The Jews have it right on Abortion

After years of letting the anti-abortion crowd control the narrative on abortion, a member of the mainstream media has finally presented  the other side.  USA today, to its eternal credit, published an article on July 25th detailing the Jewish position on abortion, which holds that the fetus is not a living being.

The long article presents different interpretations of the same Old Testament texts which the anti-abortion crowd relies upon.  But even more pertinent, the article details why common sense dictates a different view.

If, as many anti-abortion extremists say, abortion is really murder, then women who have abortions should be prosecuted for first-degree murder, since it is obviously a premeditated act.  They should then be sentenced to life imprisonment, or, in states which still have the death penalty, to execution.  That the anti-abortionists do not go this far demonstrates that they don't really believe their own demagogic rhetoric.  

We cannot allow the anti-abortionist fanatics to hijack our religion.  When Jesus said "love thy neighbor", he was talking about loving people, not fetuses.  A fetus is not life; it is, at best, potential life.  Let us pray that common sense will prevail in this country, although right now that day seems a long way off.