Save the whale, but not the baby?

The following is an article taken from the Florida Catholic that was written by Archbishop John Favarola.

My dear friends,

Last month, ABC News reported on some "amazing images of animals in the womb."

The images were obtained using the same ultrasound technology that for nearly two decades has allowed human parents to peek inside the mother's womb and, if they choose, find out the sex of their unborn baby.

Apparently, this ultrasound technology had not been used on animals until National Geographic scientists embarked on this study, which is aimed at helping animals "survive."

Listen to some of the remarks uttered by the reporter based on the observations made by the scientists:

"Amazing images of animals in the womb shed new light on the beginning of life. …

"In the beginning, we are all very much alike; sperm meets egg and the embryo soon develops a heart, eyes, limbs. …

"You can see actual animal behavior in utero, which is really the building block to how those animals survive. …

"An unborn dolphin swims in the womb long before it swims in the sea. A puppy starts to pant before birth. That will be its main way in life of keeping cool. …
"
The pictures are indeed striking, but researchers also say that learning from them will help them help the animals survive."

How sad that similar pictures of human babies sucking their thumbs inside their mother's wombs — pictures that were available 34 years ago — did not convince our Supreme Court that unborn human life was equally entitled to survive, and therefore worthy of legal protection.
In fact, more than a decade ago, when I was on the U.S. bishops' pro-life committee, we tried to show very similar images of babies inside the womb at a congressional hearing. The committee chairman turned us down.

I wonder, if she were in the same position today, would she have refused to show these images of unborn animals in their mothers' wombs? If the hearings concerned the protection of animal life, would these images be deemed too disturbing to behold?

Because they leave no doubt that what is developing inside the womb is an elephant, or a dog or a dolphin. This is animal life at its beginning stages. Similarly, what we find inside a human mother's womb is human life at its beginning stages — not just a blob of cells.

These images of animals in the womb were not obtained by zealot pro-lifers bent on "imposing their religious beliefs" on their fellow Americans. These images — like those of human babies sucking and kicking in the womb — were obtained by scientists.

But facts and science have no place in our debate on abortion. On that issue, we want to do as we please. So people put on a bumper sticker that says "Save the Whales" but not one that says "Save the Babies."

When dogs or cats are found starved and neglected, the outcry is immediate. Hundreds come forward offering to adopt the animals in order to prevent their destruction.

I bet we would hear an outcry if anyone suggested harming the unborn dog, dolphin or elephant pictured in those National Geographic ultrasounds.

But where is the outcry about the more than 1 million babies who are killed each year by abortion in this country alone?

As I always say, there is no logic in this country where abortion is concerned. Our views are completely schizophrenic, and as long as this is so, we will remain deeply divided over this issue.

For no one is as blind as the one who refuses to see.