From Goo to You by Way of the Zoo
On June 10, 1993, President Clinton signed a document allowing for
taxpayer money to fund research using aborted baby parts. With the
stroke of a pen, abortion was given an appearance of legitimacy. In
anticipation of this event, Newsweek magazine devoted it's February
22 cover story to "Cures from the Womb." Dr. Gary Hodgen, a
researcher at Eastern Virginia Medical College, stated that
President Clinton's January 23 announcement supporting fetal tissue
investigations was "the greatest day for science since the Scopes'
Monkey Trial."
Why would these two seemingly unrelated events be singled out as the
most significant advances in science in the last 70 years? Why
bypass all of the incredible scientific advances of the twentieth
century and link the Scopes' monkey trial to the legitimization of
research on aborted babies?
To answer this the reader must understand both the reality of fetal
research and the significance of the Scopes' monkey trial. Some
fetal research is most effectively carried out on fetal parts which
are as fresh as possible. Brain cells and organs of a baby
deteriorate rapidly once deprived of oxygen so they are more
valuable for research if they are extracted while the baby is still
alive. However, this is a complication for the abortionist because
legally every effort must be made to keep a breathing baby alive
once it has been removed from the mother's birth canal. Therefore,
one abortion technique is to use forceps to pull everything except
the baby's head out of the mother's body. The skull is then crushed
and the brain is sucked out. After the brain has been removed the
baby's body is sliced open and other desired parts are extracted.
Even at 3 months the baby looks like a miniature human being. It has
brain waves, a functioning heart, and miniature human organs (which
is why the researcher is interested in extracting them). What caused
our society to sink to this immoral, barbaric, low point?
In 1925, the ACLU set in motion the events leading up to one of the
most famous trials in history - the Scopes' monkey trial. There has
been both inaccurate and biased reporting of the events surrounding
this trial but the result is undeniable. The Scopes' trial was a
turning point in American history. The accuracy of the Bible was
openly questioned and evolution replaced creation as the most widely
accepted explanation for our origin. Thus, seven decades after this
historic trial, we have reached the point in America where our
children are being taught that evolution is a fact and we all came
from simple life forms by natural processes. Is it any wonder
classes on self- esteem are now necessary?
As one writer aptly described the situation, "You came from goo by
way of the zoo." The atrocity and injustice of using the most
helpless of human lives for research could be tolerated only after
our society was conditioned to accept that there is nothing
particularly sacred about human life. If we are just highly evolved
animals, then why not do everything possible to understand our
biological situation and improve it - even if this entails
sacrificing a few babies in the process?
We are increasingly ignoring the injustice and tragedy occurring
around us in order to maintain personal peace and affluence.
Complacency has replaced the striving for right and freedom upon
which this country was founded. The right for an unborn child to
live has already been removed. We should carefully ponder whose
rights and lives will next be curtailed.
By Bruce Malone