University of Virginia Library

In Conclusion

In his letter of Nov. 4
Psychology Student Kramer asks
that we of the CRTL listen and
express our opinions-we have and
we do. It is the editors of the
Weekly who have overstepped their
bounds. They no longer consider
abortion an issue, but have taken it
upon themselves to break the law
by providing an abortion referral
service. It is not CRTL who is
prosecuting them, it is the people
of Virginia, for the Weekly has
affronted them by violating their
statute law.

Certainly the diversity of human
behavior is overwhelming. But
when that diversity extends to acts
which society has determined to be
detrimental to the whole, the acts
will not be tolerated. The Weekly
put up a challenge to the law and
are now being taken to task. Let
them accept the consequence of
their actions and not cry,
"Fascist!" every time their
armchair liberal world is invaded.

As for the abortion issue itself,
and in reply to Patrick Alther's
Nov. 4 letter, the CRTL does not
"automatically assume" the fetus is
a human being, though we have
come to that conclusion based on
the fact that the fetus is a
genetically unique individual from
the moment of conception. Mr.
Alther says that there is a strong
case for arguing that the fetus's
removal is no more murder than the
removal of a diseased limb. In other
words there is a strong doubt. On
the basis of that doubt New York
legislators approved a law
responsible for the deaths of
600,000 lives. In a few more years
the "lebensraum" minded people of
this country will have caught up
with Hitler's record of six million in
Germany. We're not talking about
any mystical religious law here,
we're talking about our basic
sensibilities as men. If Mr. Alther
wishes to sacrifice 600,000 more
lives to preserve his garden, I
suggest he reorder his selfish
priorities. Certainly population is
our most pressing problem, but you
don't solve it the way Hitler did
and then rationalize your guilt
away. Let's fight that problem at its
roots-with more effective methods
of birth control. If abortion is
considered a solution to the
population problem, why not kill
off all the aged, infirm and retarded
people while we're at it? How do-you
justify your own right to life,
Mr. Alther?