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ABORTION
The Final Century to Debate
by David Blalock
Few issues are more hotly disputed today than that of abortion. On the one hand, religiously motivated factions maintain a sacred/philosophical view that life begins at conception and that this is the issue, while secular factions maintain a sacrosanct/philosophical view that life is not the issue but choice. It is not the point to further muddy the waters in this already turbulent area to which this work is addressed, but to point out something being overlooked.
There are about five billion humans on planet Earth. Of that amount, over three quarters (3.7 billion plus) are inhabitants of Third and Fourth World countries (I, of course, include China and India in these figures). Of the remainder, about one billion inhabit countries whose most critical issues are simple survival in an economic and political whirlpool (Scandanavia, Eastern Europe, Africa, and Oceania). The remaining millions, a fraction of the whole, instead of committing themselves to the betterment of the majority, squabble among themselves over issues like abortion. True, every individual life is important, but in Africa, India, Southeast Asia, and even Central and South America, there are countries where infanticide pushes 30%, where birth control is a desperate attempt to salvage the dwindling resources of an already poverty-striken people.
There is only one abortion we should discuss: the infant Humanity is dying in its womb.
Planet Earth is a closed system; nothing is independent. Humanity is a small part of a greater, delicately balanced life form, yet assumes itself to be isolated and separate. This short-sightedness turns minor issues into major disputes and allows major issues to languish unattended.
Humanity is dying. Propagating out of control, with no natural enemy and precious few biological checks, humanity will, within a century, have poisoned the environment so badly that Nature herself will begin to develop "antibodies" against the infection. Just as cancer did not become a great killer until the human lifespan outstripped its natural allotment, the changes in the environment will produce its own toxins. AIDS is one of these products of our technologically altered ecosystem.
What can be done to forestall this? Greater attention to the major issues confronting humanity, for one thing. Issues like cleaning up the environment, preserving wildlife and forests, supporting a space program to exploit new resources for human needs, and proper management of human resources at home promise a better human condition in general.
Every human life is precious, but let us save Humanity first.
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