Like Sparta, Except the Mother

For John, BLUF:  As for Virginia Governor Northam, the fact that he was careless about "Black Face" or "White Hoods" is just a symptom of his being careless of life itself.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

But Is It Human?

From PJ Media, by Novelist Sarah Hoyt, 10 February 2019.

Here is the lede plus five:

When I was little, my dad told me about Spartan infanticide:  How a new baby was brought to the father, who then either accepted/recognized him/her or directed that the child be killed.

I wasn’t that little, and this was by the way of being a joke on the fact that I was premature, very small and would never have survived.  While old enough to understand the joke, I thought it was a barbaric and despicable system, putting the life of a newborn in the hands of a flawed individual who might just not feel really cordial that day, or kill the child for monetary and convenience reasons.

I was very glad we no longer lived in such a barbarous age.

For a while now, I’ve suspected I was wrong.  Governor Northam’s speech was only the glaringly obvious slap in the face to prove that indeed and in fact, we do very much live in a world like Sparta’s.  Only these days it’s not the father who gets to decide, but the mother.

You see, lacking a solid point at which we declare that life in the womb is/isn’t human, we have defaulted by degrees to “It’s human if it’s wanted.”  Specifically, if it’s wanted by the mother.

Unfortunately, this opens the door to atrocity.

It’s not even a slippery slope, just a working out of the conclusion.  If you’re not wanted once you’re born, why should you be accorded any more “humanity” than you were if unwanted in the womb?  Why should there be a limit to when you stop being wanted?

The implication is clear.  Under the current rules in New York State and as proposed for Virginia, the baby could be several hours old and be aborted, or a day old, or 14 years old and a disappointment to the Mother.

Here is the conclusion to the article:

We should respect humans as humans because we are human.

Once we open the door to granting conditional humanity for any reason, we are rendering ourselves open to also be considered non-human for any reason, as society shifts and the needs of government change.

At the end of that lie death camps and bodies piled like cordwood.

It’s time to turn back while we can.

I am opposed to elective abortion, but we are a pluralistic society and not all think the way I do.  The US Supreme Court Ruling in Roe v Wade seems like a reasonable compromise.  Getting too far out beyond that "first trimester" seems to me to be on a slippery slope.

If someone uses the "Hitler" analogy with you, mention that Governor Andrew Cuomo and Governor Ralph Northam are more the mold, men willing to eliminate those found to be unworthy of life♠ and thus to be eliminated in a quick and efficient manner.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Which goes back to a 1920 Book, Allowing the Destruction of Life Unworthy of Life