One of the few things we heard out of the mainstream media during the Gosnell hearing is "this is what happens when abortions are hard to get."
The argument must be aimed at bolstering their own supporters, because it's not an argument that will convince many pro-lifers. My brain always interprets this kind of logic as "if abortion isn't legal, people might die when they try to murder their children." Less than compelling.
The other argument I've heard a lot lately is "we've always had abortion and we always will."
It's true we've always had abortion. For centuries people have dealt with unwanted children by killing them — either before they were born or after. Does that make it OK? Of course not. Does that mean it will always be with us? Not necessarily.
There's something else we can say we've pretty much always had: slavery. It's existed in some form or another for thousands of years. It still exists, even in the United States.
But it's not what it once was. Once, slavery was normal. People thought nothing of it. It was a fact of life.
Today, it's recognized by 99% of the human race as a horror and a crime. We may never stamp it out, but we've relegated it to the shadows, and there's a good chance we can make it too risky, too dangerous to practice if we keep the pressure on. There may soon come a day when there is no slavery on this planet.
Abortion has always existed because there were people who said "my needs are more important than the life of this child." There is a chance that we can change things so that 99% of the human race will say "nothing is more important that the life of a child." That's a dream worth fighting for.
