Slate Columnist Admits Unborn Are People, But…
Pro-abortion ideology does funny things to people’s heads–even smart people like Will Saletan of Slate (who I’m pretty sure is the smartest liberal commentator around). Here’s an example of what I’m talking about:
“I can’t get past the feeling that pregnancy is one person growing inside another and that every part of that conundrum—one person, growing, another person—has to be taken into account. And I’m a sucker for context. So I cling to the mushy, unprincipled belief that… while there ought to be fewer abortion decisions—and there would be, if pro-lifers would magically redirect their energy from abortion bans to birth control—when those decisions arise, they’re best made by the people directly involved.”
OK. Brother Saletan gets the first point right. The unborn child is a person–the son or daughter of the mother inside whom he or she is growing. No dissembling, no prevaricating, no obfuscating on Saletan’s part. He tells it like it is. Good. Refreshing. Bravo.
And he wants “fewer abortion decisions.” Presumably he wants fewer abortion decisions because he wants fewer abortions. And he wants fewer abortions because abortion is, as he acknowledges, the killing of a person. And killing people is not good. So he’s still on track.
It’s what comes next, though, that shows you what a deep commitment to pro-abortion ideology does even to good minds like Saletan’s. He tells us that “When [abortion] decisions arise, they are best made by the people directly involved.”
Say what?
He’s already acknowledged that there are two people involved. The mother and the baby. So how’s the baby supposed to be “involved” in a decision about whether his or her mother should take a drug or engage the services of an abortionist to kill him or her?
And, by the way, these “abortion decisions,” how do they “arise”? Presumably, we’re talking here about the overwhelming majority of cases in which the existence of the child poses no grave threat to the life or health of the mother. We’re talking about “elective” or what used to be called “social indication” abortions. Why should these be matters of “a decision” any more than infanticide (now relabeled “after-birth abortion,” by the way) is a matter of “a decision.”
If, as Saletan rightly acknowledges, you’ve got a person—a precious member of the human family equal in worth and dignity to every other—then whether to target him or her for death because his existence is a personal or social problem should not be “a decision.” It should be something we do not do or permit to be done. We should love, cherish, support, and assist both persons involved, when, as Saletan says, a person is growing within a person.”
Robert George is Chairman at United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, McCormick Professor of Juriprudence at Princeton University, Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School, and author of Conscience and Its Enemies: Confronting the Dogmas of Liberal Secularism.
Trending Now on Affluent Christian Investor
Sorry. No data so far.
The Affluent Mix
Biden Oblivious To Illegal Immigration Issues... August 2, 2021 | Frank Vernuccio

Rob Arnott On Bubbles, Inflation, And Once-In-A-Generation Investment Opportunit... August 2, 2021 | Jerry Bowyer

The Federal Reserve’s Massive Theft Of Stability... August 2, 2021 | Jim Huntzinger

What To Do About This Difficult Market? August 2, 2021 | David Bahnsen

Letter On The Politicization Of Corporations... July 26, 2021 | Jerry Bowyer

Peak Of The Fake Bull Market July 26, 2021 | Michael Pento

Woodrow Wilson’s Administrative State vs. Gold... July 26, 2021 | Jim Huntzinger

Dividends, Energy, And Crypto July 26, 2021 | David Bahnsen

Whose Side Are You On? July 26, 2021 | Frank Vernuccio

Media, Left Ignore These Dangers July 19, 2021 | Frank Vernuccio

Mark Skousen On FreedomFest And How To Measure The Whole Economy... July 19, 2021 | Jerry Bowyer

Quantifying The Quantitative, Or Making Easy The Easing... July 19, 2021 | David Bahnsen

The Gold Standard Means A Rising Standard Of Living... July 19, 2021 | Jim Huntzinger

Book Review: Brian Domitrovic Reveals The Monetary Genius Of Arthur Laffer... July 19, 2021 | John Tamny

Steve Forbes: Time To Worry About Inflation, Not Hyperinflation... July 12, 2021 | Jerry Bowyer

UFOs Rescue Biden July 12, 2021 | Frank Vernuccio

Read This Classical Economist’s 200 Year Old Warning About Paper Money... July 12, 2021 | Jim Huntzinger

How Central Banks Murdered The Markets July 12, 2021 | Michael Pento

Everything There Is To Know About The Stock Market... July 12, 2021 | David Bahnsen

AT&T CEO: We’re Ill Equipped For Politics, And We’re Spending A Lot Of ... July 6, 2021 | Jerry Bowyer

Internet Bias Distorts National Conversation... July 6, 2021 | Frank Vernuccio

The Halfway Point Of 2021 July 6, 2021 | David Bahnsen

Join the conversation!
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, vulgarity, profanity, all caps, or discourteous behavior. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain a courteous and useful public environment where we can engage in reasonable discourse.