Life And Death

We're a socially active nation. And we're concerned about all our members. We protest the inequalities of the "system," and the individuals who succeed in it. We're concerned over those who don't succeed and, indeed, any group that believes itself to be oppressed.

But we're an inconsistent society. Life and death are issues that we treat with opposing views and with opposing tools. We take to the streets and scream in protest when we think that will be beneficial, and to the courts when we see polite and reasoned disputation as our best bet. Our arguments may not deal with our actual concerns but they are the tools that sometimes accomplish what we may not get otherwise.

For example, we are infuriated by an organization that defeats an opponent in court because that party cannot pay the fees or afford the time that large firms dictate by their wealth and their resources. Yet we do not hesitate to defeat a project by invoking laws which we argue weren't observed fully, like environmental impact studies. It doesn't matter if their claims are true or not as long as they can delay the project.

The same applies to our beliefs and actions when it comes to life and death. We support what we consider the right of people to have their doctor take their life when they consider it intolerable. Or to take it themselves. Suicide. Yet we oppose capital punishment, even for those who would prefer death to life in prison. Their suicide would be contrary to any principles about the sacredness of life because the government is involved. (Some oppose killing in war, most do not.)

Yet our society is one based on costs and benefits. We know there will be thirty to forty thousand dying each year in automotive accidents (and many more who are maimed or otherwise injured) but we don't want to stop automobile manufacture. It's a large industry that pays a large amount in taxes and employs large numbers of our citizens, in addition to providing what we consider a vital means of transportation. And, predictably, lives are lost in bridge, tunnel, and other infrastructure projects. And in manufacturing as well.

We tolerate the manufacture, sale, and use of alcohol and tobacco because they provide us with revenue – and because we don't know what to do about them. We march and protest when one individual is killed – especially by a police officer – but do not do so when a large number of murders are committed. As Joseph Stalin said, The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic. The same is true of hundreds or thousands.

But what about abortions? According to Wikipedia, between 1970 and 2013 there were nearly fifty-two million (reported). A statistic, not a tragedy. Except for the fifty-two million who never had the option of extrauterine life. They had life but only intrauterine. That definition of life is disputed by those who favor “choice.” The choice, is the mother's, not the fetus's. (“Mother's,” by the way, implies something about the status of the fetus.)

Perhaps Norma McCorvey (Jane Roe in Roe v Wade) made that point of view when she said

I was sitting in O.R.'s offices when I noticed a fetal development poster. The progression was so obvious, the eyes were so sweet. It hurt my heart, just looking at them. I ran outside and finally, it dawned on me. 'Norma', I said to myself, 'They're right'. I had worked with pregnant women for years. I had been through three pregnancies and deliveries myself. I should have known. Yet something in that poster made me lose my breath. I kept seeing the picture of that tiny, 10-week-old embryo, and I said to myself, that's a baby! It's as if blinders just fell off my eyes and I suddenly understood the truth—that's a baby!

I felt crushed under the truth of this realization. I had to face up to the awful reality. Abortion wasn't about 'products of conception'. It wasn't about 'missed periods'. It was about children being killed in their mother's wombs. All those years I was wrong. Signing that affidavit [involved in the Supreme Court case], I was wrong. Working in an abortion clinic, I was wrong. No more of this first trimester, second trimester, third trimester stuff. Abortion—at any point—was wrong. It was so clear. Painfully clear

Some may argue that those opposed to abortion should also oppose the death penalty. Consistency demands it. Both involve the taking of life. That's true, but there the similarity ends.

Those sentenced to death are viewed by most of us as evil and it is for their crimes that they are being penalized. But the same cannot be said of fetuses that have not harmed anyone. They have done nothing to deserve a death penalty. If they cause the mothers pain it is because of an act that their mothers, not the fetuses, performed. Even for acts performed under duress, although there may be some understandable debate, no one can blame the fetus. But we can remove it. Out of sight, out of mind.

There is far more to be said about life and death, but it will have to wait.

August 27, 2017