Catholic Prof Francis Beckwith Takes On Prof Kmiec View of WHat being Pro-life Is

Ina very good post by Cranky Conservative Memo to Doug Kmiec: SHUUUUUUUUT UUUUUUUUUUUUP in response to Prof Kmiec latest piece on Obama he notes a comment made by noted Catholic Prof Francis Beckwith. Prof Beckwith states in part:

The truth is that Doug Kmiec does not have a conceptual grasp of what the prolife position actually is. It is not about “reducing the number of abortions,” though that is certainly a consequence that all prolifers should welcome. Rather, the prolife position is the moral and political belief that all members of the human community are intrinsically valuable and thus are entitled to protection by the state. “Reducing the number of abortions” may occur in a regime in which this belief is denied, and that is the regime that Senator Obama wants to preserve. It is a regime in which the continued existence of the unborn is always at the absolute discretion of the postnatal. Reducing the number of these discretionary acts by trying to pacify and accommodate the needs of those who want to procure abortions–physicians, mothers, and fathers–only reinforces the idea that the unborn are objects whose value depends exclusively on our wanting them.

Imagine if someone told you in 19th century America that he was not interested in giving slaves full citizenship, but merely reducing the number of slaves. But suppose another person told you that he too wanted to reduce the number of slaves by granting them the full citizenship to which they are entitled by nature. Which of the two is really “against slavery” in a full-orbed principled sense? The first wants to reduce slavery, but only while retaining a subhuman understanding of slaves as part of our juridical infrastructure. The second believes that the juridical infrastructure should reflect the truth about slaves, namely, that they are in fact human beings made in the image of their Maker.

His whole Post is a good read. He also notes the little dust up he had with some of the biggies over at National Review yesterday. Prof Kmeic sort of went ballistic on them even though he does not note they were defending his rights on the Communion issue just a week earlier!!!

Also See Pro Ecclesia's post Freedom of Choice Act: "With Obama, It Really Is a Vote for Abortion" , and What is the "Pro-Life Position" Regarding Abortion? .