A Stark Contrast

After a 6 week hiatus from blogging, I am moved to write today by the stark contrast in emotions I experienced from two separate sources on the internet today.

The first set of emotions were caused by this despicable opinion piece on the website Opposing Views. Titled "Its Time for an Abortion Pride Movement", it is penned by one Jacob Appel, who claims to be a bioethicist. After having my interest piqued by the title, it took me a few paragraphs of reading to realize that Mr. Appel is not kidding. He actually believes that aborting children's lives during pregnancy is not only perfectly acceptable from an ethical standpoint, but also something its participants should be proud of and build an identity around, much like being Irish or being gay. Some excerpts, in case you would rather not read the article:

"In contrast to women who have foregone abortion, women who have chosen to terminate their pregnancies are rarely encouraged to take pride in their decisions. That is unfortunate."

"In the current political climate, deciding not to bring a fetus to term, if a woman is unready to parent, or if that fetus is likely to lead a life of great physical suffering, is a courageous and noble moral choice."
(I added the bold emphasis above, simply to point out that many readers of this blog understand where this type of reasoning comes from and where, in turn, it leads).

"In short, women should not merely have the right to end unwanted pregnancies, they should have the right to be proud of having done so. Surely, there is enough suffering in this world already without adding infants with Tay-Sachs disease and Lesch-Nyhan syndrome to the mix."
(I wonder where autism fits in this bioethicist's (sic) spectrum of suffering?)

"Our message should not be merely toleration or resigned acquiescence, but genuine joy that someone has made a decision for their own and for the collective good."
(There's that elitist mentality again. Does the collective good include stopping an "epidemic"? Does it factor in Special Education costs? )

I could go on at some length about the unbelievably bankrupt arguments this fool is putting forth about Abortion Pride, but it is not really necessary. I think most readers will see where this type of reasoning leads. And it certainly raises the spectre of the possibility that a prenatal "Autism Test", should one ever be developed, could lead people who support this type of thinking to opt for the abortion.

And this leads to the other item I came across. It is related from the standpoint of abortion's impact on the population of people with Down Syndrome. I don't know the exact figures, but suffice it to say that prenatal detection of Down Syndrome has resulted in the deaths of huge numbers of unborn infants. I would hope that misanthropes such as Mr. Appel of "Abortion Pride" infamy would consider learn a lesson in life from simple, true stories such as this one.