I just stumbled upon a brilliant essay written by Mary Meehan, a left-wing pro-life activist. This essay was penned 38 years ago, and is just as relevant today regarding the left’s implausible fervor for abortion. I have selected a few of the noteworthy statements from the essay below:
BEING A FOLLOWER, NOT A THINKER. Meehan points out that “The abortion issue, more than most, illustrates the occasional tendency of the Left to become so enthusiastic over what is called a ‘reform’ that it forgets to think the issue through.”
INCONSISTENT WITH THE LEFT’S ETHOS. Meehan argues that, “it is out of character for the Left to neglect the weak and helpless. The traditional mark of the Left has been its protection of the underdog, the weak, and the poor. The unborn child is the most helpless form of humanity, even more in need of protection than the poor tenant farmer or the mental patient or the boat people on the high seas.”
A CONSISTENT LIFE ETHIC. Meehan is inspired by: “….what pro-life feminists call the "consistency thing" -- the belief that respect for human life demands opposition to abortion, capital punishment, euthanasia, and war. We don't think we have either the luxury or the right to choose some types of killing and say that they are all right, while others are not. A human life is a human life; and if equality means anything, it means that society may not value some human lives over others.”
PROTECTION OF THE YOUNG. Meehan notes that up until about 1970, the left and right “generally agreed on one rule: We all protected the young. This was not merely agreement on an ethical question: It was also an expression of instinct, so deep and ancient that it scarcely required explanation…. Protection of the young included protection of the unborn, for abortion was forbidden by state laws throughout the United States.”
LIBERTARIANISM IS NOT LIBERAL. Meehan argues that one of the reasons that the left accepts legalized abortion is due to the “popular civil libertarian rationale for freedom of choice in abortion. Many feminists presented it as a right of women to control their own bodies. When the objection was raised that abortion ruins another person's body, they respond that a) it is not a body, just a ‘blob of protoplasm’ (thereby displaying ignorance of biology); or b) it is not really a "person" until it is born.”
A CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUE. Meehan describes abortion as “a civil-rights issue….Confirmation of this comes in the experience of pro-life activists who find open bigotry when they speak with white voters about public funding of abortion. Many white voters believe abortion is a solution for the welfare problem and a way to slow the growth of the black population.”
HYPOCRISY. Meehan feels that there is some uneasiness about abortion among liberals but notes the hypocrisy on the issue: “Tell someone who supports it that you have many problems with the issue, and she is likely to say, quickly, ‘Oh, I don't think I could ever have one myself, but . . . .’ or ‘I'm really not pro-abortion; I'm pro-choice’ or ‘I'm personally opposed to it, but . . . .’ Why are they personally opposed to it if there is nothing wrong with it?”
LINKS
Watch their Minds Change on Abortion
Abortion: The Left Has Betrayed the Sanctity of Life
http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/rauch/nvp/consistent/meehan_progressive.html
Why Liberals Should Defend the Unborn
http://www.meehanreports.com/whyliberals.htm
#prolife
#humanitarian
#humanitarianism
#consistentlife
#liberalhypocrisy
#prochoice
#reproductiverights