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Legislating Morality
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Legislating morality and religion
by Michael McGuire
Chronicle Editor
Virtually every law is an effort to legislate morality. It is against the law to steal,
pollute and libel because our society considers these actions wrong.
Consequently, those who label laws that restrict abortions as ``attempts to legislate
morality'' are correct.
I am pro-life. The unborn child fills me with as much wonder as the child
laughing in the park.
And, yes, my thoughts about abortion are influenced by religion, if we accept one
dictionary's definition of religion as ``a point or matter of ethics or conscience.''
Those who favor abortion, also, have reached their conclusions on the basis of
their ethics or conscience. They are legislating morality, too.
Among the gentler teachings the major religions and philosophies hold in common
is the belief that human life is paramount; and that includes life in the human
womb.
Use whatever word you please to describe the unborn child. Call it a fetus, if you
like. It is not an offensive word. A fetus is, after all, ``the young of an animal
while in the womb.''
The fetus is the early stage of life; and human life - at whatever stage - is worthy
of protection, love and reverence.
Yet, the grisly message sent to today's female is that the child growing in her body
is expendable; a piece of tissue that can be vacuumed out for the sake of
convenience.
The message is anti-human, anti-woman, anti-child.
If an elderberry beetle is found, a freeway project designed to save human lives is
halted until a new home is found for the bug.
Less important than the beetle on the political and social agenda is the unborn
human.
``Abortion is a women's issue,'' some say. ``Men should stay out of the discussion.''
Yet, those who favor abortion believe Congress should force people to pay for
them, whether they agree with abortion or not. Those who have legislated morality
have forced me to pay for abortions I don't believe in.
In a democracy, there is no such thing as a female-only issue. Men have as much
right as women to enter the debate over the expenditure of our tax money; and it is
our right to try to instill our values in our children or the children under our care.
I am the guardian of a teen-aged girl, a beautiful girl named Abigail, who has the
potential for a great life. It is frightening to me to think of the degree to which
unexpected motherhood would, at this stage in her life, destroy her potential.
Few of us wish parenthood on young girls who are not prepared for motherhood
and who risk being unable to fulfill other goals in life due to an unwanted and
unexpected pregnancy.
The answer, however, is not to lose respect for human life or encourage the young
to kill the young; nor do we teach them well when we encourage them to believe
that ending the life of a developing child is simply another acceptable choice in
life.
There are unknown numbers of people (including me and Susan) willing to take a
newborn into our homes; and it is a poor reflection on our society that the lives of
the unborn are ended while there are lists of people who yearn for a newborn to
love and claim as their own.
We also face a world with an exploding population that, in many parts of the
world, does not have sufficient resources to care for those who are born.
The answer to over-population, however, is not to de-humanize the world further
by promoting and financing abortion. The answer is education and contraception.
To quote a spokesman for one of the world's fine religions, ``Whatsoever things
are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever
things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any praise,
think on these things.'' (Philippians 4:8)
There is nothing lovely, pure, just, praiseworthy or honest to human life about
abortion.
Think life.
(c) 1993 Lesher Newspapers, Inc.