I have often asked myself this question: If I lived during the time of legalized slavery, would I have recognized that slavery was unjust and opposed it, or would I have accepted it as part of normal, everyday life?
As the saying goes, hindsight is 20-20. Americans recognize that slavery was unjust. The injustice of slavery is that human beings, based on certain physical characteristics, were denied many of their fundamental human rights. Africans were not rendered what they deserved. As human beings possessing the same human nature as the rest of humanity, Africans were supposed to be treated in a manner consistent with their dignified nature.
It is easy to look back and see all the injustices people are guilty of and have experienced. It is more difficult to recognize the injustices of the present. Yet, we can recognize them if we pause for a moment and wonder about life. We can recognize the injustices of today if we apply the concept and virtue of justice to current events. Justice is to render to another what he or she deserves.
I see legalized abortion as the greatest injustice of our time. In abortion, newly created, living and developing human beings are killed. The method of abortion used to kill the unborn human being is dependent upon his or her level of development, ranging from taking medicines to surgical abortion and even infanticide. What makes abortion worse is that it is done with the permission of the mother, the abandonment of the father, the knowledge of the doctor, the power of the government and the consent of the people. The rate of abortion magnifies this evil even further. There are about 4,000 abortions every day in the U.S., totaling about 1.4 million per year.
There is truth to the saying that history repeats itself. I think Americans are repeating in legalized abortion some of the injustices of slavery. It is more than failing to render a human being what he or she deserves. In slavery, white people were given great authority over black people. In abortion, the mother is given unlimited authority over her unborn child. In slavery, Africans were denied many of their fundamental human rights because of their physical appearance. In abortion, the unborn are not recognized as human beings with rights, because of the level of their physical development.
I also see some differences between slavery and abortion. The slaves found solidarity in each other's company. They could travel the Underground Railroad, escape to the North and tell others of their experiences. Slavery was a public scandal that slowly weighed on the consciences of many people. On the contrary, the unborn are limited by their physical development. Abortion is done in private, which keeps the tragic result of abortion hidden from the public. Last, in abortion, the greatest right is taken from a human being: the inalienable right to life, a right that cannot be taken up again.
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Now we have our first black president-elect, Barack Obama. Unfortunately, instead of recognizing the injustices of abortion, he is one of the most committed supporters of abortion. As he promised and as his record demonstrates, he will push for abortion under all circumstances: unborn, partially born and even for those born alive during the abortion procedure. As an Illinois senator, Obama voted four times against the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act. He promised to sign the Freedom of Choice Act if passed by the U.S. Congress. This bill will overturn the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, parental notification laws and conscientious objection laws for medical personnel. He will push all of this under the banner of rights, choice and economic necessity.
From my view, Obama will go down in history as being on the wrong side of justice.
Benjamin Sanchez holds a bachelor's degree from UNM in psychology with a minor in political science.
