Life News
On January 29, 2018, Federal District Court Judge David Ezra issued a preliminary injunction[i] against the State of Texas from enacting their newly minted fetal disposition law. The law, like several around the country, would mandate that those children killed in an abortion would have to be humanely cremated or buried. However, Judge Ezra believed this law to be unconstitutional on several grounds. His decision is quite problematic from a moral perspective.
Judge Ezra’s decision relies upon the application of the “undue burden” legal standard created by the United States Supreme Court, which determines the constitutionality of pro-life legislation, and is a standard that has no moral basis. The “undue burden” standard rests on the idea that “[A] statute which, while furthering a valid state interest, has the effect of placing a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman’s choice cannot be considered a permissible means of serving its legitimate ends.[ii]”
The Court continues that an enacted law that has “the purpose or effect of presenting a substantial obstacle to a woman seeking an abortion imposes an undue burden on that right.[iii]” And what is the underpinning of this principle? The Court waxes philosophical by stating that “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.[iv]”
There are two problems with this standard: 1) it is contrary to the virtue of justice, and 2) its adherence to philosophical relativism. First, justice has a strong tradition of being defined as “that which is due to another.[v]” Even if the Court tries to make the argument that the so-called abortion “right” is due to women, it falls radically short in proving this point in any of its cases. For example, the Court readily admits in Roe v. Wade that it cannot define when human personhood begins, but then permits abortion.
There are two problems with this standard: 1) it is contrary to the virtue of justice, and 2) its adherence to philosophical relativism. First, justice has a strong tradition of being defined as “that which is due to another.[v]” Even if the Court tries to make the argument that the so-called abortion “right” is due to women, it falls radically short in proving this point in any of its cases. For example, the Court readily admits in Roe v. Wade that it cannot define when human personhood begins, but then permits abortion.
This sort of logic is akin to someone who is hunting in the woods and hears a rustle, but he is not sure if it is a deer or a human being but shoots anyway. It is reckless and common sense would tell a person not to commit that sort of action. In ethics, this is called the principle of the safer course.
The court creates a potential problem if it says that they cannot say if the unborn child is a person, but they allow for abortion anyway since they could be sanctioning legalized murder (which, of course, they did). Furthermore, it is clear that the child is indeed a person.
The court creates a potential problem if it says that they cannot say if the unborn child is a person, but they allow for abortion anyway since they could be sanctioning legalized murder (which, of course, they did). Furthermore, it is clear that the child is indeed a person.
As hard as some philosophers may try to argue that the unborn child is not a person, they cannot get away from the fact that the child is an individual member of the homo sapiens species. This reality squares with Boethius’ famous definition of personhood, “an individual substance of a rational nature.[vi]” There is no magical moment when a child becomes a person, rather the child, by his/her nature, is a rational substance at the moment of conception.
Wow, it is illegal to mishandle human remains. They are the devil trying to minimize that the Human Life they took is not even worth giving a decent burial. Shameful.
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