Selective hearing on abortion

To speak for those who cannot speak for themselves is a noble deed. To intentionally ignore the most innocent and helpless among them is a selfish one.

Texas State Senator Wendy Davis, with the help of hundreds of shouting pro-abortion supporters, managed yesterday to prevent the passage of a bill that would have further restricted abortions in her state. In her opening remarks, Davis said she was” rising on the floor today to humbly give voice to thousands of Texans.” She then proceeded in a marathon filibuster to read the testimonies of others who support access to abortion, as well as defend the procedure herself.

The unborn children being killed in the womb deserve a voice as much as, if not more than, their mothers do. Abortion is, and will always be, about the right of one human being to live, pitted against the claimed right of another human being to deny that right. All the real and tragic consequences of unplanned, unwanted, or imperfect reproduction do not offset the fundamental injustice of taking an innocent life.

Young women in the Texas Senate gallery holding little plastic coat hangers want us to focus on the potential harm desperate women might bring on themselves if legal abortions are denied them. But that’s like saying we should do away with laws against molestation so that perverted old men don’t resort to kidnapping young girls and boys to satisfy their selfish urges. In both situations, abortion and molestation, innocent young children are harmed; the difference lies in what happens to the perpetrator.

Others argue that the reality of starving, abandoned children should disqualify the pro-life defense unless the pro-lifer also works to save them. But this is a red herring designed to lay claim to the moral argument. And again, that’s like saying we should forcibly sterilize all young women in Third World countries to prevent the very real possibility that their children would suffer.

There are evils and wrongs, tragedies and injustices, wherever you turn today. We should do our part to eliminate or minimize those we can. Abortion is all of these things, and what I feel called to speak up about. Because the ones most affected by it cannot.