Respect for human life as a societal value

Dr. Margaret Somerville comments on Dr. Henry Morgentaler's death. Dr. Somerville gets to the heart of what I believe will be the inevitable failure of the pro-choice philosophy with these comments:

"Pro-choice advocates argue that abortion is an entirely personal decision to be made by a woman in consultation with her physician; that the fetus is not a “person”, who should be legally protected, but is just a “bunch of cells that is part of the woman’s body, which she has the right to control”; and that any woman who does not want an abortion is not forced to have one. These justifications are all at the level of the individual woman who wants an abortion.

But having no legal restrictions on abortion affects more than just the individual woman — or, indeed, the individual unborn child who is aborted. It damages the value of respect for human life in general, at the societal level. Respect for life has two limbs: it must be upheld, not only, with respect to each individual human life, important as that is, but also, with regard to respect for human life in general, as a societal value.

Even if we ignore the failure to respect the individual unborn child’s life, abortion, especially taxpayer funded abortion-on-demand, contravenes respect for human life in general. Consequently, there is something profoundly disordered and deeply tragic about celebrating abortion, as some pro-choice people want us to do. And celebrating Morgentaler’s contribution to changing Canadian society necessarily entails celebrating abortion."

Contrast Dr. Somerville's thoughts with those of Joyce Arthur, who doesn't think a pro-life philosophy "deserves equal time or respect in Canada" and that a pro-life viewpoint is "profoundly mistaken, cruel and undemocratic". Arthur wonders why the "mainstream media continues to give space to these fanatics." There's more of course, there always is with the pro-abortions. You can read it for yourself if you find yourself really bored with nothing else to do. Or you could read a good book.

Sentiments like Ms. Arthur's tell us that the pro-abortions are worried their abortion philosophy may be in jeopardy as weneedaLAW astutely points out. Because there are many of us who don't celebrate abortion and never will.

It's only a matter of time Joyce, only a matter of time.