Abortion’s Shades of Gray

Are you pro-choice and anti-abortion or pro-life and anti-abortion? Or are you pro-choice and pro-abortion? Still following? In Abortion’s Shades of Gray, an op-ed piece in USA Today, Michael Medved cites a poll that states that the majority of Americans are pro-choice and anti-abortion, meaning that most American’s are against abortion but believe that women should in some circumstances be permitted legally to have an abortion. Thus, Medved points out that abortion has shades of gray—middle positions that do not see abortion as a black and white issue. While Medved is “unhesitatingly pro-life” he wants Americans to recognize that Rudi Giuliani’s position on abortion is much different from that of the democratic front-runners.

Giuliani, according to Medved “takes a mixed, nuanced approach that defies easy categorizations.” For instance, Giuliani opposes partial-birth abortion as well as legislation that would provide federal funding for abortions. In addition, Giuliani proposes to support legislation that would require underage girls to notify their parents before having an abortion. Giuliani, however, believes that women should have the legal right to choose to have an abortion. Thus Medved sees Giuliani as pro-choice and anti-abortion whereas all the front runners of the Democratic party are pro-choice and pro-abortion. Hillary Clinton, for instance, says abortion is a “tragedy” but supports the use of taxpayer money to foot the bill.

So of all the presidential candidates, Giuliani actually holds the position on abortion that most American’s hold, but are there really shades of gray when it comes to abortion?

I commend Medved for being “unhesitatingly pro-life” but I must say that abortion is either murder or its not. Life either begins at conception or it doesn’t. An embryo is either a human being or its not. Either abortion is the tragic genocide of millions of innocent babies or it is not.

I will admit that Giuliani’s political agenda concerning abortion is different from that of his democratic rivals, but his belief that women should have the right to an abortion clearly shows that when it comes down to it Giuliani believes that abortion is not immoral.

Are there shades of gray when it comes to abortion? In a word—no. The more we categorize people into various “gray” positions on abortion the more we devalue human life and distort just how tragic abortion really is.