On the Contrary: Abortion Is Everyone's Business

Last week, Vice President Harris chose Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota to be her running mate for the fall presidential election. He’s an interesting person with many fine qualities, and perhaps even some compelling issue positions, depending upon your perspective. It must be said, however, that the Vice President and Governor Walz continue to uphold their national party’s extreme views on abortion, and the right to life.

It is fashionable to frame the issue in terms of bodily autonomy, ignoring the presence of a second body to which rights have been given, and long denied. It is more rhetorical slight-of-hand than an actual coherent philosophy; to carry it to a logical end grants an expectant mother the right to kill her pre-born child at a mere whim.

The tenuous social agreement that abortion ought not extend past birth is itself ethical nonsense. What is this living being? I daresay that it is also foolish to attach personhood and rights to either potential or current abilities and skills; inability and disability comes for us all. Do we have only those rights which we ourselves can defend? If we assent to this proposition, human rights are on the shakiest ground indeed.

Aside from the religious bigotry of suggesting that Christian opposition to abortion and other outrages has no place in the public square, it should be noted that my argument is not religious or theological in any way. It is both fitting and tragic that Christian support for abortion now attempts to take refuge in religious liberty. These advocates do not want their dogma to be challenged, even as it is wholly contrary to reason.

We must also confront the argument that various medical crises could arise which make termination of a pregnancy necessary. To this we must say that intentional termination prior to another medical intervention is not necessary. And it’s intentional termination that constitutes the moral error of abortion, not simply any fetal loss. In any case, vanishingly rare no-win scenarios cannot justify the policy of zero limitations on abortion.

I might add that none of the foregoing constitutes a directive on how or for whom to vote; I only say that this crime at the heart of the Democratic Party platform compromises the moral authority of that party, nominally dedicated to advocating for the weakest and most vulnerable.

It is the business of all of us —- contra Governor Walz —- because the United States is still the bulwark of human rights and democracy in the world. Indeed, self-governance presupposes a human dignity that is denied by the most evil regimes on Earth. We are but an empire, if our power and our ethics applies to us alone, or only when we say it does.

Let’s pray for all our leaders, that they may see the basis of rights, and the ground of human dignity, and defend it for all people.

Jason Kettinger is Associate Editor of Open for Business. He writes on politics, sports, faith and more.