I had previously written an article about the many fallacies of abortion at http://webpages.charter.net/jeffstueber/abortwr.htm. After I had done that,  I ran across a very good book written by Joseph Sobran which contains articles that were originally published in the Human Life Review between 1975 to 1982. Much of what he says has been echoed several times, and in that respect he’s not saying anything new. What makes his book rather enjoyable and separates his book from other conservative material is the sarcastic seriousness that penetrates his material.

The book begins with a topic you would expect most conservative publications about human life to address: abortion. Sobran is blunt when saying "Abortion violates every decent human instinct - so much so that its indecency must be clothed in euphemism."  I have found this to be true in my readings on the subject. Abortion is not called "murder" but instead "terminating a pregnancy." Sobran even saw a book on a newsstand called Caring for Your Unborn Baby when it should, he says, have said Caring for Your Fetal Matter. (That’s his sarcastic seriousness acting up.) The reason, I believe, for such verbal manipulation is that liberals who argue this way know what they are advocating, but wish they didn't know it. So they cloak what they are behind in language that obscures it.

Another way for liberals to avoid the issue is to claim that we can't know when life begins. The conclusion, therefore, is that abortion cannot be immoral if we don't know if we are killing human life. Sobran takes this up when quoting Yale President A. Bartlett Giamatti as criticizing the Moral Majority for knowing when life begins, something Giamatti thinks only God knows. Sobran, quick to the punch, asks how Giamatti knows what things God alone knows. Does this mean the Bible has nothing to say about it? Sobran suggests people may have interpreted his words to mean he will soon run for the Senate - a whimsical way of suggesting politicians forsake a pro-life position for a pro-abortion position for political expediency.

Sobran also uses his wit to puncture liberals. This particular brand of intellectual believes the well off have an obligation to care for those who are not as well off, but the less fortunate can never have obligations imposed on them. Sobran, quoting James Burnham, says  the liberal is someone who feels himself disarmed by anyone he regards less well off than himself. Why should anyone pay for the results of their actions when nobody should be stuck with the bill. Here is where the pro-abortion plank comes in. People shouldn’t have to say “no” to sex and, if they do, they shouldn’t have to cope with the consequences. Liberals won’t say they are for abortion. They just favor the choice even if they won’t call it killing. If you happen to think otherwise and have a business called Hobby Lobby, too bad for you.

What’s next on my blog? More from Sobran on public decency.