"You Destroyed a Miracle"

 

A letter to the editor of the Asheville Citizen-Times by me appeared in the September 1 issue under the title, "Says every abortion destroys a miracle."   The letter said:

   Years ago I often ate lunch with James Still, a writer of renown in the world of Appalachian literature.  One day I stomped a cockroach that was scuttling across the floor at our feet.

   “You destroyed a miracle,” Mr. Still said…
   I’ve always been fascinated with life in miniature.  When I see an iridescent wolf spider no larger than a sesame seed, or another amazing wild creature around the house, I’ll run for the magnifying glass.
   Science recognizes that fertilization is when a unique person is created.  The biological entity that begins then is the same biological entity that’s born, the same that grows into a toddler, teen, adult, and mature older adult.   It’s only to justify abortion that the words “life,” “person,” or “human” are re-defined to exclude the prenatal human individual.   ”Prochoice” is a philosophy that requires a person to have certain characteristics before he or she has a right to live.
   Whatever the news is about North Carolina legislation or the closing or opening of “Femcare", and however biased the coverage might be, none of it changes the reality that every abortion destroys a miracle.  Not a cockroach or a parasite either, but a living human being.

Link to the letter.