The left is losing it over the recent Alabama Supreme Court decision declaring that a human embryo is a human embryo no matter where it resides and, therefore, deserves legal protection under Alabama law.
The case involves a couple that used In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and stored frozen embryos at a fertility facility. Through carelessness, the embryos were accidentally killed. The couple sued for the loss of human embryos—not for damaged pieces of property. The 8-1 decision overwhelmingly favored the couple.
Pro-abortionists rightly saw the decision as yet one more blow against them after the defeat of Roe v. Wade. Although the decision does not rule on IVF’s dehumanizing and commodification of human life, it does recognize the embryo’s legal personhood.
The Cause of Leftist Outrage
What most outraged the leftists about the Alabama decision was not the legal arguments. They can answer these claims with the twisted logic of secular positive law that says the law is whatever the people decide it is—except when it is an 8-1 decision favoring life.
The left comes unhinged with the unabashed religious and moral references found in the ruling, especially the concurring majority opinion of Chief Justice Tom Parker. Leftists have no answers to these positions save insults, personal attacks and exasperation.
These activists who saw so much penumbra in the law so as to justify abortion suddenly become strict constitutionalists when these views are presented.
The “Ten Commandments” American
Like it or not, the abortion issue is a moral battle in which both sides make judgments about whether the practice is right or wrong. The left tries to reduce the matter to that of mere choice. To win, the anti-abortion side must have recourse to a higher law than personal choice.
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Thus, the position of the outspoken chief justice has a tremendous power of attraction to a broad sector of American public opinion that still respects the Ten Commandments as this higher fundamental law and source of order.
This moral element is often missing from the abortion debate. Religious leaders should not fight on secular battlegrounds but on the field where they have the advantage.
The Alabama decision contains that Biblical-rich language of the “Ten Commandments” American that gives life to the debate. It infuses into the discussion the meaningful themes that move souls to action.
The Limits of Much Anti-Abortion Discourse
Much of the anti-abortion debate is now framed in terms of the baby and the destruction of human life. There is nothing wrong with this depiction of abortion, for it is an accurate physical description of what takes place.
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However, this portrayal limits the subject to a purely naturalistic discussion. It does not address the themes needed to refute the secular world that sees the purpose of life as a hedonistic exercise of maximizing pleasure and avoiding pain and suffering.
The pro-life cause faces a culture that favors the gratification of unbridled passions in everything—even overriding the life of the unborn baby. Without a higher cause, the pro-life side will be handicapped.
Framing the Debate in Terms of God
Thus, Chief Justice Parker’s perspective provides this higher cause. He frames the debate in terms of God and human purpose. It does not negate the purely legal reasoning that is still part of the debate. However, it elevates the discussion above the prevailing narcissism.
His concurring opinion cites Genesis, saying: “The principle itself—that human life is fundamentally distinct from other forms of life and cannot be taken intentionally without justification—has deep roots that reach back to the creation of man ‘in the image of God.’”
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This statement further states that “each person therefore has a value that far exceeds the ability of human beings to calculate”
Thus, this recognition introduces the idea that human life is special and distinct from other life forms. It elevates life from merely a biological function sensitive to pleasure and pain to a being with a spiritual dimension reflecting the image of God.
Such a statement infuses purpose into human life since each being is created to reflect God’s image. Human potential is bursting with possibility because of this image. When living virtuously according to the Divine purpose, people are capable of the most sublime deeds. It speaks of God’s goodness in creating humanity to give Him glory.
Introducing the Idea of Sin
Chief Justice Parker continues his consideration by saying, “Even before birth, all human beings have the image of God, and their lives cannot be destroyed without effacing His glory.”
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This second statement introduces God into the equation by connecting human life with His own glory. In abortion, humanity shows its ingratitude by destroying a gratuitous gift of God. It shows the full horror of the act.
Thus, such acts introduce the notion of sin, not as breaking arbitrary rules but as the deliberate elimination of a unique and priceless image of God. It is the rejection of the Creator’s act of love.
Thus, the chief justice affirms the reality of sin—another concept secularists hate and deny.
The Wrath of a Holy God
A final statement incurs the wrath of the left, who claim to hate all wrath. Chief Justice Parker affirms that “Human life cannot be wrongly destroyed without incurring the wrath of a holy God who views the destruction of His image as an affront to Himself.”
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This statement highlights that human acts have consequences beyond personal lives. This great benefit of life is so magnificent that God Himself is offended when it is wrongly destroyed. By His justice, He is forced to act to return order to His creation. If society wants peace, it must respect the images of God found everywhere.
The Target of These Arguments
One might object that such considerations have no place in legal arguments. However, these premises are contained in America’s centuries-long common law origins.
Another might object that such arguments will not change the minds of many hardened hearts in this secular world. They might even annoy the ungodly to commit greater offenses.
The answer is that pro-lifers are the primary target of these truths. By elevating the debate, it infuses these defenders with purpose, admiration and a greater love of God. Such a vision gives meaning to life beyond the pain/pleasure binary for which so many live in a liberal society. It helps those who defend life to understand a Divine plan in history.
If the bishops and religious leaders would only speak in such terms, it would add so much to the debate. It would do much to secure God’s aid for this great cause, now made greater by considering His glory.
Finally, these considerations cause panic in the ranks of the pro-abortionists. While they try to dismiss all religious considerations as irrelevant, their disproportional fears prove that they sense something more powerful than the merely human when good Christians call upon God. These appeals suggest something exists beyond their emptiness. The resulting fears can be the seeds of conversions or the causes of more leftist defeats.
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