Myths of the Embryofascists

Nobody likes abortion. And nobody wants to encourage reckless sex. Yet polls in South Dakota show that, given the chance, voters would reject the abortion ban passed recently by their own State Legislators. The public understands that a woman’s right to an abortion must be maintained, while conservative politicians prefer to posture and make law based on common superstitions rather than medical science and reason.

We can only hope that the FDA will soon allow pharmacies to sell the “morning after” contraceptive pill without a prescription. At least that would remove from the equation pharmacists who object to birth-control, since they won’t actually have to fill the prescription anymore.

In all the debate about stem-cell research, contraception and first-trimester abortion, nobody has made a convincing argument for why a tiny bundle of cells should have more rights than--or equal rights to--a grown woman.

The response to that question usually comes in theological terms, or in terms so vague and flimsy as to be meaningless.

We need to support a culture of life.

So why does the “life” of a bundle of cells take precedence over the life of a grown woman? Why isn’t supporting a woman's health and liberty included in supporting a culture of life? Are women not alive?

Abortion is murder.

Not according to law or common sense. Only a person can be murdered, and an embryo doesn’t come close to meeting the definition of personhood. In fact, my dog is more of a person than an embryo.

We need to uphold and protect the rights of the unborn.

But why should “the unborn” have greater rights than their already-born mothers? Shouldn't the rights of the born outweigh the rights of the unborn?

Nascent human life is equal to human life.

Then why do we have a different name and category for it? Clearly, nascent human life is not yet human life. So why should nascent human life have greater rights than the actual human mother carrying that life?

The Bible says abortion is wrong.

Not my bible. If your bible says it's wrong, don’t have one.

As long as radical religions focus on the quantity of life, rather than the quality of life, we will need to resist the bizarre, illogical and indefensible notion that small bundles of cells have some transcendent, magical value beyond the value of living, breathing, thinking, conscious women.

And just because we allow something doesn’t mean we encourage it.

Allowing abortion while encouraging responsible behavior requires more than a rigid, black-and-white worldview. It requires effort, tolerance and compassion. But too many fanatics want to spend their energy glorifying a small bundle of cells instead of doing the difficult work of understanding teen pregnancy, accepting human sexuality and tolerating a wide range of mores, values and liberties. Which is a far greater shame than the tragedy of abortion.