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October 3, 1998 Dear Editor, In "Putting baby killers on the spot (10/1/98)," "pro-life" advocate Ray Kerrison criticizes those who "camouflage" their "assaults" (arguments) with "euphemisms." I agree. For example, is an acorn a tree? Is stepping on an acorn the same as chopping down a tree? Is an egg a chicken? Is breaking an egg the same as slaughtering a chicken? Is a potential entity the same as an actual one? In regard to abortion, is an embryo the same as a human being, a baby, or even an "unborn baby"? Is Mr. Kerrison correct in identifying a doctor who removes an embryo from a woman's body as a "baby killer"? Is he correct to imply that the United States is morally equivalent to Nazi Germany in that both have engaged in a "bloodletting" and a "holocaustic horror"? Could it be that the principle of man's right to life identified by the founding fathers was intended to apply to potential human beings, but not to actual ones? If Mr. Kerrison is in favor of intellectual honesty and precision, why doesn't he frame his argument in terms of an alleged right of an embryo to sacrifice the rights of human beings, and then try to defend such a position, if he can? Like the environmental movement and the animal rights movement, the "right to life" movement places at its center of concern the opposite of human welfare. Those who would sacrifice man's rights to such alleged objects of compassion as trees, laboratory rats or embryos are not lovers of life, but haters of mankind. Sincerely, Chuck Braman |