The Pro-Death crowd is back.

I was going to write about another subject but a series of comments I received pushed that idea back for a day. They were all directed at one of the columns with regard to abortion. As anyone who reads this column will know, I am an unashamed proponent of life. I know (which is far stronger of a stance than mere belief) that life begins at the moment of conception. There is far too much science that proves this. The question is really when do any rights of humanity become endowed upon this life?

That question I posed is enough to send many of the pro-death crowd into a screaming frenzy because if what we now call the de-humanizing terms of zygote, fetus, etc, is recognized for what it really is, what they now see as a fundamental right becomes rather an act of legalized murder. What is really interesting is that many of this group will also stand vigil protesting the execution of a serial killer whose primary target was children.

If anyone will notice, I have not once said that an abortionist or their “patient” does not have the right to do what they do, yet these comments fairly shrieked that accusation attempting to shame me into silence. One comment was not allowed to be published because it used profanity, in spite of the prohibition for that sort of language clearly posted in the comment box. Apparently some folks can write but not read.

Throughout all the columns on this subject my single push has been to inject honesty into the discussion; honesty based on actual science and biological evidence not politically correct terminology. The problem, as exhibited by the comments, is that at least one side of the discussion cannot deal with such honesty, so I will, with glee, express it yet again.

I want a member of the pro-death camp to answer this question honestly and without rancor: what is the result of human conception if it is not human? I can almost guarantee that not one of them will give a well-reasoned answer because the only correct answer is “human life”. There are stages within the growth of this life that it has yet to achieve sentience and there are stages where it is completely reliant on the mother for sustaining that life, but if not human, what is it?

You see, when the rhetoric is broken down and the discussion is brought to fundamentals there is no room left for semantics and this is what really bothers the fanatics on both sides. Where abortion is concerned, most of the fanatics live on the left but not all of them. Those who shoot abortionists are just as wrong as those doctors who violate their oath by hiding behind contracts. The Hippocratic Oath as translated from the Greek is,

“I swear by Apollo, Asclepius, Hygieia, and Panacea, and I take to witness all the gods, all the goddesses, to keep according to my ability and my judgment, the following Oath.
To consider dear to me, as my parents, him who taught me this art; to live in common with him and, if necessary, to share my goods with him; To look upon his children as my own brothers, to teach them this art.

I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone.

I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a plan; and similarly I will not give a woman a pessary to cause an abortion.

But I will preserve the purity of my life and my arts.

I will not cut for stone, even for patients in whom the disease is manifest; I will leave this operation to be performed by practitioners, specialists in this art.

In every house where I come I will enter only for the good of my patients, keeping myself far from all intentional ill-doing and all seduction and especially from the pleasures of love with women or with men, be they free or slaves.

All that may come to my knowledge in the exercise of my profession or in daily commerce with men, which ought not to be spread abroad, I will keep secret and will never reveal.

If I keep this oath faithfully, may I enjoy my life and practice my art, respected by all men and in all times; but if I swerve from it or violate it, may the reverse be my lot.”

There is no room in the oath, if it is followed honestly, to perform an abortion. If the comments to my blog are read, you will see that the writers did not bother to do any research, they simply reacted because I was disputing an article of their faith. They call for tolerance, but react with intolerance when someone disagrees with them. The comments give ample evidence to that, but if you will notice, I published them…except when profanity is used.

For those who didn’t pay attention in school, profanity is the four-letter dialogue you commonly use when your mother isn’t listening.