It’s Called Murder

A euphemism is a delightful device used by writers to cloud issues, mask evil doing, and generally muddy the water about important issues. The user is excusing the use by pleading that the actual definition of the activity is too harsh, socially unpleasant, or outright shocking to be accurately named in easily understood terms. It is offered as a protective device to soften the affect on your sensitivities. It also serves to ameliorate the truth and shroud the activity in a cloak of righteousness. Personally, I see the use of a euphemism in general as a lie. In “the family way” is an old time reference to your daughter being pregnant. If a physician or clinician with the mother’s assent assists in disposing of the problem by abortion, it is not exercising “choice,” it is called murder The goal is to take a life!

On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court found in a 7-2 decision, for the plaintiff, Jane Roe against the state of Texas (410 US 113) and set the course for the subsequent murder of nearly 40,000,000 Americans. This is a number which considered in the aggregate exceeds the total population of the original thirteen states at the founding of the republic in the eighteenth century by a factor of ten. It was not until 1870 that the nation exceeded 40 million. It is a number which approximates the total of all the purges, genocide, gulag deaths and other war casualties in all the wars and difficulties of the twentieth century world wide!

One need only ask oneself just how old were you in 1973 to establish how recent these deaths were. I rejoice that all my grandchildren were born since that critical date of 1/22/73. My youngest child was just three days from her first birthday when the decision was rendered.

Of the 4 million, not 40 million, citizens at the time of the revolution, the nation produced such notables as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ethan Allen, Thomas Paine, Alexander Hamilton, Crispus Attucks, Benjamin Franklin, James Monroe, John James Audubon, John Jacob Astor, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Lucretia Mott, and Sojourner Truth. Of the forty million murdered babies over the last thirty five years, how many may have equaled or possibly excelled these famous figures from our history. What cures do we not have? What symphony or opera is missing as a result? What critical scientific breakthrough is waiting for the right person to bring it to pass? What epic poem or work of art is wanting for the lack of the artist? And, not the least important, what jurist was slain to never become a member of the Supreme Court?

The dead babies were not ax murderers, rapists, home invaders, serial killers or guilty of treason or any crime other than being in the wrong womb at the wrong time. It is an established fact that some of these innocents actually survived the abortion process and lived long enough outside the birth canal to be slain after the fact of birth.

In an effort to limit the practice, several state and the national legislatures have introduced bills to make the practice justifiably illegal. Even NARAL (National Association for Repeal of Abortion Laws) has endorsed the proposed legislation. A spokesman for the organization made the following statement: “We, in fact, did not oppose the bill. There is a clear legal difference between a fetus in utero versus a child that's born. And when a child is born, they deserve every protection that the country can provide them.” When the issue came before the Illinois (S.B. 1082) group, Senator Obama voted against it because he alleged the bill didn’t have the “neutrality language” as the federal version did. As a result, he killed it in committee and it didn’t pass.. The only problem was that the bill did have the same language as the federal bill which passed at the federal level unopposed. Apparently, the senator feels that once the abortion decision is made, the only option is the death of the child, in utero or out. Without the legal protection which he seems willing to deny, the child is then in jeopardy.

This matter is one which deserves an airing. That exposure will possibly come this Saturday night when both Obama and McCain will be present at Saddleback Church in Orange Country, California as the guests of Rick Warren. They will mutually attend a discussion group which has been labeled as “Leadership and Compassion”. It will be a test for all three of the principals involved. For McCain, we look forward to a firm response in favor of the unborn if the subject is broached. For Obama, we may see clarification of a very un-compassionate stance. The greatest test will be for Rick Warren to find if his idea of Christian leadership includes curiosity about the candidate’s attitude toward the sanctity of life.

To ignore the issue will be to ignore one of the most solid of all core beliefs which separate the two factions. To those of us who see a Christlike reflection in the eyes of every newborn, the issue is clear cut. It will, indeed, be interesting to see how every one comes down on the matter.

In His abiding love,

Cecil Moon