In 1985, a band called The Power Station released a song that immediately became a best seller. With a snappy tune and fast-paced lyrics sung by the British singer, Robert Palmer, the words described a swath of the American culture.
We want to multiply, are you gonna do it? I know you’re qualified, are you gonna do it? Don’t be so circumscribed, are you gonna do it? Just get yourself untied, are you gonna do it? Feel the heat pushing you to decide. Feel the heat burning you up, ready or not. Some like it hot, some like it hot.
These lyrics provide us insight into our modern culture. Why, you ask? In an opinion piece written a few years ago (Some Men Love Abortion, it Allows Sex Without Consequences, LifeNews.com, June 16, 2013), blogger Renee Bracey Sherman explored why some men believe so strongly in abortion. She wrote:
“I’ve heard stories about how the choice was tough, but they appreciate that their partner included them in the decision. They too felt abortion was the best option at that time. Some have gone on to have other children, while others haven’t. Once a man told me that when he and his partner became pregnant after having an abortion, they had such a different feeling about it: We knew that this time, we were ready to be parents. I felt like a father.”
As such, it appears that the same evasive and slimy language used by abortionists is also followed by certain fathers who claim they aren’t fathers—until they feel that they are. So much for reality or science.
In his book, On Heaven and Earth, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio (now Pope Francis) noted:
“The moral problem with abortion is of a pre-religious nature, because the genetic code of the person is present at the moment of conception. There is already a human being. I separate the issue of abortion from any religious concept. It is a scientific problem. To not allow further progress in the development of a being that already has the entire genetic code of a human being is not ethical. The right to life is the first human right. Abortion is killing someone who cannot defend himself.”
One of my favorite writers, the late Joseph Sobran (1946-2010), once wrote a column entitled “The problem with abortion? A baby.” After pointing out that “most doctors don’t mind being called by their specialties—dentists, dermatologists, and pediatricians,” Sobran questioned why those who perform abortions prefer not to be called abortionists. He then likened those who support abortion as modern nomads, always moving from argument to argument. “They used to quibble about when life begins: It was a religious question, they said. The obvious answer, at conception, didn’t satisfy them, though even atheists will agree that a squirrel or a dachshund begins its life when it’s conceived. Biologists handle that one without feeling they need to call in the help of theologians.”
In 1970, American author Alfred A. Montapert wrote a book entitled The Supreme Philosophy of Man: The Laws of Life. Regarding our choices and consequences, he reminded: “Every person has free choice. Free to obey or disobey the Natural Laws. Your choice determines the consequences. Nobody ever did, or ever will, escape the consequences of his choices.”
A seminary professor once told me of a Michigan priest who provided annual advice to his congregation regarding choice and life and procreation. “If you don’t want to go to Minnesota, don’t get on the train.”
Good advice, don’t you think?
Once we accept the proposition that each person can decide for themselves when human life begins or when it should end, then each person becomes their own god. Of course, once you become a god all moral judgments are relative. Every moral decision boils down to doing what “feels” right. One person’s infanticide is another person’s choice of a medical procedure. One person’s assisted suicide is another’s death with dignity. Personally I don’t think I’m up to the task of becoming the supreme being. I think I’ll let GOD decide for me.