abortion
CD-ROM: Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for Advancement of Applied Ethics (http://www.lcl.cmu.edu/caae/home/caae.html) has produced a CD-ROM focused on the history of abortion in America. The CD is interactive and uses stories to relay differing views. A review of the CD says that it is “parochial” and describes pro-lifers as “abortion-resistant.” A description of the CD may be found at http://www.lcl.cmu.edu/CAAE/Home/Multimedia/Abortion/IAIA.htm.
Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for Advancement of Applied Ethics (http://www.lcl.cmu.edu/caae/home/caae.html) has produced a CD-ROM focused on the history of abortion in America. The CD is interactive and uses stories to relay differing views. A review of the CD says that it is “parochial” and describes pro-lifers as “abortion-resistant.” A description of the CD may be found at http://www.lcl.cmu.edu/CAAE/Home/Multimedia/Abortion/IAIA.htm.
(Reading: “The Issue of Abortion in America: An Exploration of Social Controversy,” Journal of Medical Ethics, 8/99, pp. 355-356)
animal rights
CANADA: A group of 131 Chinese people has attempted to emigrate to Canada. Canadians are looking for a home for a dog found aboard the migrant ship, but wish to send the people back.
CANADA: A group of 131 Chinese people has attempted to emigrate to Canada. Canadians are looking for a home for a dog found aboard the migrant ship, but wish to send the people back.
CANADA: A group of 131 Chinese people has attempted to emigrate to Canada. Canadians are looking for a home for a dog found aboard the migrant ship, but wish to send the people back.
(Reading: “People Say Keep the Dog But Send the Migrants Back,” Canadian Press, 8/18/99, p. A3)
OREGON: “The Primate Freedom Tour,” the brainchild of a sixth grade Oregon teacher, Rick Bogle, is designed to end cruelty to animals. One propaganda article says, “Drawing on a belief that abominations such as the Jewish Holocaust could have taken place only in the presence of an accepting and docile citizenry, this teacher . . . decided to speak out as loudly as he could” to put an end to cruelty to animals.
(Reading: The Primate Freedom Tour)
politics
BUCHANAN: Patrick J. Buchanan’s web site lists a seven-point pro-life position statement that includes: “educate the American people to the scientific truth that life begins at conception”; “support an act of Congress conferring constitutional rights of personhood on unborn children”; and “push for passage of a human life amendment to protect all unborn children.”
BUCHANAN: Patrick J. Buchanan’s web site lists a seven-point pro-life position statement that includes: “educate the American people to the scientific truth that life begins at conception”; “support an act of Congress conferring constitutional rights of personhood on unborn children”; and “push for passage of a human life amendment to protect all unborn children.”
BUCHANAN: Patrick J. Buchanan’s web site lists a seven-point pro-life position statement that includes: “educate the American people to the scientific truth that life begins at conception”; “support an act of Congress conferring constitutional rights of personhood on unborn children”; and “push for passage of a human life amendment to protect all unborn children.”
web news
EDUCATE BILL GATES: American Life League has launched a new web site designed to reach Microsoft computer guru Bill Gates and other people of means who are directing billions of dollars to the population control movement. The simple question is: Do these people really know what they’re paying for, as many population control programs rely on chemical and surgical abortion to achieve their goals.
EDUCATE BILL GATES: American Life League has launched a new web site designed to reach Microsoft computer guru Bill Gates and other people of means who are directing billions of dollars to the population control movement. The simple question is: Do these people really know what they’re paying for, as many population control programs rely on chemical and surgical abortion to achieve their goals.
EDUCATE BILL GATES: American Life League has launched a new web site designed to reach Microsoft computer guru Bill Gates and other people of means who are directing billions of dollars to the population control movement. The simple question is: Do these people really know what they’re paying for, as many population control programs rely on chemical and surgical abortion to achieve their goals.
(Reading: “ALL Launches Campaign to Educate Bill Gates,” 9/10/99)
FATHERS AND ABORTION: A special section of Project Rachel’s web site is devoted to fathers who have lost their children to induced abortion.
words of wisdom
CONGRESSMAN RON PAUL: “To date we who support the cause of life have compromised too much; it is time to stand firm. It is unconstitutional and immoral to use taxpayer dollars to fund even one abortion, whether it is foreign or domestic. And it is unconscionable that elected officials of the United States would consider using unborn children in foreign lands as pawns in a game that further undermines the best interests of the United States.”
CONGRESSMAN RON PAUL: “To date we who support the cause of life have compromised too much; it is time to stand firm. It is unconstitutional and immoral to use taxpayer dollars to fund even one abortion, whether it is foreign or domestic. And it is unconscionable that elected officials of the United States would consider using unborn children in foreign lands as pawns in a game that further undermines the best interests of the United States.”
CONGRESSMAN RON PAUL: “To date we who support the cause of life have compromised too much; it is time to stand firm. It is unconstitutional and immoral to use taxpayer dollars to fund even one abortion, whether it is foreign or domestic. And it is unconscionable that elected officials of the United States would consider using unborn children in foreign lands as pawns in a game that further undermines the best interests of the United States.”
(Reading: “Abortion and National Sovereignty: No Compromises,” Texas Straight Talk, 1/26/98; Please say thanks to Congressman Paul.)
commentary
Sociology Is Not Morality
By Dr. Donald DeMarco
St. Jerome’s University
Member, American Bioethics Advisory Commission
Sociology Is Not Morality
By Dr. Donald DeMarco
St. Jerome’s University
Member, American Bioethics Advisory Commission
Sociology Is Not Morality
By Dr. Donald DeMarco
St. Jerome’s University
Member, American Bioethics Advisory Commission
The recent unpublished study by Levitt and Donohue proposing that abortion in the 70s has led to a significant drop in crime twenty years later has raised a considerable amount of dust. It has also offered an additional reason for understanding why abortion is an issue that will not go away.
A great deal of the most vociferous objection to this sociological study is raised in defense of the poor, blacks, and single mothers. According to the researchers, these are the people who are most likely to bear children who will go on to become criminals.
To judge in advance, however, that a child born to a woman who is poor, single, and black will likely become a criminal is as clear an example of prejudice as one could imagine. Rather than prejudicially condemning such children, would it not be wiser and more humane to work toward eliminating poverty and other conditions that contribute to the decision to abort? Would not social justice be a better remedy than raising the specters-if not implementing them-of racism and eugenics?
Karen Cooper of Washington state’s NARAL (National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League) has stated that “NARAL believes that the study by Steven Levitt and John Donohue III reinforces the positive effects of legalized abortions for children, families, and society.”
It is rather curious that people can maintain two lines of thinking that absolutely contradict each other. George Orwell drew attention to this phenomenon in his anti-utopian novel, 1984. “Doublethink” was the celebrated name he gave to it. As people show more and more mercy toward real criminals after they have committed crimes, and campaign vigorously for the abolition of the death penalty, they take comfort in the fact that the death penalty was applied to a group of people before it was even possible for them to have committed a crime.
Sociology illustrates trends. It deals with groups, movements, abstractions, and categories. But morality deals with justice, and as a consequence, with real, individual people. It is unjust to destroy a human life because of what that person might do if he were allowed to live. Sociological data does not easily translate into moral imperatives. It is one thing to say that people in a group may behave in a certain way; but quite another to assert that an individual member of that group will.
The study, of course, charts its course in the kingdom of the hypothetical. It does not predict what will happen, but only hazards a suggestion as to what might happen. Yet we must not forget that what might happen over the course of an individual’s life might not be criminal behavior, but something that contributes to the betterment of society. Racism and eugenics are essentially pessimistic.
Ethel Waters, who was born to a poor, single, black woman in a dismal slum section of Philadelphia became a star of stage and screen, and was one of the greatest jazz singers of her day. Her prenatal demise would not have reinforced “the positive effects of legalizing abortion for children, families and society.” Basketball great Isiah Thomas was born to a single mom who was poor and black. Yet it was “Zeke,” as his Detroit Piston teammates called him, who instituted “No Crime Day” in Detroit. One can find an endless list of people who overcame hardships and deprivations early in life to make extraordinary contributions to society.
To take comfort in abortion retrospectively because it may have reduced crime is to offer a tacit recognition of the humanity of the individual aborted. To believe that one is aborting a potential criminal is to imply the humanity of that individual, no matter how his life might be misdirected in the future. But it is to imply humanity without applying the benefits of either justice or mercy since we do not, as a rule, execute people even when they do commit crimes.
reflection for prayer
The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken heart; the fragrance pleasing to the Lord is a soul that gives glory to its Maker. You see, my brothers, we must carefully seek after our own salvation; otherwise, one who is bent on deceiving us will insinuate himself and turn us aside from the path that leads to life.
-Letter from Barnabas, circa 60 AD
CD-ROM: Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for Advancement of Applied Ethics (http://www.lcl.cmu.edu/caae/home/caae.html) has produced a CD-ROM focused on the history of abortion in America. The CD is interactive and uses stories to relay differing views. A review of the CD says that it is “parochial” and describes pro-lifers as “abortion-resistant.” A description of the CD may be found at http://www.lcl.cmu.edu/CAAE/Home/Multimedia/Abortion/IAIA.htm.
Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for Advancement of Applied Ethics (http://www.lcl.cmu.edu/caae/home/caae.html) has produced a CD-ROM focused on the history of abortion in America. The CD is interactive and uses stories to relay differing views. A review of the CD says that it is “parochial” and describes pro-lifers as “abortion-resistant.” A description of the CD may be found at http://www.lcl.cmu.edu/CAAE/Home/Multimedia/Abortion/IAIA.htm.
(Reading: “The Issue of Abortion in America: An Exploration of Social Controversy,” Journal of Medical Ethics, 8/99, pp. 355-356)
animal rights
CANADA: A group of 131 Chinese people has attempted to emigrate to Canada. Canadians are looking for a home for a dog found aboard the migrant ship, but wish to send the people back.
CANADA: A group of 131 Chinese people has attempted to emigrate to Canada. Canadians are looking for a home for a dog found aboard the migrant ship, but wish to send the people back.
CANADA: A group of 131 Chinese people has attempted to emigrate to Canada. Canadians are looking for a home for a dog found aboard the migrant ship, but wish to send the people back.
(Reading: “People Say Keep the Dog But Send the Migrants Back,” Canadian Press, 8/18/99, p. A3)
OREGON: “The Primate Freedom Tour,” the brainchild of a sixth grade Oregon teacher, Rick Bogle, is designed to end cruelty to animals. One propaganda article says, “Drawing on a belief that abominations such as the Jewish Holocaust could have taken place only in the presence of an accepting and docile citizenry, this teacher . . . decided to speak out as loudly as he could” to put an end to cruelty to animals.
(Reading: The Primate Freedom Tour)
politics
BUCHANAN: Patrick J. Buchanan’s web site lists a seven-point pro-life position statement that includes: “educate the American people to the scientific truth that life begins at conception”; “support an act of Congress conferring constitutional rights of personhood on unborn children”; and “push for passage of a human life amendment to protect all unborn children.”
BUCHANAN: Patrick J. Buchanan’s web site lists a seven-point pro-life position statement that includes: “educate the American people to the scientific truth that life begins at conception”; “support an act of Congress conferring constitutional rights of personhood on unborn children”; and “push for passage of a human life amendment to protect all unborn children.”
BUCHANAN: Patrick J. Buchanan’s web site lists a seven-point pro-life position statement that includes: “educate the American people to the scientific truth that life begins at conception”; “support an act of Congress conferring constitutional rights of personhood on unborn children”; and “push for passage of a human life amendment to protect all unborn children.”
web news
EDUCATE BILL GATES: American Life League has launched a new web site designed to reach Microsoft computer guru Bill Gates and other people of means who are directing billions of dollars to the population control movement. The simple question is: Do these people really know what they’re paying for, as many population control programs rely on chemical and surgical abortion to achieve their goals.
EDUCATE BILL GATES: American Life League has launched a new web site designed to reach Microsoft computer guru Bill Gates and other people of means who are directing billions of dollars to the population control movement. The simple question is: Do these people really know what they’re paying for, as many population control programs rely on chemical and surgical abortion to achieve their goals.
EDUCATE BILL GATES: American Life League has launched a new web site designed to reach Microsoft computer guru Bill Gates and other people of means who are directing billions of dollars to the population control movement. The simple question is: Do these people really know what they’re paying for, as many population control programs rely on chemical and surgical abortion to achieve their goals.
(Reading: “ALL Launches Campaign to Educate Bill Gates,” 9/10/99)
FATHERS AND ABORTION: A special section of Project Rachel’s web site is devoted to fathers who have lost their children to induced abortion.
words of wisdom
CONGRESSMAN RON PAUL: “To date we who support the cause of life have compromised too much; it is time to stand firm. It is unconstitutional and immoral to use taxpayer dollars to fund even one abortion, whether it is foreign or domestic. And it is unconscionable that elected officials of the United States would consider using unborn children in foreign lands as pawns in a game that further undermines the best interests of the United States.”
CONGRESSMAN RON PAUL: “To date we who support the cause of life have compromised too much; it is time to stand firm. It is unconstitutional and immoral to use taxpayer dollars to fund even one abortion, whether it is foreign or domestic. And it is unconscionable that elected officials of the United States would consider using unborn children in foreign lands as pawns in a game that further undermines the best interests of the United States.”
CONGRESSMAN RON PAUL: “To date we who support the cause of life have compromised too much; it is time to stand firm. It is unconstitutional and immoral to use taxpayer dollars to fund even one abortion, whether it is foreign or domestic. And it is unconscionable that elected officials of the United States would consider using unborn children in foreign lands as pawns in a game that further undermines the best interests of the United States.”
(Reading: “Abortion and National Sovereignty: No Compromises,” Texas Straight Talk, 1/26/98; Please say thanks to Congressman Paul.)
commentary
Sociology Is Not Morality
By Dr. Donald DeMarco
St. Jerome’s University
Member, American Bioethics Advisory Commission
Sociology Is Not Morality
By Dr. Donald DeMarco
St. Jerome’s University
Member, American Bioethics Advisory Commission
Sociology Is Not Morality
By Dr. Donald DeMarco
St. Jerome’s University
Member, American Bioethics Advisory Commission
The recent unpublished study by Levitt and Donohue proposing that abortion in the 70s has led to a significant drop in crime twenty years later has raised a considerable amount of dust. It has also offered an additional reason for understanding why abortion is an issue that will not go away.
A great deal of the most vociferous objection to this sociological study is raised in defense of the poor, blacks, and single mothers. According to the researchers, these are the people who are most likely to bear children who will go on to become criminals.
To judge in advance, however, that a child born to a woman who is poor, single, and black will likely become a criminal is as clear an example of prejudice as one could imagine. Rather than prejudicially condemning such children, would it not be wiser and more humane to work toward eliminating poverty and other conditions that contribute to the decision to abort? Would not social justice be a better remedy than raising the specters-if not implementing them-of racism and eugenics?
Karen Cooper of Washington state’s NARAL (National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League) has stated that “NARAL believes that the study by Steven Levitt and John Donohue III reinforces the positive effects of legalized abortions for children, families, and society.”
It is rather curious that people can maintain two lines of thinking that absolutely contradict each other. George Orwell drew attention to this phenomenon in his anti-utopian novel, 1984. “Doublethink” was the celebrated name he gave to it. As people show more and more mercy toward real criminals after they have committed crimes, and campaign vigorously for the abolition of the death penalty, they take comfort in the fact that the death penalty was applied to a group of people before it was even possible for them to have committed a crime.
Sociology illustrates trends. It deals with groups, movements, abstractions, and categories. But morality deals with justice, and as a consequence, with real, individual people. It is unjust to destroy a human life because of what that person might do if he were allowed to live. Sociological data does not easily translate into moral imperatives. It is one thing to say that people in a group may behave in a certain way; but quite another to assert that an individual member of that group will.
The study, of course, charts its course in the kingdom of the hypothetical. It does not predict what will happen, but only hazards a suggestion as to what might happen. Yet we must not forget that what might happen over the course of an individual’s life might not be criminal behavior, but something that contributes to the betterment of society. Racism and eugenics are essentially pessimistic.
Ethel Waters, who was born to a poor, single, black woman in a dismal slum section of Philadelphia became a star of stage and screen, and was one of the greatest jazz singers of her day. Her prenatal demise would not have reinforced “the positive effects of legalizing abortion for children, families and society.” Basketball great Isiah Thomas was born to a single mom who was poor and black. Yet it was “Zeke,” as his Detroit Piston teammates called him, who instituted “No Crime Day” in Detroit. One can find an endless list of people who overcame hardships and deprivations early in life to make extraordinary contributions to society.
To take comfort in abortion retrospectively because it may have reduced crime is to offer a tacit recognition of the humanity of the individual aborted. To believe that one is aborting a potential criminal is to imply the humanity of that individual, no matter how his life might be misdirected in the future. But it is to imply humanity without applying the benefits of either justice or mercy since we do not, as a rule, execute people even when they do commit crimes.
reflection for prayer
The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken heart; the fragrance pleasing to the Lord is a soul that gives glory to its Maker. You see, my brothers, we must carefully seek after our own salvation; otherwise, one who is bent on deceiving us will insinuate himself and turn us aside from the path that leads to life.
-Letter from Barnabas, circa 60 AD
CD-ROM: Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for Advancement of Applied Ethics (http://www.lcl.cmu.edu/caae/home/caae.html) has produced a CD-ROM focused on the history of abortion in America. The CD is interactive and uses stories to relay differing views. A review of the CD says that it is “parochial” and describes pro-lifers as “abortion-resistant.” A description of the CD may be found at http://www.lcl.cmu.edu/CAAE/Home/Multimedia/Abortion/IAIA.htm.
(Reading: “The Issue of Abortion in America: An Exploration of Social Controversy,” Journal of Medical Ethics, 8/99, pp. 355-356)
animal rights
CANADA: A group of 131 Chinese people has attempted to emigrate to Canada. Canadians are looking for a home for a dog found aboard the migrant ship, but wish to send the people back.
CANADA: A group of 131 Chinese people has attempted to emigrate to Canada. Canadians are looking for a home for a dog found aboard the migrant ship, but wish to send the people back.
CANADA: A group of 131 Chinese people has attempted to emigrate to Canada. Canadians are looking for a home for a dog found aboard the migrant ship, but wish to send the people back.
(Reading: “People Say Keep the Dog But Send the Migrants Back,” Canadian Press, 8/18/99, p. A3)
OREGON: “The Primate Freedom Tour,” the brainchild of a sixth grade Oregon teacher, Rick Bogle, is designed to end cruelty to animals. One propaganda article says, “Drawing on a belief that abominations such as the Jewish Holocaust could have taken place only in the presence of an accepting and docile citizenry, this teacher . . . decided to speak out as loudly as he could” to put an end to cruelty to animals.
(Reading: The Primate Freedom Tour)
politics
BUCHANAN: Patrick J. Buchanan’s web site lists a seven-point pro-life position statement that includes: “educate the American people to the scientific truth that life begins at conception”; “support an act of Congress conferring constitutional rights of personhood on unborn children”; and “push for passage of a human life amendment to protect all unborn children.”
BUCHANAN: Patrick J. Buchanan’s web site lists a seven-point pro-life position statement that includes: “educate the American people to the scientific truth that life begins at conception”; “support an act of Congress conferring constitutional rights of personhood on unborn children”; and “push for passage of a human life amendment to protect all unborn children.”
BUCHANAN: Patrick J. Buchanan’s web site lists a seven-point pro-life position statement that includes: “educate the American people to the scientific truth that life begins at conception”; “support an act of Congress conferring constitutional rights of personhood on unborn children”; and “push for passage of a human life amendment to protect all unborn children.”
web news
EDUCATE BILL GATES: American Life League has launched a new web site designed to reach Microsoft computer guru Bill Gates and other people of means who are directing billions of dollars to the population control movement. The simple question is: Do these people really know what they’re paying for, as many population control programs rely on chemical and surgical abortion to achieve their goals.
EDUCATE BILL GATES: American Life League has launched a new web site designed to reach Microsoft computer guru Bill Gates and other people of means who are directing billions of dollars to the population control movement. The simple question is: Do these people really know what they’re paying for, as many population control programs rely on chemical and surgical abortion to achieve their goals.
EDUCATE BILL GATES: American Life League has launched a new web site designed to reach Microsoft computer guru Bill Gates and other people of means who are directing billions of dollars to the population control movement. The simple question is: Do these people really know what they’re paying for, as many population control programs rely on chemical and surgical abortion to achieve their goals.
(Reading: “ALL Launches Campaign to Educate Bill Gates,” 9/10/99)
FATHERS AND ABORTION: A special section of Project Rachel’s web site is devoted to fathers who have lost their children to induced abortion.
words of wisdom
CONGRESSMAN RON PAUL: “To date we who support the cause of life have compromised too much; it is time to stand firm. It is unconstitutional and immoral to use taxpayer dollars to fund even one abortion, whether it is foreign or domestic. And it is unconscionable that elected officials of the United States would consider using unborn children in foreign lands as pawns in a game that further undermines the best interests of the United States.”
CONGRESSMAN RON PAUL: “To date we who support the cause of life have compromised too much; it is time to stand firm. It is unconstitutional and immoral to use taxpayer dollars to fund even one abortion, whether it is foreign or domestic. And it is unconscionable that elected officials of the United States would consider using unborn children in foreign lands as pawns in a game that further undermines the best interests of the United States.”
CONGRESSMAN RON PAUL: “To date we who support the cause of life have compromised too much; it is time to stand firm. It is unconstitutional and immoral to use taxpayer dollars to fund even one abortion, whether it is foreign or domestic. And it is unconscionable that elected officials of the United States would consider using unborn children in foreign lands as pawns in a game that further undermines the best interests of the United States.”
(Reading: “Abortion and National Sovereignty: No Compromises,” Texas Straight Talk, 1/26/98; Please say thanks to Congressman Paul.)
commentary
Sociology Is Not Morality
By Dr. Donald DeMarco
St. Jerome’s University
Member, American Bioethics Advisory Commission
Sociology Is Not Morality
By Dr. Donald DeMarco
St. Jerome’s University
Member, American Bioethics Advisory Commission
Sociology Is Not Morality
By Dr. Donald DeMarco
St. Jerome’s University
Member, American Bioethics Advisory Commission
The recent unpublished study by Levitt and Donohue proposing that abortion in the 70s has led to a significant drop in crime twenty years later has raised a considerable amount of dust. It has also offered an additional reason for understanding why abortion is an issue that will not go away.
A great deal of the most vociferous objection to this sociological study is raised in defense of the poor, blacks, and single mothers. According to the researchers, these are the people who are most likely to bear children who will go on to become criminals.
To judge in advance, however, that a child born to a woman who is poor, single, and black will likely become a criminal is as clear an example of prejudice as one could imagine. Rather than prejudicially condemning such children, would it not be wiser and more humane to work toward eliminating poverty and other conditions that contribute to the decision to abort? Would not social justice be a better remedy than raising the specters-if not implementing them-of racism and eugenics?
Karen Cooper of Washington state’s NARAL (National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League) has stated that “NARAL believes that the study by Steven Levitt and John Donohue III reinforces the positive effects of legalized abortions for children, families, and society.”
It is rather curious that people can maintain two lines of thinking that absolutely contradict each other. George Orwell drew attention to this phenomenon in his anti-utopian novel, 1984. “Doublethink” was the celebrated name he gave to it. As people show more and more mercy toward real criminals after they have committed crimes, and campaign vigorously for the abolition of the death penalty, they take comfort in the fact that the death penalty was applied to a group of people before it was even possible for them to have committed a crime.
Sociology illustrates trends. It deals with groups, movements, abstractions, and categories. But morality deals with justice, and as a consequence, with real, individual people. It is unjust to destroy a human life because of what that person might do if he were allowed to live. Sociological data does not easily translate into moral imperatives. It is one thing to say that people in a group may behave in a certain way; but quite another to assert that an individual member of that group will.
The study, of course, charts its course in the kingdom of the hypothetical. It does not predict what will happen, but only hazards a suggestion as to what might happen. Yet we must not forget that what might happen over the course of an individual’s life might not be criminal behavior, but something that contributes to the betterment of society. Racism and eugenics are essentially pessimistic.
Ethel Waters, who was born to a poor, single, black woman in a dismal slum section of Philadelphia became a star of stage and screen, and was one of the greatest jazz singers of her day. Her prenatal demise would not have reinforced “the positive effects of legalizing abortion for children, families and society.” Basketball great Isiah Thomas was born to a single mom who was poor and black. Yet it was “Zeke,” as his Detroit Piston teammates called him, who instituted “No Crime Day” in Detroit. One can find an endless list of people who overcame hardships and deprivations early in life to make extraordinary contributions to society.
To take comfort in abortion retrospectively because it may have reduced crime is to offer a tacit recognition of the humanity of the individual aborted. To believe that one is aborting a potential criminal is to imply the humanity of that individual, no matter how his life might be misdirected in the future. But it is to imply humanity without applying the benefits of either justice or mercy since we do not, as a rule, execute people even when they do commit crimes.
reflection for prayer
The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken heart; the fragrance pleasing to the Lord is a soul that gives glory to its Maker. You see, my brothers, we must carefully seek after our own salvation; otherwise, one who is bent on deceiving us will insinuate himself and turn us aside from the path that leads to life.
-Letter from Barnabas, circa 60 AD