Abortion Is More than Just Another Social Justice Issue

I have often wondered how the German people continued to support Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party, as they came to learn the things he was doing.

I can only suppose their justification went something like this:

"Since Adolf Hitler took office, German unemployment has fallen substantially -- from six million in 1932 to one million in 1936. In addition, his government has embarked upon a massive infrastructure improvement program. If you take time to look, you will see the dams, autobahns, railroads and other public works constructed by this administration.

"The Fuhrer has instituted an array of social welfare programs designed to provide employment for every German citizen, and has instituted programs for social justice to insure a minimal standard of living for every German citizen. Before the Fuhrer, the unfortunate looked only to the charity of the individual; with his Winter Relief campaigns, the resources of the state are being put to use in feeding the poor and clothing the needy.

"The extermination of Jews is not the only important issue. To ignore the good -- the social justice -- that Hitler has done, and focus only on the extermination of a few Jews, and perhaps a few, a hand-full of mentally defectives, is to ignore Christ's social justice teachings that we care for the least of our brothers."

Add to the argument that another German might make, "That the churches should unequivocally denounce Hitler for what he is doing to the Jews, and the Gypsies, and the mentally handicapped."
I imagine that the rejoinder went like this:

"We do not want to be a nation of sheep who do not think for ourselves and weigh all the pros and cons of the various issues. I strongly feel that one needs to decide for oneself what issues are most important and for whom to vote. We certainly don't need the churches telling us how to think and how to vote."

Now substitute the phrase "abortion of fetuses" for the phrase "extermination of Jews," change the venue from Germany to the U.S, and fast-forward from the mid-30s to 2012.

What Hitler did to the Jews was "murder." The Jews were "human beings." Medically and scientifically, they were human beings.

They were as human as any other German. Only their religion was different. But even when they converted to the Christian faith, it made no difference. They were legislatively transformed into "sub-humans," stripped of the citizenship and rights, and exterminated.

Similarly, the human fetus developing within the womb is unquestionably -- from a medical and scientific perspective -- a "human being." And even if you deny that, if it is allowed to come to term, it will unquestionably emerge from the womb as a human being. It is only by deeming fetus in the womb "sub-human" that abortion (without serious justification) can be anything other than a killing which is "in the nature of" murder. (Note, that I am talking only about abortion, not contraception.)

My point is very simple. Human beings with well-(in)formed consciences cannot ignore the extermination or murder of their neighbors, whether they are Jews, Gypsies, the mentally impaired. From a medical and scientific standpoint all were humans, even if the mentally impaired were not "good poster children for the master race." And only those who ignored what their eyes should have seen, could argue otherwise.

Nor can human beings with well-(in)formed consciences ignore what abortion really is.

From a medical and scientific standpoint it is the killing of a human baby. That baby may not be fully developed. That may take nine months. But if not killed, it will emerge as a human, as fully human as you or me. And only those who ignore what their eyes should see, can argue otherwise.

The argument that the fetus is "no more than a part of its mother" is specious; the fetus contains the DNA of not only its mother, but its father as well. The mother's parts do not.

There is something askew with the argument that killing (or enslaving) other humans beings is just another "important" (social) issue. The argument that the government is doing "social justice" in providing the elderly with a pension, the poor with food stamps, and the unemployed with unemployment benefits, and that those things outweigh the extermination of Jews, Gypsies and the mentally impaired, or the enslavement of blacks, or the killing of children (fetuses) turns the notion of "social justice" on its head. Where was Hitler's "social justice" for the Jews when he "redistributed their wealth," sent them to concentration camps, and murdered them?

The reprehensible fact is that over 50 million fetuses have been methodically killed, and half our country doesn't care. But when somebody abuses a dog or kills a cat, the public is outraged. How many babies have to be aborted before the churches cry out?

Or must we look to Hollywood and politicians for our moral guidance?

Posted Online: :   Nov. 07, 2012, 3:02 pm   - Quad-Cities Online

by John Donald O'Shea

Copyright 2012
John Donald O'Shea