Letter to Eddie Vedder by Gary Cherone
“My hope is to introduce as many who will listen, regardless of where they stand, to Libertarians for Life. For their arguments are persuasive, reasoning from science and philosophy. Anyone with an objective mind will find them hard to ignore.” -Gary Cherone (pictured left)
For some time now, Eddie Vedder, lead singer of Pearl Jam has spoken out in favor of abortion choice. In June of 1999, the rock world heard a different take on the issue when Gary Cherone (at the time, lead singer of the band Van Halen, formerly of Extreme) penned an Open Letter to Vedder.
This pro-life response letter caused a stir, and in November of 1999, Cherone discussed the matter on Fox TV’s “O’Reilly Factor.” Vedder (pictured on right) has yet to respond, but the issue remains. Here’s a copy of an Open Letter.
“I feel like I know every angle of this issue,”said Eddie Vedder.
“I know the adoption angle; I know what it’s like to be fifteen and be in a situation
and have to make a decision.
Terminating pregnancy is not an easy thing.”
—Eddie Vedder, Rolling Stone 11/12/98 #799
What About the 98.6 Degree Angle?
Another Letter to Eddie Vedder by Gary Cherone
The vast majority of people who support abortion
take that position with the firm conviction that life does not begin at conception.
That being said…
If one personally felt “terminating pregnancy is not an easy thing”
but was the right of the individual to make that “decision”
Is the life within the mother’s womb a human person?
If the answer is no, it is not a human person
Why would one feel it “is not an easy thing” to do?
If the answer is yes, it is a human person
Why would one advocate “terminating” it?
If the answer is I don’t know, if it is, or isn’t a human person
How many more “decision(s)” would one make in an uncertain “situation”?
If the unborn is not a human person
No justification for abortion is necessary
However…
If the unborn is a human person
No justification for abortion is adequate.
Nearly all arguments for abortion
are based on the faulty premise
that the unborn are not fully human.
Respectfully,
Gary Cherone
(1/22/2001)
Copyright ©2001, Gary Cherone
Credit for source must be given to Libertarians for Life.
http://www.l4l.org/gary/index.html
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I believe all living organs or humans within a womans or mans body including all her organs or baby or any other substance living or dead within a womans body is her own property to do with what she chooses.
Your body and its insides are all that you ever really own.
Having a government or religious group or any other human tell any other human what they can or can not do with another humans own insides is a radical violation of personal property rights.
The babies that anti abortionists care so deeply about are not their property to decide what is to be done. Anti abortionists can claim that the unborn have a right to life. However the antiabortionists have no rights concerning an unborn fetus in a mothers stomach and never will.
I do not personally think I could live with an abortion however I believe in every humans rights to their own body parts organs and personal property including children.
Until that baby is born and can survive on ones own it is the mothers property and it always will be no matter what religion or government says or rules.
Children are not our personal property.
brainofjfk – Clearly you are both a Pearl Jam fan and an Eddie Vedder fan, as am I going back nearly 17 years. I have nearly every song they have ever recorded on my ipod.
However, I choose not to form my political opinions and/or religous beliefs based simply on those opinions of artists work for which I admire. Knowing many many Vedder and Pearl Jam fans, I know that all too often, impressionable fans’ ideals have been shaped solely by the influence of the band and Vedder himself, with little substance to the facts or the actual matters for which they proclaim to endorse or condemn.
The fundamental flaw with your argument and the thing that pro-choice proponents seem to not be able (or want) to graspe is the fact that the unborn fetus, embryo, cluster of cells…whathever you want to call it, is not the mother or anyone else’s “personal property,” but instead that all life is the property of God, who ordains it.
Anti-Abortionists aren’t trying to tell a woman what she can or can’t do with her own body or personal property because that life growing inside of her isn’t an organ or part of her own body to begin with, nor is it her “personal property.”
Most anti-abortionists stand on the premise that God ordains all life and the he conceives of each of us in the womb from the beginning of time. If a woman becomes pregnant, she has essentially been given a responsibility to act as a vessel and deliverer of that life growing inside of her. To terminate that at any point isn’t a decision that is hers to make.
That decision lies with God.
obviously people hate cerone after van halen.but he rokz and yall know it hate on he did the right thing!
A lot of these arguments begin and end with statements such as… I believe… or have an argument to do with the existance of a god. Unfortunately, not everyone believes in god. I suppose in these people’s minds that I am going to hell, but since I don’t really believe in hell, that’s fine with me. Hell sounds like a fine place compared to the heaven most christians have created. If there is no sex in heaven, count me out. But moving on to the subject here:
I respect your right to keep a child. Can’t you respect other people’s rights to get rid of a child? It doesn’t matter if human life begins at conception or some time after. If a parent doesn’t want a child, they have the freedom. They are allowed to get rid of it. In most cases, it would be better to abort a child than have a child. Unfortunately, In America, the stupid rule. Most cases where abortion would be beneficial, people decide to keep the baby. Sure, many people abort a child they could care for, but that’s their choice. I’m tired of paying taxes for children going to school that should either be placed up for adoption, or never should have been born in the first place. People are trying to control others based on their religious beliefs. If you can’t cite religion as one of your excuses for being pro-life, your arguments seem to fall apart. Not everyone shares the same morales or values. Abortion should be a privilidge and a right, if you so choose it.
Giving birth needs to turn to this as well. If we want less abortions, try to protect people from getting pregnant in the first place. No one will agree with me here, so I’ll sign off and see most of ya’ll in hell. You’ll go for passing judgement and casting stones.
I myself feel that abortion is wrong. I do think that if you were responsible in the first place you should not have to worry about conceiving an unwanted child. I myself was irresponsible and became pregnant and the biological father of my son wanted me to terminate the pregnancy, of course I knew in my heart that it is wrong, as it was wrong to have unprotected sex in the first place. I can not imagine my life without my son. I made it through the difficult trials by the grace of God. I pray for those who do not believe, one day we will all answer for our sins.
i am a huge fan of eddie vedder but i do not agree with his stand on abortion. i only just discovered gary cherone and i have to say i greatly admire him as another rock musician standing up for his beliefs and even against someone as popular/famous as vedder and in an extreme left wing environment. aside from religion, while it is true that a woman’s body is her own and her child is considered her “property”, she does not have the right to terminate a human life just as it is not her right to abuse a child even should the child belong to her. i believe that from the moment of conception it is a human life with the potential for full human growth. it already has a soul and spirit.
Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs,but, has Eddie Vedder, an animal rights activist/vegetarian, ever asked himself about the right of the unborn animals, homo sapiens? Why is it ok to kill the human animal, but not acceptable to euthanize unwanted pets, or hunt game/raise poultry/cattle/pigs/sheep intentionally for food? Animal rights activists say “be responsible for your pets it’s not right to kill pets just because you don’t want them, etc.” Be responsible for your, body/actions and accept consequences for said actions that will affect LIFE, all life. Don’t discriminate, humans are animals too!