By Stephen Macaulay
A Google search for “what is life” came back with 15,340,000,000 results.
Clearly a case where there are lots of opinions.
A search for “when does life end” has 7,400,000,000, or about half.
We pretty much know when an organism is no longer alive, whether a goldfish or a grandfather.
We know that when the projectiles ripped through 19 children and two adults in Robb Elementary School in Uvalde County, they died.
Where are all of the supporters of “the right to life” when it comes to addressing the Second Amendment, when it comes to keeping weapons of war out of the hands of people who they wouldn’t trust with their children?
Why does protecting a zygote seem to take precedence over the life of a third grader?
According to analysis of CDC data by Pew Research:
“Nearly eight-in-ten (79%) U.S. murders in 2020 – 19,384 out of 24,576 – involved a firearm. That marked the highest percentage since at least 1968, the earliest year for which the CDC has online records. A little over half (53%) of all suicides in 2020 – 24,292 out of 45,979 – involved a gun. . . .”
And in another analysis Pew found:
“The last year for which the CDC reported a yearly national total for abortions is 2019. The agency says there were 629,898 abortions nationally that year, slightly up from 619,591 in 2018.”
While the number of gun deaths is but a fraction of the number of abortions, one assumes that the abortions were predicated on at least some thought by the participant.
Someone doesn’t decide to be the victim of a murder.
But there are other things to consider in this space.
According to the CDC, “Almost 18 million women have experienced vaginal rape in their lifetime” and “Almost 3 million women in the U.S. experienced RRP [rape-related pregnancy] during their lifetime.”
These women didn’t get to decide. So what happens to them now? What happens to victims of incest? Do they get to decide?
Not if they live in the wrong state. Where’s equal justice?
(e) Abortion presents a profound moral question. The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey arrogated that authority. The Court overrules those decisions and returns that authority to the people and their elected representatives.
ALITO, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which THOMAS, GORSUCH, KAVANAUGH, and BARRETT, JJ., joined. THOMAS, J., and KAVANAUGH, J., filed concurring opinions. ROBERTS, C. J., filed an opinion concurring in the judgment. BREYER, SOTOMAYOR, and KAGAN, JJ., filed a dissenting opinion.
So here is a moral question for Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett: What responsibility do you take for those who are being murdered by weapons that were unimaginable by the Framers? Did the meaning of “arms” in the 18th century encompass something like the AR-15 that can handle 30 round magazines? It took about 30 seconds to load a gun in 1791. This isn’t a quibble. This is a deadly serious consideration.
And here’s another moral question, based on statements by U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV),“I trusted Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanagh when they testified under oath that they also believed Roe v. Wade was settled legal precedent and I am alarmed they chose to reject the stability the ruling has provided for two generations of Americans,” and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), “This decision is inconsistent with what Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh said in their testimony and their meetings with me, where they both were insistent on the importance of supporting long-standing precedents that the country has relied upon.”
Is lying under oath acceptable for someone who is trying to get a job on the highest court in the land?
Somehow the Sixth Commandment is something they believe in, but they give the Ninth a pass.