Two days ago, I attended a debate on the legal status of abortion between CCBR’s executive director Stephanie Gray and Dr. Molly Ladd-Taylor, a history professor at Toronto’s York University. Since history is my field of interest as well, I was looking forward to seeing how Dr. Ladd-Taylor would present her case. I was quite disappointed; the entire debate, she emphasized two things: First, the “slippery slope” of “constructing fetal rights” in regards to the legal ramifications of banning abortion, and second, that the state had no right to deny women “access to health care.”
Obviously I find the idea of a “slippery slope” argument in regards to “constructing fetal rights” to be incredibly ironic considering the actual reality, which I’ve written on multiple times: The “pro-choice” movement fiercely denies the existence of a Culture of Death slippery slope while leaping to defend any new category of killings when residing on the bottom of said slope. But clearly, we need to define our terms in this battle of rhetoric. So the prominent question here is this: What is health care?
Now, I have no desire to endlessly discuss Barack Obama’s healthcare plan here. Obviously, I am opposed to any plan that would facilitate the ending of human life through abortion or abortifacients, outside of any argument regarding the pros and cons of socialized medicine. But in order to judge this ever recurring “health care” argument, let’s take a look at the actual definition: “The prevention, treatment, and management of illness and the preservation of mental and physical well-being through the services offered by the medical and allied health professions.”
First, just to make an obvious observation in regards to the much-discussed HHS Mandate (which I oppose because it endangers religious freedoms, imposes the state’s religious view on citizens, and facilitates the ending of human life through abortifacients), contraception is not health care. Pregnancy is not a disease; it is a fundamentally natural human process. This holds true whether you are an atheist or a religious person. Thus, the prevention of pregnancy is by very definition a “choice.” And there are more than enough organizations that are thrilled to satisfy our decadent culture’s need for constant recreational sex without forcing those who are morally opposed to that to become collaborators in the hedonistic spiral.
Second, what about the constant claim that abortion is “health care”? Most obviously, I would cite the fact that the mental and physical ramifications of abortion are staggeringly negative. I’m confused when people howl hysterically at this statement, as it seems eminently intuitive to me considering the science behind this. Interrupting a natural process is going to have consequences, both psychological and physical. (You know, the whole “action, reaction thing.”) There are mountains of evidence to support this, and they’re not religious. It’s enormously deceitful to claim that abortion in any way contributes to “the preservation of mental and physical wellbeing” of someone, regardless of one’s life circumstances.
In fact, the pro-abortion movement even has the gall to call abortions “necessary.” You can’t have it both ways—if you want to make the hugely dishonest claim that abortion is a “necessary” procedure, as if having one’s offspring suctioned out of her uterus is somehow analogous to cancer treatment, you cannot simultaneously assert that abortion on demand is not a big deal, and that no discussion is necessary.
It really shows the true colors of the abortion movement—they first claim that abortion isn’t a big deal at all, and that we should just get over our hang-ups about prenatal infanticide. Fast forward a bit down the road, and abortion is suddenly a very big deal, and the “right” to off one’s offspring is a fundamental human right that should be paid for by the taxpayers. Those who promulgate the Culture of Death will never be satisfied with “choice,” and we would do well to realize that indifference in this regard is, to paraphrase Churchill, feeding a hungry crocodile while hoping it will eat you last.
When we hear the destruction of innocent life being called “health care,” it should be a rallying cry for all pro-lifers. We cannot let the opposition define the terms of the debate. We cannot allow them to refer to the slaughter of our generation being called “necessary.” We are all responsible for this prenatal genocide, and if we are not careful, we will be forced into an increased collaboration by the state. The lies have gone on long enough. And we will defend with everything we have the “narrow-minded” view that all human beings have the right to live their lives. Once the mask of pretty words is pulled away to expose the grotesque reality, we will EndtheKilling.
