A culture of death

Of course having a right not to be killed does not necessarily mean that someone else has the obligation to keep us alive. However, when you weigh up the respective interests to the two parties involved, the mother and the fetus, it becomes very hard to justify the killing when the fetus stands to lose everything, and the mother stands only to be inconvenienced by carrying the baby to term. If the mother’s life was at risk that would be another thing, but the vast majority of abortions are performed, not to save the mother’s life but simply to save the mother from the inconvenience of bearing the child. When weighing up the respective interests of the mother and child it is worth noting that the mother is not some disinterested party in the proceedings. She must have indulged in the very activity that results in pregnancy, presumably knowing that such activity can result in pregnancy.

It is not even as if the mother has to raise the child. If the father did not want it either, then there are many thousands of childless Australians who would love the opportunity to raise a child. There was a time when the consequences for a woman having a child out of wedlock were devastating. She would be ostracised from her family and community and her reputation would be forever destroyed. She would be consigned to a life of poverty on the margins of society if she carried the baby to term. She would therefore be willing to seek a back street abortion to avoid the inevitable suffering placing her very life at risk.

This is no longer the case. There is no shame in becoming pregnant in Australia regardless of marital status. We have a welfare state that will provide for mother and baby and a health care system that will support them. And if we lack support for pregnant woman or unmarried mothers, then that is the area we should be addressing. If any section of society still thinks having a baby is shameful, then we need to educate them that there is nothing shameful about bringing a new life into the world. A new baby is something to be celebrated, not to be ashamed of, regardless of the marital status of the mother.

In our society murder is the worst crime that can be committed and rightly so because it deprives a person of the opportunity to live out the rest of their lives. It is truly a double standard to then provide for the killing of humans who are unborn, depriving them of the rest of their lives.

Why are we so fixated on legalising killing of the elderly and infirm while being so apathetic when it comes to preventing the killing of the most vulnerable among us? It seems that we really have a culture of death here in Australia.