Friday, March 6, 2009

Anniversary of the Dred Scott Decision

On this date in 1857, The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Dred Scott, an African-American slave, had "no rights that a white man need respect." Because he was black, he was not considered to be an American citizen and was not allowed to sue for his freedom.

What does this have to do with abortion? Two things. First, that the Supreme Court is not infallible. Its decision may have been logical, based on the laws of its day, but the laws of its day were unjust. Second, that Roe v. Wade is a similar decision, since it supports the belief that an unborn child is not a citizen and thus is not entitled to the rights of the rest of us. In other words, an unborn child has "no rights that the rest of us need respect."

In 1857, and even into the twentieth century, many educated white people sincerely believed that African-Americans were no better than beasts. Despite clear scientific evidence that all races are essentially the same with regard to innate intellectual capacity, there are still white supremacists who refuse to believe the truth. And despite clear scientific evidence that abortion is an act of bloody violence that takes the life of a human being, albeit a tiny one, with brain waves and a beating heart, with tiny little bones, tiny little fingers and toes, and a capacity to feel pain and to fight for his life, still there are many educated people who sincerely believe this is not true. The truth is out there, but they stubbornly refuse to believe.

At this very moment, across America, there are sonogram pictures of unborn babies taped to refrigerators and used as screen savers, but there are those who choose . . . to refuse to believe. We elected one of those people to be our president. Please pray for him.

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