Op-Ed: Idahoans Should Reject the Culture of Death
By Dorothy Moon, Idaho GOP Chairwoman
Proponents of abortion, and of Proposition 1 here in Idaho, want to steer the conversation toward vague concepts of healthcare, freedom, choice, and rare edge cases while avoiding the obvious: abortion is the deliberate destruction of a human life. Unfortunately, this is just the tip of the iceberg of a deep sickness in modern culture.
Earlier this summer, Massachusetts enacted a new law that could allow abortions up until the moment of birth. Several blue states have similar laws allowing doctors to kill a baby even when it could be safely delivered and cared for.
In that same state, a mother is on trial for murdering her three children. While discussions about postpartum depression and overmedication are important, I was horrified to see hundreds of people show up to support the accused murderer, seemingly without a thought for the three precious children who will never get to grow up.
Finally, our neighbors to the north in Canada started their MAID system—medical assistance in dying—on the premise that it would be for those with terminal illnesses who could no longer endure constant pain. Yet today I see stories of assisted suicide being recommended to young people who are simply depressed and feel there is no reason to go on.
All of these are symptoms of a very sick society, and a consequence of reducing the value of human life to numbers on a spreadsheet.
I remember when Sarah Palin was running for vice president and said that socialized medicine would lead to “death panels.” Mainstream media mocked her, even though she was right to warn about the dangers of allowing bureaucrats to make decisions about who receives life-saving care. When choices about life and death are not made by individuals, families, or doctors, but by government bureaucrats, your life is reduced to little more than words on a page.
Every step we take moves us toward some destination. Prop 1 would start Idaho down a path toward the same culture that has brought about partial-birth abortion, infanticide, and assisted suicide. It would establish in law that unborn children are not human beings entitled to the right to life that our Founders believed was the birthright of all people.
Any student of history knows where dehumanizing language can lead. Look no further than our own nation’s struggle with African slavery, or the genocidal campaigns of Nazi Germany less than a century ago.
Idaho has another choice: vote no on Prop 1 and continue building a culture of life rather than death. Idahoans are rightfully proud that our state stands for the personhood of the unborn and for the right of children to live free of fear, persecution, or indoctrination.
Life and death are literally on the ballot this November. I am confident that Idaho will choose life. Vote no on Prop 1.
