I was with you mostly up until the end. Just because some of the abolitionists and suffragettes went overboard doesn't mean that the slave owners and wife beaters were right about anything at all - the statement that you made was drawing a conclusion from something which can not be drawn, as there is absolutely no evidence to indicate that A -> B.

As for the very last bit... what, exactly, makes you think that I don't respect the opinions of any of the non-choicers on this board? There are non-choicers here whom you haven't seen me have any unpleasant words with at all, and it's not because I have never spoken to them.

I, like Dissident, listen to those who are reasonable and willing to listen in return. (Don't mean to put words into his mouth, but it seems to me that he and I are similar in this.) Some of the non-choicers are actually rational in how they state their concerns, even if the concern is misguided or misplaced (not that it always is). This does not mean that I agree with them on everything, but there are some non-choicers who do share some degree of common ground with the pro-choice side. Mostly, these are the ones who are non-choice because they can't see ways around their own personal hangups but generally want the pro-choice side to be right.

I don't buy the statement that children are as capable in all things as adults either, but that doesn't mean that I think that the children should get no say in those matters, either. Guidance is often a necessity and a gift, but the problem is that it is more often coercion for personal interest than guidance for the best interests of the child.