Read the original article by Charlene Root at fauquier.com here.
Does anyone else find Gov. Ralph Northam’s priorities and principles skewed? I am appalled and distressed by the juxtaposition of these two news items.
The first is a direct quote from the governor regarding late-term abortions. It is even more distressing that the comment comes from a physician whose Hippocratic oath states first and foremost – “do no harm.”
“The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and family desired. And then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.” (WTOP, January 2019)
The second is a news article released April 3.
“Gov. Ralph Northam signed a bill which ups the penalty for abusing an animal to a class 6 felony. That could mean from one to five years in prison for the perpetrator.” (“Shore Daily News,” April 3, 2019)
Let me be clear and unequivocal. I wholeheartedly support any legislation against animal cruelty and abuse. We are charged with the obligation of stewardship over the earth and all therein. But I am perplexed by the thinking that it’s a “matter-of-fact” thing to murder a viable infant, yet it’s a felony to abuse a dog.
There have been over 54,000,000 abortions in the United States since the famous Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case in 1973. By comparison, it is estimated that 15,000,000 soldiers died in battle during World War II (historyonthenet.com). It seems that being born might be less safe than being a soldier!
Statistics on animal abuse are difficult to compile because there are many different behaviors that fall on that spectrum. Those include: laboratory research, animals as fashion (especially furs), animals as entertainment (dog fighting, cock fighting), neglect, physical abuse (beating, burning, kicking) and even kill shelter statistics that become part of the picture. I am confident that these, too, numbers in the millions.
And yet, if life is valuable, precious and doing it harm garners a severe punishment on the one hand, should it not also on the other?
