Guide to Informed Choices
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matter or wanted the child and feels hurt over her decision.
them of their painful mistake and they both feel guilty about it.
between them, an unspeakable topic Y I
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which one wants to discuss in case it‘s too painful for the other.
Another bizarre reason, on record, is that after an abortion some women punish themselves internally and think they don‘t deserve a decent relationship, and they become promiscuous and available to every low life out there.
boyfriend and resent having gotten pregnant or having to take care of the problem themselves; and as you know, there‘s no future in a relationship with someone you resent.
It is true that relationships break up for all kinds of reasons all the time, but it‘s also true that abortion frequently speeds up the process.
Your relationship with your future children hinking of having an abortion now? Abortion could alter the relationship you share with your future children.
See Reason #29: Abortion may affect your future fertility .
Reason #75 Consider the possible impact on your different relationships Reason #76 Slavery was legal too
An introduction — legality does not determine morality I don‘t know what is immoral in doing what is legal in the country. 1004
bortion is legal so it must be moral. Heard that before? ―Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.‖ 1005
Those words were spoken by Martin Luther King, Jr. Yes. That‘s right, folks. Everything Hitler did was legal. So I guess that blows that
Quotable Quote ―There is in all of us a strong disposition to believe that anything lawful is also legitimate. This belief is so widespread that many persons have erroneously held that things are ―just‖ because the law makes them so.‖ 1006
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Woman rationalizes abortion — it‘s legal so it must be okay ―My justification for being there was this, and I clearly remember thinking it: If abortion were immoral, the Supreme Court would not have legalized it. How could something immoral be legal? And thus, if abortion was moral, didn‘t that mean that getting an abortion was okay?‖ —Cheryl
Seriously, though, this is just one example. Slavery is another. We‘ll discuss that in detail soon because it‘s amazingly similar to the reasoning for abortion. Can a simple court ruling change what is naturally right and wrong? Why, of course not! It doesn‘t really matter what laws exist or don‘t. You have certain rights — unalienable, or God given, are the words used in the Constitution — and they exist whether or not there is a law. Like the right to life. If we‘re saying what‘s legal is moral, do you really believe that what was immoral on January 22, 1973 became moral on January 23? 1007
Or that nine non-elected representatives on the Supreme Court can decide the morality for a nation? In fact, it wasn‘t even nine people — two of them disagreed. What if those seven men were wrong?
Five comparisons between legal slavery and legal abortion And it was defended on those grounds. Just as some people today defend abortion as being right because it‘s legal, back in the days of slavery, political candidate Stephen Douglas said he wouldn‘t ―argue the question whether slavery is right or wrong‖ because ―The decision was pronounced by the highest tribunal on earth,‖
1008 Continuing his pro-slavery defense he said: ―He wants me to argue with you the merits of each point of that decision before this political meeting. I say to you, with all due respect, that I choose to abide by the decisions of the Supreme Court as they are pronounced. It is not for me to inquire after a decision is made whether I like it in all the points or not.‖ 1009
We are told, if you don‘t like it, don‘t do it. If you don't like it don't do it. That‘s what they say for legal abortion. That‘s what they said for legal slavery too. Pro-slavery Stephen Douglas had this to say (just replace the word slavery with abortion): ―I hold that the people of a Territory, like those of a State, have the I
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right to have slavery or not, as they please… I do not discuss the morals of the [slave favoring] people of Missouri, but let them settle that matter for themselves. I hold that the people of the slaveholding States are civilized men as well as ourselves; that they bear consciences as well as we, and that they are accountable to God and their posterity, and not to us. It is for them to decide, therefore, the moral and religious right of the slavery question for themselves within their own limits.‖ 1010
Abraham Lincoln responded — and I think he‘s right — saying that you cannot be either way for things that are essentially wrong: ―When
Judge Douglas says whoever, or whatever community, wants slaves, they have a right to them, he is perfectly logical if there is nothing wrong in the institution; but if you admit that it is wrong, he cannot logically say that anybody has a right to do a wrong.‖ 1011
The oppressed class of humans were not considered protected under
the Constitution The Supreme Court denied rights to the blacks because they weren‘t citizens and rights to the unborn because they weren‘t persons… Or, more correctly, because they couldn‘t find
it specified in the
Constitution. Let‘s compare their words: For Slavery: ―A negro, whose ancestors were imported into this country, and sold as slaves. . . were not intended to be included, under the word 'citizens' in the Constitution, and can therefore claim none of the rights and privileges which that instrument provides for and secures to citizens of the United States.‖ 1012 (Dred
Scott vs. Sandford 1857) For Abortion: ―The word 'person,' as used in the Fourteenth Amendment, does not include the unborn.... The unborn have never been recognized in the law as persons in the whole sense.‖ 1013 (
1973) This time the Supreme Court is repeating their mistake by saying now we can ignore rights of this other group of humans because technically a fetus may or may not be included as a ‗person.‘
Their body was the property of their owner
Many years ago Black men, women, children and even potential children were treated as property. They were traded and bartered, whipped and worked, bred and sold. Today we shudder in horror. It‘s interesting to note that slave masters were given the same ‗rights‘ we now give women — right over the bodies of their future children: ―Slave masters owned not only Black women but also their offspring, and their ownership of these children was automatic and immediate. In fact, the law granted to whites a devisable, in future
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interest in the potential children of their slaves.‖ 1014
Early American feminist Angelina Grimke said, ―Slavery in America reduces a man
to a thing,
a ‗chattel personal,‘ robs
him of
all his rights as a human being... and
protects the master
in the most unnatural and unreasonable power, whilst it throws him out
of the protection of the law.‖ 1015
Ditto for abortion.
If we can decide a fetus or a black man is not a person, why stop there? Abraham Lincoln knew slavery was wrong and he questioned where it would stop: ―I should like to know if taking this old Declaration of Independence, which declares that all men are equal upon principle and making exceptions to it where it will stop. If one man says it does not mean a Negro, why not another say it does not mean some other man?‖ 1016
Douglas, scoffed at this idea of black equality: ―Mr. Lincoln, following the example and lead of all the little Abolition orators, who go around and lecture in the basements of schools and churches, reads from the Declaration of Independence that all men were created equal, and then asks, How can you deprive a negro of the equality which God and the Declaration of Independence awards to him? He and they maintain that negro equality is guaranteed by the laws of God, and that it is asserted in the Declaration of Independence.‖ 1017
Today we aren‘t deceived by such pro- slavery rhetoric, but in those days it was winning votes. Instead, we are deceived by pro-choice rhetoric. Indeed, his logic could be applied to abortion today. If we take the Declaration of Independence, which declares that all men have the God-given right to life, and then say it does not mean the unborn, who else will we exempt next? The elderly? The sick? The disabled?
It‘s the same all over again African American writer Michelle Goodwin writes that ―Slave policies were sanctioned and legitimized by legislatures and courts unwilling to recognize the humanity, citizenship, and human status of Blacks…‖ 1018 This is what we have today. Abortion policies and procedures sanctioned by the highest courts
and legislatures, unwilling to recognize the humanity, citizenship and human status of the unborn human child.
I leave you with the words of the virtuous (clears throat) Supreme Court, yes, the same one we trust for their precious judgment on the abortion issue: ―The right
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of property in a slave is distinctly and expressly affirmed in the Constitution.‖ 1019
Reason #76 ―History has proven that being legal doesn‘t make it moral — and slavery is just one example‖ Reason #77 Abortion is unconstitutional
Abortion should never have been legalized the way it was Make no mistake, abortion-on-demand is not a right granted by the Constitution. 1020
—Ronald Reagan, former U.S. president
ou all know what the Constitution is, right? Going back to America‘s history, when the British colonies in America decided to become independent of British rule, they rebelled and established themselves as their own nation. To establish how that nation would run and would be different they wrote the Constitution. It basically sets up a whole pile of protections for the common people against government rule — which was what they had had enough of back in England. This document is so important, because all our laws and structure of government are based on it. To help retain the rights of the people the Constitution outlined the government set up as the executive branch (president and his staff); legislature branch (elected politicians); and Y
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judicial branch (judges). ―What a minute, wait a minute,‖ you say. ―You‘re reminding me of a history class and this is interesting and all, but what on earth does it have to do with abortion?‖ Good question. Well, for some women, such as Jane here, the fact that abortion was legal was one of her reasons why it must be alright: At that time I knew nothing about the debate of when life begins or even that some people consider abortion wrong. Abortion was legal, (had just been legalized the year before) the government approved of it, my mother took me; it must be okay. Remember Cheryl from the last section? She also felt that anything that was legalized by the government can‘t have been too bad. So essentially, people think that if it‘s legal it must be okay. That was the last Reason so I won‘t re-hash it. So, may we continue our history lesson? The question is, what is so illegal about how abortion was made legal? Here are three reasons for you:
First Reason Firstly, it was made legal by the wrong branch of government. This is important. Only the legislative department — those people we vote for on Election Day — have the authority to make laws on our behalf.
1021 In proclaiming abortion rights, the Court actually overturned the local existing laws on abortion. 1022 They
proclaimed that abortion was now a right and that it could not be regulated or limited by us through our elected repre- sentatives. 1023
Court? To interpret the law in individual cases so that existing laws are enforced. As we will examine in number three, abortion wasn‘t even found in the existing law (Constitution)! Well, if the Court was so acting out of place, why didn‘t the rest of government check their abuse of power? Your guess is as good as mine.
Second Reason Secondly, even if you believe this little slip of justice was okay because the people in each state really wanted abortion anyhow, take a look at this. In 1967 all states had laws protecting human life from conception and allowing an emergency abortion if the mother‘s life was in danger. In the next several years before abortion was legalized, only 17 states permitted abortion. Of those 17, most laws were very strict, with only New York being very liberal. The other 33 states had debated legalizing abortion in their legislatures, but every one of them decided to vote against it. Even the liberal New Yorkers also voted to overturn their laws but were
vetoed by
Governor
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Rockefeller. 1024 Pro-choice advocates, not being as successful as they hoped with local laws, organized a referendum (public vote). In Michigan and North Dakota they lost dismally with 63% and 78% respectively, voting no to
legalized abortion. 1025
mere two months before the Court would rule that abortion was now legal and that no state — even if the people of that state wanted it — could make any law restricting abortion.
Did you know? The woman seeking an abortion for Roe
v. Wade had actually given birth before a decision was made on her case. 1026
Normally, once a case is resolved it does not continue to be debated, but in this situation the judges continued and decriminalized abortion. You‘ve got to wonder whether they were just waiting for a case like this all along. In a strange twist, the woman, herself now pro-life, believes she was set up. 1027
As we know, abortion advocates then tried to get abortion legalized by going to the Supreme Court with a ‗hard case‘ ( Roe v. Wade
). This time they succeeded. Strangely enough, today the woman represented in Roe v. Wade says she feels used and that the case was not so much about her wellbeing but more about having a face ―they‖ could use to push their agendas. 1028
Abortion does not represent the will of the people of this land.
Third Reason Thirdly — the most important, but longest reason, is that the right to abortion is simply not in our laws and if it was to be put there it should be by those we elect. So, where did they say it was? To begin with the Supreme Court wasn‘t even sure! They hummed and hawed, eventually deciding that the right to an abortion was found under ―personal liberty‖ found in the due
process clause
of the
14 th
Amendment: 1029
‖Nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.‖ 1030
Yes, they believe that one word ‗liberty‘ meant abortion was a right for all and no state could make a law otherwise. Usually a liberty is defined as something one can do freely without interfering with another person‘s liberty. So why did they ignore the fetus‘s right to life, also mentioned in the very same phrase? Because they said the phrase could be ignored since no earlier court case could be cited
proving that the 14 th Amendment intended to include the unborn. 1031 Yet
how could anyone ever prove that? This led
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to the whole ―he must not be a person‖ argument which we discuss elsewhere (see Reason #11 ). While the 14 th Amendment was added to prevent human rights abuses after slavery, that same amendment was used by the Courts to find reason to claim abortion rights were in our Constitution! 1032
It‘s not there! Neither the word ―abortion‖ nor ―privacy‖ can be found in our Constitution!
Elsewhere in their ruling the Supreme Court phrased the right to abortion in terms of privacy — even though they Yüklə 4,63 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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