Abortion and the Holocaust: perception vs. nature of the act

John O'Herron writes:

I think your last post on MOJ identifies a common societal discomfort with the pro-life movement. But, I think, your concern I think is misplaced. I don't think calling abortion a Holocaust is particularly helpful or meaningful and that is why I avoid it. I am 100% pro-life and feel at home but resist using the language. I believe that communication in the pro-life movement is essential and should be better.  Calling it a Holocaust doesn't carry much meaning and, like you say, makes people think critically of us rather than positively. But if the issue in abortion is that it takes a human life, abortion is at a minimum, just as evil as the Jewish Holocaust.

 

Taking the life of a 12 year old is not worse-it only seems worse because we can see, and no one disuptes, their humanity.  While people dispute the humanity of a baby in the womb, they are wrong. Objectively speaking, both are equally human and killing one is as evil as killing the other.  Is the morality of an act measured by how the victim senses that act? Or do we judge the morality of the act from the nature of the act and the intent of the actor? That is why you, and the "we" you identify with, are wrong to call those who try to physically stop the killing of unborn life "extremists."  It is uncommon but not extreme-is it human or not? If its a human why is it extreme to go to such lengths?

 

Now, to be sure, there are other ways to fight for life and those ways can be, and often are, more useful and effective. I know personally of dozens of cases where physical intervention has saved human lives. The hard choices and moral considerations you mention are what make it harder to identify abortion with the Holocaust. But in terms of the objective destruction of human life, the slaughter of innocent Jews and others has much in common with the destruction of children in the womb. Why are gas chambers worse, morally speaking? Because they were public and killed adults? They didn't even come close to killing as many humans as abortion does. I think your failure to recognize these commonalities and distinctions lead you to fall into the perception trap rather than recognizing the nature of the two acts.