Though Aaron Woell’s proposal for a “combination that works” may be logical in a twisted sort of way, he has ignored one important ingredient that should guide all public policy: Morality. He concludes that we should recognize what he sees as “long-term social benefits of abortion” (reduced crime rates and welfare rolls) instead of pretending that none exist.

While these “long-term social benefits” may or may not be statistical coincidence, for the sake of argument, let’s assume they are not.

Thus, unrestricted access to abortion on demand reduces crime and should be supported. The legalized murder of more than one-and-a-half million Americans annually is justified by the 30.4 percent difference in violent crime rate.

The first logical question then is: Does that 30.4 percent difference in violent crimes even come close to the the number of babies destroyed? Let’s assume these numbers justify the case for abortion. “Many women whose children were most likely to commit crime [read: teenagers, minorities, and the poor] … are also the same women who are most likely to choose abortion.” This is eugenics at its best!

Only we don’t have to mandate population control, just allow them to do it themselves and provide government funds as an incentive! That sounds like a decent proposal.

Let’s consider alternative solutions. By legalizing abortion and making it’s availability unrestricted, we are devaluing human life. After all, aren’t humans just lumps of tissue anyway? Children of minorities, the poor and teen-agers are the worst sort of lumps, apparently being predisposed to violent crime.

How can we project that such a blatant disregard for the sanctity of human life will effect violent crime rates?

Wednesday was declared a Day Without Art to raise awareness of the effects of AIDS. I had to stop and think about how society may have been different if not a single abortion had ever been performed in America. According to Mr. Woell, the only considerable result would have been more violent crime and more people on welfare. Is that all those millions of innocents were capable of producing?

The sexual revolution did not set humanity free; it sacrificed one of the most intimate acts that can be shared between a man and a woman.

The end result is we are not ultimately responsible for our actions. The consequences are irrelevant. I have only to answer to my own desire.

I propose another combination that works. Emulate sex not as a form of entertainment, but as a special act to be shared between two loving adults who are committed to each other and any resulting children for life. The traditional family is not obsolete. Parenting is life-long and life-validating work. It is the first responsibility of anyone who fathers or mothers a child. If you don’t want that responsibility, don’t have sex.

When school teachers tell children that their parents do not have the right to discipline them, if it scars the child’s precious ego, they should not complain when the children are unruly and disobedient in the classroom. A parent who cannot scold a child without fear that the child will call the police as their school teacher instructed, cannot parent.

This really happens. I know of a man who came home from work to find the police ready to arrest him, not for something he had done, but because his wife had reprimanded their son with, “you just wait for your father to get home.” The nervous child responded with the line of defense his teacher had recommended. The same child is the one whose teachers complain that he is out of control. I wonder why.

Absentee dads are even worse. Children with no fathers have no male role models to follow. Furthermore, they don’t have a male disciplinarian to whom they are responsible. I’m not saying that the mother can’t discipline, but I am saying that it is just not the same.

In a perfect world, children would only be conceived when they are wanted. They would have perfect and loving parents that don’t make mistakes. If you ever find such a world, don’t go there or you will ruin it. Why? Because you are human; we all are. And with humanity comes imperfection.

But if you make a baby, you are a parent. You have obligated yourself, like it or not. You can’t tell me you did it by accident, only that you didn’t plan.

Be a parent. Teach responsibility, accountability, right from wrong. Your child will probably not be destined to a life of crime and welfare. That is a combination that works.

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Matt Kipper

Senior

Chemical engineering