{"id":27105,"date":"2022-12-02T16:02:07","date_gmt":"2022-12-02T16:02:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/?p=27105"},"modified":"2024-03-01T18:31:43","modified_gmt":"2024-03-01T18:31:43","slug":"learning-from-lincoln-on-abortion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/learning-from-lincoln-on-abortion\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning from Lincoln on Abortion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n


The overturning of\u00a0Roe v. Wade<\/em>\u00a0has returned the issue of abortion to our political branches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, they don\u2019t seem entirely prepared to deal with it. Eight score years ago, a great American led the political debate on another highly contentious moral issue. It may seem surprising that from the vantage point of 2022 Abraham Lincoln can speak to the issues confronting us, but on the issue of abortion, the Great Emancipator can teach us a lot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an exceptional essay<\/a> published in the middle of the Roe<\/em> era, Maureen Condic looked to Lincoln for his example. She recognized that the belief an embryo doesn\u2019t merit legal protection relies on a trio of claims about the embryo\u2019s human status, or lack thereof: that the embryo lacks sufficient human form; that it lacks sufficient human ability; and that the convenience afforded by abortion overrides any consideration of the embryo\u2019s humanity. As Condic insightfully observed<\/a>, such arguments based on form, ability, and convenience mirror the arguments made in the 19th century over slavery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The always clear-thinking and honest Camille Paglia echoes<\/a> the notion that it is power that\u2019s in play when it comes to abortion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paglia favors \u201cunrestricted access to abortion,\u201d yet she says<\/a>, \u201cI profoundly respect the pro-life viewpoint, which I think has the moral high ground.\u201d She writes, \u201cWe career women are arguing from expedience; it is personally and professionally inconvenient or onerous to bear an unwanted child. The pro-life movement, in contrast, is arguing that every conception is sacred and that society has a responsibility to protect the defenseless.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is this responsibility to protect the weak and defenseless that invites a potential government role on abortion. In another note apparently written on the same day as the one cited above, Lincoln writes<\/a>, \u201cThe legitimate object of government is \u2018to do for the people what needs to be done, but which they can not, by individual effort, do at all, or do so well, for themselves.\u2019\u201d He asserts that there is a role for government in providing positive goods\u2014he lists \u201croads,\u201d \u201cbridges,\u201d \u201ccommon schools,\u201d \u201cdisposing of deceased men\u2019s property,\u201d and \u201cproviding for the helpless young and afflicted.\u201d Read full article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The overturning of\u00a0Roe v. Wade\u00a0has returned the issue of abortion to our political branches. Unfortunately, they don\u2019t seem entirely prepared to deal with it. Eight score years ago, a great American led the political debate on another highly contentious moral issue. It may seem surprising that from the vantage point of 2022 Abraham Lincoln can…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27106,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nLearning from Lincoln on Abortion - Cincinnati Right to Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/learning-from-lincoln-on-abortion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Learning from Lincoln on Abortion - Cincinnati Right to Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The overturning of\u00a0Roe v. 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