species. And who determines whether or not the unborn have rights? Rights are given by god, not some legislature.
      - sofixa 4y ago
        > Rights are given by god Whose god? Allah? Buddha? No, rights are natural, books with legends and stories have nothing to do with it, but their legal framework is provided by legislatures.
- pfortuny 4y ago
  You are entitled to that opinion as others are to the very huge gray intermediates AND the total opposite. Why not?
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
thomassmith65 4y ago
what would be the global policy on abortion? Probably none. I agree with the author that we need world government, but it would be stupid to have the highest level of government stipulate all laws for every nation, state, province, county, town and village beneath it.
- thatjoeoverthr 4y ago
  One could say that about the Americans but they do it almost compulsively, and completely ignore levels of government where nearly everything actually happens. Many current American problems are locally managed including housing and real estate but so much energy goes to the President, partly because he -pertains to- so many people. Many people are explicit that whatever is on their minds must be done “nationally”. What’s to stop this pattern from repeating at a greater scale?
  - thomassmith65 4y ago
    What’s to stop this pattern from repeating at a greater scale? A well-designed constitution would be a start. Not that there is an air-tight guarantee that a government won't turn bad. But we currently have over a half dozen governments with nuclear weapons. On the whole, I'd rather just worry about one.
    - thatjoeoverthr 4y ago
      One you can’t leave
      - thomassmith65 4y ago
        Yes, that's the proposition: potential bad government instead of potential extinction.
        thatjoeoverthr 4y ago
        No thanks. Easy. Bad government is a predictable outcome. Extinction risk is wildly overrated and doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.
bryanlarsen 4y ago
Abortion isn't a global problem, it's a local problem. The citizens of Africa aren't victimized because Texas bans abortion. The citizens of Africa are victimized when Texas subsidizes oil production. I'm not a fan of a world government, but a mechanism for dealing with the problems of sharing resources and dealing with free riders and the race to the bottom would be appreciated.

jka 4y ago

> what would be the global policy on abortion? The U.N. Human Rights Committee has a recent (2019) publication[1], "General comment no. 36, Article 6 (Right to Life)" that contains an entry that is relevant to this question. Page two, item eight under "General Remarks": "Although States parties may adopt measures designed to regulate voluntary termination of pregnancy, those measures must not result in violation of the right to life of a pregnant woman or girl, or her other rights under the Covenant. Thus, restrictions on the ability of women or girls to seek abortion must not, inter alia, jeopardize their lives, subject them to physical or mental pain or suffering that violates article 7 of the Covenant, discriminate against them or arbitrarily interfere with their privacy. States parties must provide safe, legal and effective access to abortion where the life and health of the pregnant woman or girl is at risk, or where carrying a pregnancy to term would cause the pregnant woman or girl substantial pain or suffering, most notably where the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest or where the pregnancy is not viable. In addition, States parties may not regulate pregnancy or abortion in all other cases in a manner that runs contrary to their duty to ensure that women and girls do not have to resort to unsafe abortions, and they should revise their abortion laws accordingly. For example, they should not take measures such as criminalizing pregnancy of unmarried women or applying criminal sanctions to women and girls who undergo abortion or to medical service providers who assist them in doing so, since taking such measures compels women and girls to resort to unsafe abortion. States parties should remove existing barriers to effective access by women and girls to safe and legal abortion, including barriers caused as a result of the exercise of conscientious objection by individual medical providers, and should not introduce new barriers. States parties should also effectively protect the lives of women and girls against the mental and physical health risks associated with unsafe abortions. In particular, they should ensure access for women and men, and especially girls and boys, to quality and evidence-based information and education on sexual and reproductive health and to a wide range of affordable contraceptive methods, and prevent the stigmatization of women and girls who seek abortion. States parties should ensure the availability of, and effective access to, quality prenatal and post-abortion health care for women and girls, in all circumstances and on a confidential basis." [1] - https://www.refworld.org/docid/5e5e75e04.html https://www.refworld.org/docid/5e5e75e04.html

sofixa 4y ago
So Poland and US restrictions are blatantly against the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That's a fun fact to know.
- freedom2099 4y ago
  Poland is not exactly a doing well at the moment!

ultim8k 4y ago

Abortion should be a human right. All countries that don’t respect that should pay huge fines. Thanks for giving that example.

h2odragon 4y ago
Until when? I advocate parental "take backs" up til the kid's 18, but some think I'm a bit extreme. I don't think forcing my opinion on anyone who disagrees is correct, but then neither do I want others' opinions forced on me.
sparkie 4y ago
Pay fines to who? What about the human rights of the unborn babies?
- sofixa 4y ago
  Legally they aren't humans, and hence have no rights, until birth.
  - sparkie 4y ago
    "Human" isn't a legal term, and it pre-dates modern laws entirely. It simply refers to a member of the homo species. And who determines whether or not the unborn have rights? Rights are given by god, not some legislature.
    - sofixa 4y ago
      > Rights are given by god Whose god? Allah? Buddha? No, rights are natural, books with legends and stories have nothing to do with it, but their legal framework is provided by legislatures.
pfortuny 4y ago
You are entitled to that opinion as others are to the very huge gray intermediates AND the total opposite. Why not?

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

thomassmith65 4y ago

what would be the global policy on abortion? Probably none. I agree with the author that we need world government, but it would be stupid to have the highest level of government stipulate all laws for every nation, state, province, county, town and village beneath it.

thatjoeoverthr 4y ago
One could say that about the Americans but they do it almost compulsively, and completely ignore levels of government where nearly everything actually happens. Many current American problems are locally managed including housing and real estate but so much energy goes to the President, partly because he -pertains to- so many people. Many people are explicit that whatever is on their minds must be done “nationally”. What’s to stop this pattern from repeating at a greater scale?
- thomassmith65 4y ago
  What’s to stop this pattern from repeating at a greater scale? A well-designed constitution would be a start. Not that there is an air-tight guarantee that a government won't turn bad. But we currently have over a half dozen governments with nuclear weapons. On the whole, I'd rather just worry about one.
  - thatjoeoverthr 4y ago
    One you can’t leave
    - thomassmith65 4y ago
      Yes, that's the proposition: potential bad government instead of potential extinction.
      - thatjoeoverthr 4y ago
        No thanks. Easy. Bad government is a predictable outcome. Extinction risk is wildly overrated and doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.

bryanlarsen 4y ago

Abortion isn't a global problem, it's a local problem. The citizens of Africa aren't victimized because Texas bans abortion. The citizens of Africa are victimized when Texas subsidizes oil production. I'm not a fan of a world government, but a mechanism for dealing with the problems of sharing resources and dealing with free riders and the race to the bottom would be appreciated.