Most of the atrocities against humanity had their inception in some lofty ideal about personal freedom. The problem with personal freedom, however, is that if not tempered with humility and wisdom, it can create a quagmire of selfishness that will ruin or destroy someone else's life.
Such is the case with abortion. Forty years ago today, the Supreme Court made a landmark decision that changed the perception of a woman's most intimate role, that of mother and bearer of life. The focus was taken off the creation, a new baby, and placed instead on the woman's right to do what she wanted with her body. The "sanctity of the womb" was compromised, and the value of life in it's earliest stage was deemed unimportant; no more than the collateral damage of wrong choices and loose sexual morals.
Norma McCorvey was single and pregnant in Texas in 1971. Even though she did not have an abortion, she eventually became the poster child of a movement that felt a woman's personal freedom was more important than her God-given role in the process of bringing life into the world. Ms. McCorvey, to her credit, changed her views about abortion and became pro-life, but the damage had already been done.
A USA Today headline says that Roe v Wade is about more than abortions; that's true, it is also about the deaths of millions of innocent babies. Roe v Wade took the issue of personal privacy, made it synonymous with abortion, and in doing so legitimized first trimester abortions across the country.
A woman's reproductive rights are securely ensconced in the nation's legal culture. Abortion is now considered an effective method of birth control, but former Governor Mike Huckabee sees it as a national nightmare. In his weekly radio talk show today, the governor said that millions of children are dying every year not "from guns but from an abortionist's scapel." He asked the president as he begins his second term in office to "end the slaughter."
The observance of Roe v Wade's 40th year was low-key in most places. The right to privacy will keep those who aborted a life and now regret it from sharing their stories. One can only wonder what kind of world this would be if the innocent slain had lived.
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