“Abortion ‘Wrongs’”
Both sides in the abortion debate are wrong. As the debate is still conducted, Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice, neither side has the remotest chance of convincing anyone on the other to change their mind.
Abortion is at best a regrettable expedient. Abortion should be resorted to as rarely as possible. However:
1) Just because something is “wrong” does not mean it should be illegal. (Lying, adultery, smoking and gambling are other examples.) 2) Making abortion illegal would not stop abortions. It would, however, put those women at greater risk. 3) For anything to be made illegal there has to be a just way to punish the offenders. There are no just penalties for abortion. Punishing doctors for doing their best to care for their patients would be positively grotesque. Doctors are not the problem. 4) If abortion is “wrong” because (human) life is sacred then Pro-Life advocates should be pacifists. Most aren’t. And 5) As for the young women, I would not presume to tell them what to do. Frankly, there is no urgent or compelling non-religious reason to do so. And no one should impose their religious beliefs on anyone else.
(Published in the Rockford (IL) Register Star 11/10/04)
The following is another “Letter to the Editor” of mine published by the Rockford Register Star (rrstar.com).
“The conceit about truth” 6/18/09
We must be very careful about what beliefs we hold to be self-evident “truths.” (One rule of thumb is that: if it is not kind, it is not right.) No religion has a greater claim to “the truth” than any other. Although it is precisely that conceit, that their dogma represents the one “true” religion, that has fostered religious wars throughout history.
Yes, the truth is immutable, but primarily in the sense that the facts are the facts. "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts." A lack of respect for the facts is not only destructive to the quality of civil discourse, but essentially dishonest.
Abortion may be a sin, but the truth is almost no one actually believes it is murder. Almost no one advocates punishing women who have abortions, much less punishing them as murderers. Moreover, supposedly “pro-life” advocates often advocate aggressive military action, gun ownership and the death penalty.
So, “pray to end abortion,” or, more to the point, pray that no young women will feel the need to resort to abortion, but don’t seek to punish doctors for taking care of their patients.
(Note: the first quotation cited above (about opinion and facts) was a favorite of Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, but probably was not original to him. “Pray to end abortion” is a quote from a yard sign.)