The Bitter Harvest (-ing)

The Bitter Harvest (-ing)

 

Perhaps the most difficult of lingering issues which politicians are loathe to discuss, due to the extremes of emotions associated with both sides of the debate, the legacy of Roe v Wade bedevils all of us, forty-two years hence. For Americans who argue either side of the issue there is little room for equivocation because it is, in the final analysis, a life and death issue- not so much for the mother in most cases, but for that of the unborn child.

 

Those who favor unrestricted access to abortion can and do euphemistically dismiss their advocacy of abortion as “pro-choice”, even though the most grievously-affected person, whose very life is terminated, is denied such choice. Referring the unborn child as “a fetus”, while clinically sound, is merely another way of objectifying a human being in an attempt to dismiss the central argument of life, itself- an absolute right to life that is specifically listed in this country’s founding document, the Declaration of Independence. Juvenile attempts to justify all instances of abortion, due to the comparatively rare cases of “rape and incest”, are also a convenient dodge since such cases are merely a fraction of one percent of all abortions performed in the United States. Similar attempts at such justification, based on vague concepts of the mother’s health, are merely rationalizations of the procedure, which are all-too-easily contrived by doctors performing the procedures, rather than empirical medical realities. An expectant mother, whose life or health is truly endangered by her pregnancy, is by far the rare exception- as opposed to the oft-cited frequency (still a vast minority) of instances so contrived by doctors who have a financial incentive to do so. In the end, it is an inescapable and undeniable conclusion that well over 95% of abortions are merely elective procedures, purely based upon convenience and economics, rather than medical realities. But don’t tell this to a “pro-choicer”, lest you be labeled as engaging in a war on women…

 

Regardless of the position one takes on the issue of abortion, the recent videos of officials of Planned Parenthood, dismissively discussing the marketing of organs harvested from aborted babies should make everyone step back from the central issue of abortion, and consider the ghoulish implications associated with such callous dialogues. Planned Parenthood, taxpayer-funded to the tune of $ 500 million per year, is the largest provider of abortions in the United States and, despite what proponents say about the other services this organization provides, Planned Parenthood derives the lion’s share of their revenue by performing abortions. The mere fact that taxpayers, the majority of whom are opposed to unrestricted abortion, pay to prop up this business is ludicrous enough, but the fact that such funds support an entity which would harvest infantile organs for re-sale on the open market is monstrous to an extent not seen in decades. Those doctors, one of whom is seen sipping wine and casually discussing such marketing, along with brainstorming ideas of how to make such procedures “less crunchy” so as to preserve the viability of such harvested organs, are nothing more than the modern day equivalent of Nazi Dr. Josef Mengele. Ironically, when President Obama recently praised such activities of Planned Parenthood, as “performing God’s work”, reminds us all that the Nazis once used those precise words to justify the slaughter of millions in concentration camps across eastern Europe.

 

Setting aside, for the moment, the primary issue of terminating lives of many millions of babies who are denied their right to live, do we really, as freedom-loving and life-respecting Americans, want to continue to support and abide the monstrous and bitter harvesting of body parts by any organization- particularly one so endowed with government largesse? For those of you who would say “yes” to this question, I challenge you to look at these videos and answer to yourself, alone, as to whether or not this is truly a good thing- regardless of whether or not you would say so, publicly. While you are doing so, consider your own humanity and how precious you view your own life, and then decide for yourself if you, or anyone else, truly have the right to determine whether or not another person has the opportunity to live, when such a person is not afforded to be party to such an existential decision.

 

-Drew Nickell, 30 July 2015

© 2015 by Drew Nickell, all rights reserved