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Global Warning - Dec 12, 2005 - Printable Version
- Toward a New Pro-Life Ethic
by Robin Buckallew
For the past year, there has been a lot of discussion in the Democratic Party about the need to adopt the pro-life rhetoric that helped the Republicans consolidate their power over the past four years. Many Democrats, feeling shell-shocked by the rising tide of pro-life fervor and the failing fortunes of their candidates, have suggested abandoning the opposition position and giving up all that they stand for in order to win elections. The debate on this topic has been hot and heavy, with emotions running high on all sides. We are caught between the rhetoric of "it's not a choice, it's a child" and "safe, legal and rare". I say, enough is enough. Let's put aside the slogans and the bumper stickers forever. Let's shelve the irresolvable question of when exactly a fertilized egg becomes a child. I say, the Democratic Party should indeed be the pro-life party. I would like to elucidate for the first time a bold, innovative new pro-life ethic, a pro-life ethic that goes beyond fatuous arguments and tired traditions to embrace the richness of life in all its glory. It is time for those of us who have been treading water helplessly to begin swimming, knowing that we are headed straight for the moral high ground. It is time for us to stand up and say proudly, "I am pro-life". It is time to reject the culture of death that has surrounded us, and that continues to surround us in the tired platform which reflects the lack of vision of the modern-day Republican Party. Let me explain. Every day, I receive news from around the world that explicates this culture of death. This all started working in my mind when I received an e-mail from a very dear friend. My friend was concerned about a proposed EPA regulation that would allow testing of chemicals and pesticides on orphans and the mentally ill. This regulation would allow testing on children who "cannot be reasonably consulted" - in other words, mentally ill children and newborn orphans. It would also bypass the parental consent requirement for children that had been neglected or abused (this is, of course, a good way to assist an abused child - if the chemicals kill him quickly enough, he won't live long enough to go through the years of depression and therapy that would otherwise await him). In addition, it would be considered permissible to test toxic substances on any children outside the United States. The reasons behind this rule are closely bound up with industry profitability and expediency. In other words, money talks. A couple of years ago, a similar rule was proposed by the EPA that would allow such testing on pregnant women and fetuses. The outcry that arose during the public comment period caused the tabling of this plan. Now, we have the sequel. Culture of Death, Part II. Brought to you by the same politicians that sputter incoherent diatribes against abortion clinics, stem cell research, and AIDS prevention. It seems the culture of death is for sale to the highest bidder.
All around us, everyday, we can see the culture of death overtaking us. We see it spewing out of the smokestacks of the dirty, coal-burning power plants that provide us with our light and heat. We see it in the color-coded alerts that warn us each day when we shouldn't go outside because of an ozone alert. We see it when we step outside to look at the stars, and realize that the air we breathe is visible. We see it in the faces of our friends and neighbors, our children and our parents, suffering in ever increasing numbers from environmental related diseases such as asthma, emphysema, and even cancer. We see it in the news reports of Salmonella and E. coli outbreaks across the nation. We see it in the recalls of products that are unsafe, unsound, or unfit for human consumption. We see it in the dirty, polluted water of our local rivers and lakes, and in the not infrequent newscasts warning us not to eat the fish. We see it in the increasingly intense storms, and the increasingly odd weather patterns. We see the culture of death not only in the faces of the dead and the dying, but also in the faces of the living and breathing. And all this death is delivered up to us by people who have put profits ahead of people. They have abandoned the moral high ground for the golden calf.
Unfortunately, it doesn't stop there. The culture of death is pervasive, and saturates every inch of the planet. The culture of death doesn't stop with us - it destroys all that stands in its way. It levels the rainforests, and takes the axe to giant redwoods that have graced the planet for thousands of years. Animals are expendable, either sacrificed because they are profitable, or callously disposed of because they are not profitable. This, too, is life. The plants, the animals, even the lowly fungi and bacteria, are alive. All of them will, in the natural course of time, die. Some animals will die to become food for other animals. Others will simply die, and return their nutrients to the earth to become nutrition for the plants that must eventually die for still other animals and plants to live. I do not despair of death - it is a natural, normal part of life, and nothing on this planet can live unless something else dies. For us to take a reasonable share of the life on this planet to support our life is not wrong. For us to sacrifice all that life for the simple pursuit of profit, the pursuit of our own ends at the expense of all others, is wrong. For millions of years, life on this planet happened, and death happened. No philosophers were around to debate the moral implications of a cheetah eating a gazelle. No scientists were around to explain why the cheetah wanted to eat the gazelle. Life happened. Death happened. Now, the greed and rapacity of the human species threatens much of that life, and in the process, even threatens the life of many of our own. We ignore the rest of the living world at our own peril.
So far, I have heard few pro-life arguments that include the world of already living humans. What are we going to do about those of us who have been born, and who suffer greatly at the hands of this culture of death? I have certainly not heard any pro-life arguments that include non-human life. Life is not a characteristic unique to the unborn fetus. It is not even a characteristic unique to humans. Life is a force that pervades this planet from deep within the soil to high within the air. Life is rich and diverse, and includes many wonderfully beautiful and fantastically ugly beings. They are all precious (well, most - I'm not too passionate about the tapeworm, but I suppose to another tapeworm, they are probably quite lovely).
Hell, yes, I am pro-life. All life. The life that creeps and crawls and flies and swims. The life that sits quietly at the bottom of the ocean, or hangs peacefully off the branches of a tree. The life that photosynthesizes, and the life that decomposes. The life that roars and shrieks and barks and purrs and cheeps. The life that makes no sound at all. Life that has four legs, and life that has no legs. And, of course, that life which goes about cluelessly on two legs, foolishly ignoring all the myriad of life and death that is going on below, above and all around it. I am pro-life for all the millions of species that inhabit the earth, including one rather self-centered and self-important big-brained shortsighted species that I fondly call my own. Until humankind embraces a pro-life ethic that recognizes all lifeforms, and includes even those lifeforms that seem peculiar and bizarre, we cannot claim the moral high ground. I now claim the moral high ground in the name of all who will join me, and I plant the flag of peace and preservation proudly and firmly in its solid soil.
For anyone who reads this, for anyone who understands, I implore you - work with your local politicians, your local Democratic Party. Urge them to abandon the limited, impoverished pro-life stance some of them are urging. Challenge them to see life that is currently all too invisible. Challenge them to put life before profit, and abandon the culture of death that we have ignored at our peril for too long. Challenge them to move beyond the current, industry-friendly, profit-driven regulatory structure with its myriad loopholes, and establish a system that really makes sense, that is sustainable and safe for all life. Challenge them to write a bold, creative platform that provides for clean water, clean air, safe food and a green world where life can flourish. Not just for a few gated communities, but for all communities, both human and non-human. If the Democratic Party won't listen, abandon them. We don't need anyone who will reduce life to an equation that includes only embryos. Take it to the Green Party. A third party could conceivably win - there were enough people that sat out the 2000 election to put Ralph Nader in the White House. We just need to mobilize our passion. Stand up with me. Together we can lead our nation and our world in the direction of a new pro-life ethic.
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