Duplicity Essay, Research Paper

What a duplicitous nation we are!

America is two-faced when it comes to its children. We consistently react with outrage to stories of atrocities committed against children, yet we have few qualms about allowing the most hideous form of child abuse known to man abortion to proceed apace as if everything were business as usual.

Even a casual search through the news reveals many examples of this duplicity. I remember an article which appeared in the Wheeling Intelligencer in 1993 about a 2-year-old baby girl who was murdered, her body stuffed in a carry-all cooler, and then dumped in a trash can. Everyone made a big fuss about it locally. Everywhere you went, you would hear statements like, “How could she do that?” Then there was the story about the English toddler who was brutally beaten by two young boys, then placed upon railroad tracks and sliced in half by an oncoming train. People across the globe were outraged by that story.

We’re all appalled by stories such as these which depict violence against children and rightly so; this is a natural by-product of our humanity. It’s not hard to believe that we’re horrified and react with “Oh my God!” What’s incredible is that some of the same people who are scandalized by these heinous crimes don’t seem to give a damn about similar abominations being committed in the name of “freedom of choice” against 1.6 million unborn children every year.

Here are further examples of our duplicity:

Society is outraged when a man’s beliefs cause him to kill a doctor at an abortion clinic; on the other hand, we praise and cheer a mother who kills her son’s alleged molester in a crowded courtroom. We slap the mother on the wrist with a few months in a mental institution, yet imprison the man for life. But then, the man murdered a “fine, upstanding member of the community,” so he deserves the harsher penalty right?

A New York abortionist receives up to 29 years in prison in connection with the botched abortion of a little girl, who ultimately survived the abortion attempt and was born with a severed arm. Yet the court didn’t sentence the man for his hideous assault on the girl; it penalized him for what he failed to do complete the abortion.

On the one hand, we worry about a eight-week-old baby who nearly drowns in his bassinet after a leaky pipe fills it with water; on the other hand, we don’t mind hearing about the 8-month-old fetus who is drowned and scalded by a caustic solution of saline. But then, we don’t have to look into the fetus’ eyes, nor watch as he struggles and gasps and thrashes about in the womb for almost an hour before finally succumbing.

On the one hand, society passes a law which could impose severe fines and prison sentences on pro-lifers simply for peacefully protesting or handing out literature to women in front of an abortuary. Yet this law would grant immunity to people picketing and protesting on politically correct issues such as AIDS, animal rights, nuclear power, and labor disputes.

On the one hand, we don’t mind condemning the pro-life movement for it’s radical acts of protest and demonstration; on the other hand, we condone–nay, heartily approve!–the use of violence by police and “deathscorts” on these same protesters, including (but not limited to) cracking ribs, breaking jaws, snapping arms and legs, and sexual harassment of female protesters. But then, the police and deathscorts have the authority (which is to say, the FORCE) behind them, don’t they? So they must be right.

We hold national “Youth Appreciation” weeks, mouthing neat little slogans like “We Appreciate YOUth”; on the other hand, we would allow these same children to be slaughtered while still in the womb. But then, the children we appreciate most are the ones who are almost grown. The ones still in the womb are too messy and too much trouble to take care of.

This national hypocrisy is leading us as a nation “to hell in a handbasket.” to borrow one of my mother’s favorite terms. We preach “peace” to our neighbors while we wage unrelenting war on the pre-born. We show our concern for the environment by holding “Earth Day” conferences, yet we allow the slaughter of the next generation of humanity. We spout pompous words about how “All men were created equal and they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” yet we continue to deny the pre-born the most basic of all rights granted by the Creator the right to life.

They say abortion is a “choice.” Some choice a tiny human being is brutally murdered every time one of these “choices” is made. Why can’t people see it as murder? Why can they grieve over the 2-year-old girl brutally murdered by her mother, yet fail to comprehend the magnitude of the crimes that abortionists perpetrate against humanity every single day? I have a theory. I believe it’s because they choose not to see the baby in the womb. Yet they can see that 2-year-old victim. They can look at her body, examine the evidence, make the connection that “This was once a living, breathing human being,” or, a more visceral reaction that strikes closer to home, “This could have been my daughter.”

Recent technological developments such as the sonograph and the fetoscope have greatly increased our understanding of the fetus by allowing us to peer into the womb and watch him as he slumbers comfortably, patiently awaiting his moment in destiny. It’s not difficult to make the connection that an unborn baby is human, if you’ll only look carefully at the pictures and review the evidence. Look at the fingers and toes and opposable thumb. Look at the perfectly formed ears and tiny button nose. Feel the silky-soft hair. Place your finger in the fetus’ hand and watch as he curls his fingers around yours in response. Touch the baby lightly on the belly and watch the expression of joy on his face. The fetus can laugh, and yes, sometimes he can even cry when he finds a pocket of air in his mother’s womb. But of course, to be able to “see” these things, you have to keep an open mind. No one can force you to “see” what you do not wish to “see.”

We speak with a forked tongue. It’s time to get our collective act together and stop being so hypocritical. It’s time to call things for what they are. If it looks like a baby and acts like a baby and feels like a baby and cries like a baby guess what? It’s a baby.

Abortion is murder. Stop calling it a “choice.” The pre-born have no “choice.” but if they did, you can be certain they wouldn’t choose death. Unborn children are human beings. As such, they deserve the same concern we would grant a newborn infant or toddler. And to those of you who defend your “right to choose.” just remember one thing–when you were born, your mother had a “choice” to make, too. Luckily for you, she made the right one. She chose for you to live. I pray to God that you, too, will make the same decision for all of your future unborn children.