Friday, December 18, 2009

The basis for women's dignity

Not permitting abortion is an attack on women's dignity, some claim.

To which I respond: I agree that women have profound worth and dignity and rights. But on what basis do women have these things? Because they are human?

If we have dignity by virtue of being human -- that's why we call them human rights, after all -- then it follows that all humans have this dignity. And that includes the unborn human beings who are killed by abortion.

And the dignity of one human being does not require that he or she be able to kill another, innocent human being if that human happens to be inconvenient or unwanted. Such killing is, rather, a total assault on the dignity of the latter.