It's Time For Transoption
In 1986, science fiction writer Victor Koman was asked by his friend, magazine writer Samuel Edward Konkin III, "Why do abortion opponents spend their time trying to outlaw the procedure instead of rescuing as many viable fetuses as they could and raising them?" After pondering this question, Koman wrote Solomon's Knife, a novel about a doctor who devises a surgical procedure to transfer an embryo from the womb of a pregnant woman who wants to terminate her pregnancy, to the womb of an infertile woman who wants to be pregnant, thus serving the needs of both women and perserving the life of the unborn. Koman called the procedure "transoption", a blend of the words transfer and adoption. Transoption would be a way of giving both sides in the abortion debate what they say they want: the ability to end a pregnancy and yet preserve the prenatal human life.
Now that this idea has been around for 16+ years, why haven't thousands of activists latched onto it and demanded a research program to make transoption possible? Why doesn't the Department of Health and Human Services begin a "Fetus Defense Initiative" to bring it about? Could it be that there are more than two factions debating abortion? Victor Koman identifies four in his novel:
1. Pro-Lifers who only want to save the lives of the unborn.
2. Pro-Choicers who only want women to be able to escape unwanted pregnancies.
3. Pro-Lifers who want the same as Faction 1, plus the power to control the women and their wombs as well.
4. Pro-Choicers who want the same as Faction 2, plus the power to kill the unborn as well.
The extremists occupying Factions 3 and 4 never publicly admit their desire for power over women and fetuses, respectively, but the advent of transoption would force them to do so. Could it be that these tiny minorities, knowing that transoption could solve the problem motivating most abortion-issue activists, and knowing that it could reduce or eliminate their power bases, have been working to suppress the very idea of transoption? If this is not the case, then why has this brilliant idea received no attention from the media, the medical, health-care and religious communities, and the communities of activists focusing on abortion?
My personal experience suggests that the transoption idea is being suppressed. I first stumbled across Solomon's Knife while browsing in the Sunnyvale Library back in 2000. Last month while preparing for a sermon on transoption, I tried checking it out again, but it was no longer even listed in the library catalog. I tried other nearby libraries but the book was nowhere to be found. The Santa Clara County Library System had it listed, but the number of copies was zero. Don Phillips of the Milpitas Public Library explained that the book was lost or stolen, but hadn't yet been purged from the online catalog. After hearing about my efforts to find Solomon's Knife and reading about it online, Don heroically rush-ordered a copy for me, because he loves controversial books and hates censorship.
With a little help from like-minded people who become aware of these mysterious book disappearances, I'm hoping Solomon's Knife will once again grace the shelves of libraries all across the Bay Area. I'm hoping the transoption idea will bubble up to the chattering class, gain traction in the blogosphere, start a conversation bridging political and religious divides, energize the medical community to develop transoption technology, and finally eliminate the demand for abortions and abortion-issue activists.
Now that this idea has been around for 16+ years, why haven't thousands of activists latched onto it and demanded a research program to make transoption possible? Why doesn't the Department of Health and Human Services begin a "Fetus Defense Initiative" to bring it about? Could it be that there are more than two factions debating abortion? Victor Koman identifies four in his novel:
1. Pro-Lifers who only want to save the lives of the unborn.
2. Pro-Choicers who only want women to be able to escape unwanted pregnancies.
3. Pro-Lifers who want the same as Faction 1, plus the power to control the women and their wombs as well.
4. Pro-Choicers who want the same as Faction 2, plus the power to kill the unborn as well.
The extremists occupying Factions 3 and 4 never publicly admit their desire for power over women and fetuses, respectively, but the advent of transoption would force them to do so. Could it be that these tiny minorities, knowing that transoption could solve the problem motivating most abortion-issue activists, and knowing that it could reduce or eliminate their power bases, have been working to suppress the very idea of transoption? If this is not the case, then why has this brilliant idea received no attention from the media, the medical, health-care and religious communities, and the communities of activists focusing on abortion?
My personal experience suggests that the transoption idea is being suppressed. I first stumbled across Solomon's Knife while browsing in the Sunnyvale Library back in 2000. Last month while preparing for a sermon on transoption, I tried checking it out again, but it was no longer even listed in the library catalog. I tried other nearby libraries but the book was nowhere to be found. The Santa Clara County Library System had it listed, but the number of copies was zero. Don Phillips of the Milpitas Public Library explained that the book was lost or stolen, but hadn't yet been purged from the online catalog. After hearing about my efforts to find Solomon's Knife and reading about it online, Don heroically rush-ordered a copy for me, because he loves controversial books and hates censorship.
With a little help from like-minded people who become aware of these mysterious book disappearances, I'm hoping Solomon's Knife will once again grace the shelves of libraries all across the Bay Area. I'm hoping the transoption idea will bubble up to the chattering class, gain traction in the blogosphere, start a conversation bridging political and religious divides, energize the medical community to develop transoption technology, and finally eliminate the demand for abortions and abortion-issue activists.
posted by Michael Pelizzari at 11:43 PM
3 Comments:
Wow! A great review/analysis of the transoption concept. I had the same thing happen to a copy of the book I had donated to a local library, except their explanation was that if a book goes for a length of time without being checked out, it gets removed to make room for more current books. But fear not, Solomon's Knife is available again in a new, slightly updated edition at http://www.kopubco.com/sk_trade.html.
Thanks for your support!
Victor Koman
And eight years later, still no transoption, but the book is now available for Kindle devices: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HNZ0UGE/
Thanks again for your continuing support!
--Victor Koman
After the Supremes struck down a woman's right to choose abortion, I started googling on transoption, and still find zilch.
Do you know whether medical technology is any closer to transoption (or its medical-jargon equivalent) than it was when you published Solomon's Knife 35 years ago?
Post a Comment
<< Home