The statistics on abortion are sobering. 1.25million babies have their lives ended yearly in America alone. The murder of Dr. George Tiller, the late-term abortionist of Wichita, Kansas brought the tragedy of abortion back to the forefront of American society. Dr. Tiller was shot to death inside of his church on Sunday, May 31st, 2009, by an anti-abortion advocated named Scott Roeder.
Sadly, both sides of the abortion debate manipulated this killing for their own political gains. The Left- predictably hailed Dr. Tiller as an advocate for women, and positioned Dr. Tiller as a passionate supporter of the underprivileged. Ironic, in that he was killing the most underprivileged patients he ever had. The Right- predictably was either silent in condemning the murder of Dr. Tiller, or saw his death as an unfortunate ‘wart’ in the abortion debate.
At least one anti-abortion activist realized that his past rhetoric of describing those like Dr. Tiller as ‘Nazi’s’ and ‘mass murderers’ made him complicit in Dr. Tiller’s death. Of course the obfuscation of what it means to be for ‘life’ is compounded by the tacit approval of the death of one hated by some, beloved by others.
To date, the most consistent ethic of life comes from the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago. Cardinal Bernardin wrote passionately about the Seamless Garment of Life. The Seamless Garment of Life ethic is a consistent approach to matters of life, an approach which is against war and the death penalty, for comprehensive health care and the reduction of poverty. This approach is passionate in its support of life in all forms, whether within the womb or in a nursing home.
Abortion kills children, this is for sure. Abortion also kills doctors, kills Truth, and kills our sense of what it means to be an advocate for life. Christian principles that stand in opposition to the ‘end justifies the means’ are also victims in the current bi-polar abortion debate.
1 comment:
Bold of you to open this subject, and I salute Mr. Schaeffer for recognizing his use of Reductio ad Hitlerum.
This seems to be the subject that generates the largest amount of argument which is beside the point. The anti side says that abortion is the murder of a person. The pro side says that a woman has the right to control what happens to her body. They don't say that this right justifies murder; obviously they don't generally believe that abortion kills a person.
So the central argument should be the rather philosophical question of what it means to be human. Not a simple one to answer, by any means, but surely an interesting one. So why does it not get more air time? In what I've read, Cardinal Bernardin appears to be typical of both sides, in that he takes his position on this central point as a premise. Won't the Seamless Garment ethic then only appeal to those who already share that premise?
Post a Comment