Listen to Me Page #9

---

as they did in Roe v. Wade.

Besides, condemning

judicial activism,

we will also argue that

that this decision

has promoted

sexually irresponsible

behavior,

by making abortion

so accessible and

morally sanctioned,

that it has become

our nation's

main form of birth control.

Philosophically,

we will suggest that

abortion is a cancer,

eating away the

moral fabric of this society

and that it places unfair

responsibilities on women.

But before I continue,

I'd just like to say on behalf

of my partner and myself,

that this is the

greatest honor of our lives.

To be standing before you

esteemed ladies and gentlemen

of the highest court

in this land.

And to be debating the

renowned Harvard team

of Lloynd and Shields.

We expect to learn

a great deal

from you today, gentlemen.

-Tell me, Miss Tomanski.

-MONICA:
Yes.

Would you deny an abortion to

the victim of incest or rape?

To a woman whose

life or health were in danger?

Absolutely not.

We are simply saying that

Roe v. Wade is unjustified

because it is improper

for the Supreme Court

to create laws.

That's why we

have legislatures.

Have you offered these judges

any evidence

that all 50 states

would grant women

their right to abortion?

How could I? There's no

way of knowing for sure

what each state would do.

The Washington Post

has stated,

"The returning the regulation

of abortion back to the state,

"would result in bitterness

and divisiveness,

"legislative struggle,

litigation,

"women forced to long

distances for legal abortion.

"And poor people

forced into having

"dangerous

back-alley abortions."

You have the counter evidence

to these conclusions?

I have one last question,

Miss Tomanski.

You claim that you support

a woman's right to abortion,

but that it should be

voted on by the state, right?

Right.

If you are so willing

to let a male dominated

state legislature,

vote on whether or not you

have the right to abortion,

will you let them vote

next year on whether or not

you have the

right to free speech?

(AUDIENCE MURMURING)

No more questions.

Before Roe v. Wade,

there were only, uh,

98,000 illegal abortions

performed in the

United States.

Now, compare that

with the current rate of

1.5 million legal

abortions per year,

and you can easily see that

that would leave us with

1.4 million babies that could

be adopted immediately.

We'd like to know

the source and date

of those statistics,

Mr. Muldowney.

Yeah, well, that would

take us a little while

to dig out of our files.

Go digging, Mr. Muldowney.

(SIGHS) Help me.

I don't know where I put it.

The evidence is from

Thomas H. Hilder.

-Thomas H. Hilder.

-Yes.

Isn't it a fact that

professor Carl Djerassi

of Stanford University,

wrote in the April 1986,

Bulletin of Atomic Scientists,

that Hilder's illegal

abortion estimates

are based on exaggerated

maternal mortality figures?

I'm not gonna con you,

they're killing us.

-Professor Nichols...

-Please!

Please, not now, not now.

But remember,

to pull this thing out,

we only have to win

one of our two arguments.

The legal or

the philosophical.

And we only need three

of the five judges

to go along with us.

-Oh, is that all?

-Be serious, this is hopeless.

It's not hopeless!

It's just one of those

moments in life

you're always talking

about, Muldowney.

Have we got

a pocket for $10,

or go chasing

after the guy?

Then what are we

supposed to do?

I want you to pick an argument

you think you can win.

But we're certainly

not winning with the legal.

CHARLIE:
Then go for

the philosophical.

Give them your best rhetoric.

We can't win

this thing on facts,

then we damn well better

win it on drama.

What drama?

You'll have to find

that in yourselves.

(LAUGHING)

This is ridiculous.

(HUFFING)

Hey, forget that junk.

It's not in there.

Then where is it?

What I am about

to tell you is something

I haven't told anyone

in four very long years.

Not my parents.

Not a single friend.

No one.

The reason I'm telling

you this today, is because

I realized, very recently,

that life may not be the

long ride we think it will be.

And because there's obviously

no other way to cut through

these cold statistics and

rational opinion and give you,

men in particular,

a true look into

the hearts of women.

When I was 14 years old,

I was raped by one

of the bartenders who

worked in my father's bar.

I got pregnant,

and I had an abortion.

(DEEP SIGH) Afterwards,

I couldn't trust men at all.

I couldn't relax.

(BREATHES DEEPLY)

Or feel anything.

And I carried around

with me this deep

depression about life.

And I blamed it,

with all the rest,

on the rape.

But this year I realized

that the abortion had

affected me just as much.

You see, abortion is

a deceptive issue.

When it's happening all loaded

up on Demerol, it doesn't seem

like such a big deal.

Just a minor operation to

remove a major problem.

But later,

sometimes, years later,

it hits you what you've done.

It doesn't just hit you,

it devastates you.

For some women,

this awareness comes

when they watch a movie,

when they see kids

playing in the park.

For me it came when I saw

a close friend of mine dying.

(SOBBING) Yes,

I had an abortion.

And I'd do it again

if I was raped.

(SNIFFLING)

But what I realized,

the night that my friend died,

was that life,

born and unborn, is precious.

And waste even one life,

(VOICE BREAKING)

even the life that I wasted,

is so very sad.

(SOBBING CONTINUES)

Don't you see the bind

we women are in?

With Roe v. Wade you gave

us the freedom we needed.

The freedom we deserved!

To be the final voice of what

happens to our own bodies.

But on the other hand,

you gave us a cross too heavy

for any woman or

man to carry alone.

Because you gave

us the God-like power,

to terminate life.

Biologically,

this responsibility

falls on the female,

but ethically, it should fall

equally on the male.

(WHISPERS)

You men in general

don't want to know anything

about this, do you?

You women,

most of you, wouldn't mind

sweeping all these

questions under the carpet,

but you're both wrong.

You're both running from

the responsibility we all have

in matters where

human life is at stake.

And the day we stop

running and fighting,

and we start talking

to each other about it,

is the day that we can

finally call ourselves

a civilized nation.

(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)

Oh, that was brilliant!

You were fantastic!

If you believe that one,

I've got one hell of a bridge

to show you that just

happens to be for sale.

(LAUGHING)

I quote, "If you are losing

a debate, be prepared to say

anything to turn it around."

End quote.

We've all read your

brilliant text book,

coach Nichols.

So let's nudge this

debate back onto a

more factual foundation.

Shall we?

Harvard has dismantled

the affirmative position

on every key issue.

We have defended

freedom of choice for women.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes