The Coward’s Creed

With the political season at our throats again, we’re starting to hear more and more of that tired old “I’m personally opposed to abortion but want it to remain legal” nonsense.  The media is even starting to promote politicians who espouse this view as people of courage and high moral character.  This serves as additional confirmation that the American media wouldn’t recognize courage and character if it bit them on the rear end.    

The fact is, this is by far the most cowardly, the most morally indefensible and the most intellectually dishonest position a person can take on abortion. 

The only basis for being opposed to abortion is the recognition that it is the killing of a child.  So when someone takes this position, what they are actually saying is, “I understand that abortion is the intentional slaughter of defenseless children but if someone wants to do it I’m not going to do anything to stop them.” 

That raises the question: which other innocent human beings do they think it should be legal to kill?  Also, are they equally tolerant on other issues?  Presumably, they are also “personally opposed” to rape, armed robbery, racial discrimination, and wife-beating.  But will they abstain from inflicting their personal beliefs regarding these issues as well? 

It is especially fraudulent when politicians take this “personally opposed but don’t want to inflict my personal views on others” position.  Inflicting their views on others is precisely what legislators are elected to do and every vote they make does just that.  Further, if a politician is not going to be guided by his own personal views, then (a) why would he bother to tell us what his personal views are, and (b) whose personal views is he going to be guided by? 

For those of us who are pro-life, this issue reinforces the need for us to constantly remind ourselves that the conflict over abortion is not a war between us and the baby killers.  It is a war between the baby killers and the babies.  We are simply a community of people who entered this war on the side of the babies.  And what that means is that every time we support some coward who tells us that he is “personally opposed to abortion but pro-choice as a matter of law,” in the war over abortion we commit treason.