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Disclaimer: The opinions stated in this piece are not necessarily the opinions of Maryland Students for Life. We provide this article as an educational aid for pro-life interests but do not imply official endorsement of the author's views. For more information on our stances, see the About Us page.

Nov 8, 2002 - The Diamondback opinion page
Jeff Roman
Morality is not a choice

I propose to you that morality is a universal concept. Right
and wrong are absolute truths, not mere abstracts to be
debated over a frosty pint (although life is best discussed
over such beverages). Because one man's idea of right differs
from another's does not mean the concept is changeable. Right
is embodied in the ideals of virtue, diligence and justice.
The Nazis killing 6 million Jews was wrong, and so is the
annual death of millions of babies by abortion.

The idea that morality is subjective to the individual has
eroded our sense of moral righteousness in modern society.
Each man and woman must not figure out what is moral or not,
but rather, each person must learn what is moral. It is a
fossil to be unearthed.

But like any fossil, once discovered it must be preserved and
cared for, or it will wither away and turn to dust. We must
respect the basic dignity of each human being. We will lose
sight of moral righteousness if we ignore it. Out of sight is
out of mind. We've already begun to lose our sense of the
value of human life.

Going back to what I wrote earlier about the Nazis: The Nazi
regime was responsible for the deliberate murder of
approximately 6 million Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, dissidents
and enemies of the state. Such an atrocity is inarguably
wrong. Whether the citizens who committed such atrocities
thought it was right to do so or not does not change that sins
were committed. So why is it OK for our nation to condone the
killing of millions of innocent children? Let's be honest with
ourselves: Pro-choice is pro-abortion.

If a woman sacrifices her life for her unborn child, it is a
tragedy indeed, yet the mother will be remembered for her
courage. Yet, if a woman decides to abort her child, the
developing human being is referred to as a mere fetus. Society
is not for abortion rights; society is confused. No one can
know when life starts. Because no one knows, we have to err on
the side of caution and assume it starts at the earliest
possible point. Thus, abortion is murder.

A flaw in the abortion rights argument is that the abortion is
the choice of the mother. We've made it legal in this country
to ask who is responsible for making moral choices before
asking what is moral. It is not a woman's choice to kill her
child any more than it is a man's choice to rape a woman. When
rape occurs, we do not wonder if the rapist had the right to
choose to rape. I'm tired of hearing that abortion is a
woman's choice. Last time I checked, every baby has a father,
too. Calling a baby a woman's choice makes the baby a piece of
property and the mother an owner, much the way slaves were
once considered property that could be killed by their owners.

It is sad when children are born with disabilities. Such
disabilities cannot be used as justification for abortion,
however. There is no rationality in assuming that disabled
persons live less satisfying lives or are less human than
people without disabilities. Every person is unique. You and I
are different, but that does not give me the right to say you
live a less satisfying life than I. Medical technology is
improving at an incredible rate, and disabled persons are
finding themselves more capable of functioning independently.

Something women are not told when they have abortions is that
the baby is not the only victim. Many women suffer years of
psychological torment after abortions, much akin to the
post-traumatic stress disorder some war veterans suffer after
battle. No one is personally to blame for an abortion. We must
begin to accept life in all its forms, in all its stages. A
child inside the womb breathes, kicks, sucks his or her thumb,
responds to pain and other stimuli, sleeps and wakes with its
mother and has a distinct behavioral pattern. It is not an
object, as if a woman could give birth to anything less than a
human being. All a child at this stage needs is time, care and
love.

Jeff Roman is a sophomore government and politics major.

Used by permission of The Diamondback

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