Pornography

"I know it when I see it." (Justice Stewart Potter.)



I understood at an early age that the decision to abort a fetus was dependent upon the counsel of ones cleric, doctor and family. Before Oregon passed a law, which removed criminal penalties for abortion, in the 1960's, I knew that women, girls, girls like my sisters, were getting abortions in what were referred to as back-alley abortion clinics. Or, worse, self-aborting. With a wire coathanger. And women were dying.

I, myself, am opposed to abortion. My wife and I were older when we decided to have our first child, and there are dangers involved when a woman approaches a certain age. So we did the usual thing, and in the case of my wife's age, the amniocentesis was paid for by the insurance company. But amnio didn't answer the particular question; if there is a genetic error discovered through testing, what would be the rational and right thing to do?

Let me put aside my wife's thinking. I knew what her thinking was. If the fetus had a flaw, end it. This was not my natural impulse. So, I had a talk with a man who I knew had a daughter with Down's Syndrome. The upshot of that conversation was, once you hold that baby in your arms, it doesn't matter if it's a puppy. You're going to love it.

Given how red and rat-faced ugly my boy was, I got to tell you, it's true. And reading about child-bearing doesn't prepare you for the mess that is your new baby. But holding your newly born baby in your arms is a feeling that we each are unprepared for. My son. What a beautiful, red-faced critter! Marvelous!

Life is a gift. It doesn't drop out of the sky. It is given you by your mother and father. The miracle of life is a gift that comes bound up with responsibilities and requirements that affect and determine your actions for every subsequent day of your life. For those of us who appreciate that our existence is different from the existence of other things--like rocks--the miracle of life is an awe-striking moment. For some of us, seeking a reason for existence, we tend to look for an answer in terms of Our Creator. For others there is an attempt at certain tautology which reduces existence to the mere creature of the random. In any event, the biological impulse has to be recognized, nutured and respected (if not revered.)

The video here is jaw-droppingly obscene. Which, I suppose, is the natural product of a way of thinking that reduces the miracle of life into a garbage disposal industry. The heartlessness, the uncaring thinking, the repudiation of the value of human existence underscores a belief I hold when talking to those who trumpet the values of a "woman's right to choose" as having a higher moral plane than those of us who believe that abortion is wrong, and should be rare.

For me the issue of when life begins is simple: zygote.

But ask any student graduating from your public schools when life begins. And then ask yourself, why can't these students see that it's more important to live your own life, than to have your healthcare, housing, meals and education provided you by the state?

In the world of the Left there are no miracles. Mentioning miracles is an attempt to foist religious views upon others. And no one should have to live a life where we recognize that there are miracles occuring around us, every day.

That would be wrong. Almost, pornographic.

Video found at PJ Tatler. H/T Instapundit.