In an article entitled, “Eliminate the Imperfect,” Carlo Bellieni, an Italian neonatologist and ethicist, highlights one of the more hideous aspects of today’s prejudicial culture,
We no longer see “imperfect” children, marked by genetic disorders. These children are censured by the media, sheltered by families from a society that does not accept them despite its many protestations, but above all they are aborted. Prenatal scans are carried out and once defects are found, all too often birth is prevented. The worrying aspect is that with our sifting and selecting we are no longer surprised by this: it is the norm.
Indeed, such irrational attitudes are the result of society’s affection for only that which is convenient, comfortable, and popular. Perhaps this is where humankind has been headed ever since the theories of culture-of-death guru Peter Singer were mainstreamed. It is he who wrote, “Killing a defective infant is not morally equivalent to killing a person. Sometimes it is not wrong at all.”
It is obvious today that Singer’s version of the human person set the stage for current atrocities. The above quotation is from his book, Practical Ethics. Singer explains his theory this way,
I think that it is generally a greater wrong to kill such a being than it is to kill a being that has no sense of existing over time. Newborn human babies have no sense of their own existence over time. So killing a newborn baby is never equivalent to killing a person, that is, a being who wants to go on living. That doesn’t mean that it is not almost always a terrible thing to do. It is, but that is because most infants are loved and cherished by their parents, and to kill an infant is usually to do a great wrong to its parents.
If you find this explanation bordering on insanity, you probably understand that man is a creation of God and that human beings are loved because each and every one IS a person, not because of what each can DO as a person. As Pope Benedict XVI instructs, “Man does not create himself. He is intellect and will, but he is also nature, and his will is rightly ordered if he respects his nature, listens to it and accepts himself for who he is, as one who did not create himself. In this way, and in no other, is true human freedom fulfilled.”
Long ago a great many human beings lost this sense of human nature, and it has wrought death and destruction from a baby’s biological beginning to the nursing home.
If not for those who struggle against this flood of inhumanity, arguing that every human person’s rights must be protected, where would our nation be today? In a place even more deadly than the one we know exists? Only God knows that answer. This is why it is inspiring to read the words of those who truly understand the value of a human being. One such person is Lea Singh—a Harvard law graduate and full-time mother. Her words not only give us hope, but speak to the heart of every pro-life American:
Speaking up for the truth might make us look like fools. And that is just the beginning. Today, it is a sad fact that opposing abortion can cost a person their job and even their career. You might also lose your friends, your standing in a social circle, your invitations to events. One day, your position on abortion could even cost you your freedom.
To me, as a former political refugee from Communist Czechoslovakia, all this sounds eerily familiar. Back then, most people in our country were also silent, and many feared the repercussions that would follow if they openly opposed the regime. But we had a few dissidents, and they made a world of difference. One of them, Vaclav Havel, eventually became the first president of a free Czechoslovakia.
The truth is a powerful thing; over time, throughout history, it has always won the moral battles, and I have no doubt that one day, abortion will be rejected and recognized as an unspeakable evil. Until that day comes the journey continues to require courage and sacrifice on the part of those who carry the responsibility of knowing the truth. It is up to us to awaken the conscience of our society, one person at a time.
