Abortion is first and foremost a moral issue
In the Sunday edition of the Naples Daily News (March 24, 2024), the featured guest columnists presented an interesting contrast in beliefs. One columnist was making the humanitarian argument in support of legislation providing shelter in Florida’s communities for those lost souls whose bad choices have left them homeless and seemingly without hope. The other was making the case that good young family doctors will not want to locate in Florida due to abortion restrictions.
These are not new issues. What is interesting is that the columnist advocating easing restrictions on abortion is a medical doctor, while the one making the case for human value is a politician. So much for the Hippocratic oath, and so much for the belief that all politicians are without a soul!
Ever since Roe v. Wade in 1973, abortion has been a hot-button political issue, perhaps the most divisive issue in our country today. Both sides of the argument operate as if a legal decision — better yet an all-inclusive constitutional decision — will “put the baby to rest” one way or the other. Will it? When did our government(s) become our moral conscience.
Government, being nothing more than a collection of people, is capable of doing good things, but it also lies, cheats, kills, and does a lot of stupid things as well. Government is hardly a code of morality.
Abortion is first and foremost a moral issue. If you believe we are, with all our warts, children of a loving and all-knowing God, the debate ends there — when the sperm fuses with the egg, and a unique DNA comes into being.
If you don’t believe in a Creator, if you have your own moral code, or if your circumstances tempt you to put your moral code in a drawer, then there is support for your decision to sever the sperm from the egg at any point in the birthing process. In Florida, beginning May 1 when the new law takes effect, it is legal to do so up to six weeks of pregnancy when the heartbeat can be detected. In Minnesota it’s perfectly legal to abort until the “fetus” exits the womb and miraculously becomes a “baby.”
Florida’s six-week abortion law, I believe, is little different from that of other states which place restrictions on abortion with exceptions in case of rape, incest, human trafficking, diagnosis of fatal fetal abnormalities, and when required to protect the mother’s life or health. When the Hippocratic oath causes the physician to choose between the procreator and the procreated, procreation favors the procreator.
Considering all that Florida has to offer in climate, leadership, education, opportunity, freedom, and a growing and diverse population, it is hard to believe primary care physicians of all ages and specialties would find Florida’s new six-week abortion law with its many exceptions in conflict with their Hippocratic Oath. The good doctor columnist need only look elsewhere around the country, including the state of Minnesota, and see why everyone else is moving to Florida. The OB/GYN/s will follow.
In the long history of abortion in this country, the moral issue of abortion has evolved in the legal realm from the offense of murder to the opposing view that “it’s my body to do with as I choose.” I can’t help but wonder how many glowing expectant mothers truly believe this in their heart.
The Florida Supreme Court has recently ruled that the right to privacy in the Florida State Constitution does not include the right to an abortion. In November, Floridians will vote to decide whether to amend the Constitution to include such a right.
John Bernardi, now a Florida resident, is a retired trial attorney with 45 years of experience in both civil and criminal private practice in central and northern Illinois. He was also the chief public defender for over 35 years, overseeing a team of 16 assistant public defenders.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Abortion is first and foremost a moral issue
