| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
DISCRIMINATION
HAS DISCRIMINATION EVER BEEN LEGAL BEFORE?
YES, SADLY SO.
Discrimination by Race
The Nazi Holocaust was a terrifying example of legal racial discrimination. It began with the elimination of almost 300,000 Aryan German citizens who were "defective" and ended with the elimination of million members of a race that was also judged to be "defective." (Add perhaps another 6 million Gypsies, war prisoners, and other nationalities, e.g., Poles.)
First, Jews were labeled subhuman through the use of names such as "vermin, garbage, subhuman, trash," etc. Then, legal personhood and equal protection by law were removed in 1936 by the Supreme Court of Germany. Finally, the killing began. Detailed documentation is available in The German Euthanasia Program. (Wertham, Hayes Publishing Co., Cincinnati); A Sign For Cain, (Wertham, 1966, MacMillin), Chapters 8 and 9); and The Abortion Holocaust (Brennan, Landmark Press).
Discrimination by Skin Color
In the U.S., from Colonial times, there was legal discrimination on the basis of skin color.
This ugly chapter in our history came to its legal climax with the Dred Scott Decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1857, three years before Lincoln’s election and the U.S. Civil War. In essence, it confirmed that black people had no legal rights and were the property of their owners. The analogy to abortion is direct. Complete details are available on this analogy in Abortion and Slavery — History Repeats (Willke, Hayes Publishing Co., Cincinnati, 1984 [$5.50]).
Discrimination by Age
If you are conceived in France, your life is legally protected after ten weeks of life. In Denmark, it is 12 weeks. In the State of Washington, just prior to the Roe vs. Wade Decision, life was protected at 16 weeks; Sweden was 20. In New York, it had been 24 weeks; England was 28; and presently in the U.S., life is legally protected only after birth. Nobel prize winner, Dr. James Watson, has suggested "three days after birth."
At first glance, one is likely to comment that all of the above disagree. But look closer at the ethic, the logic, and the criteria. They all agree. They agree that you can discriminate against an entire class of living humans on the basis of age. They just don’t agree on which age.
But note well that in the U.S. today there are 3.5 taxpayers for every retired person who draws Social Security or other taxfunded pensions. By the year 2040, there will only be 1.5 taxpayers to support each retired person (assuming no rise in the current birth rate). Our nation (among others) is all but bankrupt now, partly due to such entitlement programs.
This will be a completely impossible economic situation. The answer could be rather simple and direct. Copy the ethic, the logic, and the criteria of today’s fatal discrimination on the basis of age — only start at the other end of the spectrum. Perhaps a court could rule that everyone over 80 years of age was no longer a legal person. Or maybe it would have to be lowered to 75 — or even to . . . ?
Discrimination by Handicap
Handicap is one of the two most accepted reasons for abortion. But remember, before birth and after birth, it is the same patient and the same handicap. Is it any wonder that we are increasingly seeing the same "solution" after birth (killing by infanticide — see chapter 24) as before birth (killing by abortion)? Since when have we given doctors the right to kill the patient to "cure" the disease?
Discrimination by Place-of-Residence
This is abortion in the U.S. It is discrimination on the basis of place-of-residence. If the child in the womb can escape from his first place-of-residence (the womb) the day before his scheduled execution, his life is protected by full force of law. As long as he remains in the womb, however, he can be killed at his mother’s request.
| Previous Chapter | Next Chapter |