(Photo courtesy of fromthebarn.org)
By
Response to "Keep your legislation out of my body"
It is a shame that Amanda opines for a "higher level of thinking" yet chose to rely on emotion to make her case instead of focusing on reason. This produces several critical mistakes in her editorial.
Firstly, science has shown with research dating back to 1975 that from the moment of conception the fertilized embryo is alive and the brain, with the ability to feel pain, developing within five weeks of conception. It logically follows that if this person is alive then it is entitled to the same right to life that Amanda and I are as human beings.
The political discussion has its share of flaws. The bill in question that Congressman Ryan co-sponsored, H.R. 3, makes the distinction between statutory rape, a legal term, and rape. This bill aimed to redirect resources currently going towards the former in cases where they may not need them and free them up for victims of the later. Akin's comments have been disavowed by both halves of the GOP ticket and serve no use except to smear the ticket with guilt by association. Mourdock's comments were presented with no context and misrepresented in the article.
Length prevents me from addressing other issues with the column, like the "You too" fallacy on attitudes towards promiscuity or the complete misrepresentation of abstinence. While the points raised in the article should be discussed, readers of the Beacon would be better served with facts backing up those points.
Nolan Brophy, senior
Mechanical engineering
Reflections on Amanda Munro's staff commentary
I found Ms. Amanda Munro's Guest Commentary in the October 25 Beacon to be both informative and provocative. Unfortunately, calling admittedly tongue-tied Pro-Life politicians "idiotic" does not contribute to rational discussion of abortion. Neither does repeating the many misleading points that Ms. Munro offers us, the standard set offered by Planned Parenthood, America's largest abortion provider.
The heart of what Ms. Munro writes comes in a single sentence: "Abortion has been reduced to a never-ending debate about when life begins, but what it really boils down to is whether you believe a live, grown woman has more rights than an unborn fetus." Two issues are addressed. The first concerns the beginnings of human life. Although abortion advocates would have us believe otherwise, there is no debate. For well over a century, developmental biologists have known beyond any doubt that new life begins at conception. The second concerns the value of new human life. Ms. Munro rightly demands respect for her human rights yet seems oblivious to the rights of a second, innocent, powerless human.
Things get worse, however. In a rambling commentary, Ms. Munro all but says that the unwanted unborn are better off dead than alive. As she says in a different context, "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention."
Fr. Ron Wasowski
Professor of environmental studies
