I'm sure many are grateful that political momentum has built to de-fund them; I'm not. Abortion is wrong anyway. Why are they being funded at all?
Why should I be astonished that a more unsettling evil has been taking place? The dignity of a human being has already been transgressed in the murder that is their business. Philosophically, a grave moral evil has been justified on account of the circumstances, or the intention of the people involved. Once the character of acts in themselves is disregarded, almost anything can be justified, either by appealing to other good that may result, or to the fact that one person or another does an action without malice.
People have tolerated grave evil in our society, because they imagine that growing up poor or sick would be worse, or because they have done their own evils. It's hard enough to bear my own burdens. Where do I get off, telling people what to do?
Do we have souls? And is the nascent life in the womb a person? If we answer "yes" to both, then firstly, no suffering in this life would compare to bliss in the next, and secondly, if this life is a person, abortion exceptions are incoherent and stupid.
The reverse is also true. You can hardly fault the pro-choice side for feeling like these weird middle positions are incoherent and stupid, too. I think we have euphemisms and exceptions and things because we know the answers to the questions are "yes." Keep the ugly business out of sight, and I'll keep the moralists off our backs, OK?
Nothing would make me happier than to be accused of being a "liberal" for the sake of children, mothers, and families, by the way. I'll take that liberal retort, and flip it. You haven't met enough consistent pro-lifers, Mr. Liberal.
What they're actually saying is, "You're probably right. But this situation is impossibly hard, and it's not being addressed." What if it were? Would it be safe to talk about the immorality of abortion again?
Why should I be astonished that a more unsettling evil has been taking place? The dignity of a human being has already been transgressed in the murder that is their business. Philosophically, a grave moral evil has been justified on account of the circumstances, or the intention of the people involved. Once the character of acts in themselves is disregarded, almost anything can be justified, either by appealing to other good that may result, or to the fact that one person or another does an action without malice.
People have tolerated grave evil in our society, because they imagine that growing up poor or sick would be worse, or because they have done their own evils. It's hard enough to bear my own burdens. Where do I get off, telling people what to do?
Do we have souls? And is the nascent life in the womb a person? If we answer "yes" to both, then firstly, no suffering in this life would compare to bliss in the next, and secondly, if this life is a person, abortion exceptions are incoherent and stupid.
The reverse is also true. You can hardly fault the pro-choice side for feeling like these weird middle positions are incoherent and stupid, too. I think we have euphemisms and exceptions and things because we know the answers to the questions are "yes." Keep the ugly business out of sight, and I'll keep the moralists off our backs, OK?
Nothing would make me happier than to be accused of being a "liberal" for the sake of children, mothers, and families, by the way. I'll take that liberal retort, and flip it. You haven't met enough consistent pro-lifers, Mr. Liberal.
What they're actually saying is, "You're probably right. But this situation is impossibly hard, and it's not being addressed." What if it were? Would it be safe to talk about the immorality of abortion again?
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