The
court decisions on slavery vs abortion demonstrate an equivalent denial of personhood for
two different categories of human beings, slaves and unborn children. Below is a
comparison chart:
| SLAVERY |
ABORTION |
Dred Scott 1857
7-2 decision |
Roe vs Wade 1973
7-2 decision |
| Black Non-persons |
Unborn Non-persons |
| Property of Owner |
Property of Owner (Mother) |
| Choose to buy- sell- kill |
Choose to keep or kill |
| Abolitionists should not impose morality on slaveowners |
Pro-lifers should not impose morality on mothers |
| Slavery is legal |
Abortion is legal |
We have seen the impact of legal abortion on society over the years. Killing
innocent life has its consequences. Respect for life in the law is reduced as one
court decision draws from precedents set in previous rulings. In the 1992 case,
Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the Supreme Court reaffirmed the right to abortion,
justifying abortion as needed because women have come to depend on abortion when
contraception fails.
The medical profession now sees abortion as the solution to "deal with" a
diagnosis of fetal abnormalities. Viewing death as a solution when "quality of
life" is impaired has led to a push for euthanasia as a means to "prevent
unnecessary suffering". This justification devalues life and ignores the
medical resources available to control pain.
The table above compared slavery to abortion, showing the legal parallels. Now
let's look at euthanasia and see the parallels with it and abortion...
| REASON |
ABORTION |
EUTHANASIA |
| Usefulness |
a burden |
a burden |
| Wanted |
unwanted |
unwanted |
| Degree of perfection |
handicapped |
handicapped |
| Age |
too young |
too old |
| Intelligence |
not yet conscious |
not really conscious anymore |
| Place of residence |
in the womb |
in a nursing home |
| "Meaningful life" |
"does not yet have"
Roe vs Wade |
"no longer has"
Euthanasia Bills |
| Cost |
too poor |
too poor |
| Numbers |
too many children |
too many old folks |
| Marital status |
unmarried |
widowed |
The only means to stop this trend to view death as a solution to human problems is to
recognize the value of life from conception until natural death. Government must
then protect all human life, especially the lives of the weakest among us.
The charts were copied from "Abortion: Questions and Answers" by Dr. &
Mrs. J.C. Willke
Another comparison: Slavery vs.
Abortion
Return to Issues
|