A Life Is A Life?


A few days after 9-11, I went to do my banking over my lunch break. There I saw a group of picketers, and I said to a fellow pedestrian "I may not agree with them, but they have that right."

The same goes for those who are in DC today to stand against women's reproductive freedoms. Now those groups that stage this, likely the ideological equivalents of the "Religious Extremists" we are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, call it a "march for life", but why does it seem that they see unborn life as worth more than say--a soldier or an Iraqi civilian.

I wonder how many of these "pro-lifers" will be in DC on Saturday, along with me, for the anti-war march. This war, almost completely backed by "Pro-Life" Republicans has claimed over 3000 American soldiers and close to 650,000 Iraqis. This does not count the thousands who have been caught in the insurgency and those who may have been killed elsewhere as the result of the fires of terror that Bush's war and policies have ignited.

Of course, the more I think about it, the more I think Rep Barney Frank(D-MA) has it correct:"To a pro-lifer, life begins at conception and ends at birth". As the "Pro-Life" record on many issues is poor at best. The fact that it took a change in Congressional power (likely the result of outrage at the "War On Terror" to get a raise in the minimum wage on the table, as well as the fact that many states have taken this into their own hands, is but one example.

Also, it seems that the "Pro-Life" camp has issues with "non-human" life. The "Pro-Life" GOP has long been an ally of corporate polluters and an opponent of sustainability. Once again, one of the "class projects" for the new Congress was to cut the subsides to oil companies. Perhaps an attempt to steer America off the path of consumption and on to a more conservation based path.

These are but a few objections I have to the ill-named "Pro-Life" camp. Perhaps if they would call themselves "Pro-Fetus" or show a more continuum-based and holistic view of "life", I'd have a bit more respect for them and their ideas.