Nipping Felons in the Bud
David P. Mortimer on Abortion & Crime Reduction
In 1729, Jonathan Swift presented, in an anonymous pamphlet, a commonsense solution to the intractable problems of Irish hunger, poverty, crime, and the problem of unwanted children. In A Modest Proposal, he suggested that a fourth of the younger children be fattened and sold in the market for food. Every child—even the illegitimate—would be a wanted child, with all the value and advantage of a prized head of livestock. Crime would plummet. Hunger and overpopulation would end. The stagnant economy would prosper. Simply turn the problem into a profitable solution for the greater good.
The attitude to human life Swift satirized has now been given apparent scientific and economic support. The “unwanted” unborn are valued only for the effect they will have on society as a whole. The embryo or fetus may be harvested for his tissue or stem cells to benefit society or eliminated before birth if someday he may (only may) harm society.
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30.3—May/June 2017
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