Which came first the chicken or the egg?
There is written proof that this philosophical question has been a human topic of discussion for at least 2500 years. Aristotle’s answer to this question may still be the only valid answer: this is an infinite sequence, with no true origin. What does this arcane question have to do with abortion? It is exactly at the crux of the division between Pro-Life and Pro-Choice advocates.
When you look at the picture above, what do you see? The abortion abolitionists believe that a separate human being is created as soon as a human ovum is fertilized by human sperm. They see a chicken. The rest of us see an egg.
What is this chicken viewpoint based on?
The Catholic Church has always been against abortion. But, in 1869, in response to its legalization in a few states, Pope Pius IX erased from Catholic doctrine the point at which a fetus was thought to become viable, thereby, declaring a separate human life sacred from the moment of conception. The Evangelical Christian Right has joined them in this same cause.
I am more than familiar with Christianity and the Bible having once been an evangelist and preacher. Since my recovery, I have read the Bible several times from a more objective vantage point.
I can find nothing in the Bible that supports the idea that a person separate from the mother comes into existence at conception. This finding is similar to ones in the holy books of all major religions: Judaism, Islam, Hindu, and Buddhism. To the religion, including Christianity, new life is equated with breath, one’s first breath.
While researching this topic, I found and read into several sites that use the Bible to justify their dogma. “Bible Verses About Abortion” is like other similar sites in that they use many of the same quotations from the Old Testament, Christianity's version of the Torah, the holy book of Judaism written before the eponym of their religion, Jesus Christ, was born. The Biblical passages used as grounds for new life at conception apply only if you already believe that to be true. Without preconception, the list of anti-abortion quotations contains a few saying a woman is cursed if she is not a virgin when married or is unfaithful after marriage. Some of the remaining arguments seem to make a case for specific lives existing before birth and before pregnancy but somewhere other than in the womb. On the other hand, “What Does the Bible Really Say About Abortion?” is one of many sites with multiple Biblical samplings of God having utter disregard for the fetus in the womb.
The belief that a separate life begins at birth is, fundamentally, a religious belief (pun intended). It is supported only by cherry-picking and interpreting the Bible to justify what is already a part of their belief system.
Since this notion is ingrained in Christianity, striking down Roe v. Wade is tantamount to establishing Christianity as the state religion of the United States by making all of us adhere to this religious conviction. The Supreme Court is, therefore, in violation of the First Amendment clause: Shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.
The Pro-Life bloc is homogeneously integrated with the Pro-Gun camp. The Gun bunch believes that every living child, at as early an age as possible, be allowed to have guns so they can kill off all those not like them. These two factions intersect deeply with a third coterie of staunch believers, the Climate Hoax crowd, claiming, “Climate Change doesn’t exist. There’s nothing to be done.”
It looks a bit like this:
The pink circle represents Pro-Life. The bluish circle represents Pro-Gun. The greenish circle represents Climate Hoax. The large gray area in the middle is comprised of adherents to all three belief systems, quite a large overlap.
Another tenet of the Pro-Life caucus is that we are living in the End Times when God, in the form of Jesus Christ, will return from the sky and take them away from this hell hole they helped create to a place where everything is perfect. They call this the Rapture. Many adherents are actively trying to precipitate this event.
There are no serious problems confronting humanity that do not have their root in Over-Population. One contingent is promoting more population in the name of God while expecting to be rescued from the resulting disaster. The Climate Crisis, an offspring of Over-Population, threatens to destroy civilization and, perhaps, drive us to extinction. A second overlapping cabal adamantly refuses to address this problem by denying its existence. Gun violence and dealing with it has become a full-time job in America. This third synonymous division will not be happy until we are all armed to the teeth because more guns is definitely the answer.
Collectively, they are creating a hurricane of violence, death, and destruction. Calling this coalition Pro-Life is a contradiction in terms.
The six Justices of the Supreme Court who handed down these decisions, like Pro-Life's use of the Bible, are cherry-picking the Constitution to support what they already believe. All six reside in that gray area.
What are we going to do about this?