Letter: Abortion is a woman’s wrong, not her right

Saturday, March 18, 2006 | 7:11 a.m.

As Americans, we believe that we have a clear understanding of right and wrong, and we don't think anything could cloud that understanding.

Willful killing of innocent humans is a heinous crime, for which we put people into prison.

In 1973, if abortion had been decided by the people instead of a few judges, it probably would not have been legalized because we used to know that it was wrong. But human beings are notoriously self-serving creatures with a diabolical ability to rationalize almost anything if it makes our lives easier.

A recent newspaper article stated that, while the majority of Americans agree that abortion kills a baby, they also believe that it is a woman's "right." This is what 33 years of desensitization has done to the American conscience.

We will now not only justify abortion, but we will also claim it is our "right" to kill an innocent baby. And we don't even realize how very bizarre that sounds.

In defending abortion, Kerrie Segler, in her March 15 letter, objects to men telling her what is right and wrong to do with her body. She conveniently omits the fact that another human body is involved, and it isn't hers.

The abortion issue is an expose of how we have sacrificed deeply held moral values on the altar of convenience. We recoil at the atrocities of Nazi Germany, but when a society treats the most vulnerable and helpless among them as non-persons, then a serious moral inventory is in order.

Linda Caterine, Henderson