Letter: ‘Sanctity’ and ‘sacredness’ of life are malleable concepts. Let’s focus on what really matters. – Salt Lake Tribune

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Hundreds of anti-abortion activists rally at Pro-Life Utah's March for Life at the Utah Capitol on Saturday, in conjunction with the national March for Life in D.C., Jan. 22, 2022.

| May 15, 2022, 12:00 p.m.

Anti-abortion proponents often justify their arguments on the sacredness of life, its connection to God. Considering that the 8 billion people on the planet have roughly 8 billion concepts of God, varying from He Quotes Leviticus in Hebrew to Me when Im Stuck in Rush-Hour Traffic to He Kicked Off the Big Bang and Hasnt Been Heard From Since, I submit that sacredness is a poor criteria to evaluate the morality of abortion.

Other proponents argue the sanctity of life, its ultimate importance and inviolability, without necessarily a religious connection. But there are morally acceptable situations when we take someones life: capital punishment, a soldier killing an enemy soldier, a policeman killing an unarmed man believed to be a mere threat to safety, euthanasia, sacrificing one individual to save others and any threat in general to our survival for example, Floridas Stand Your Ground law.

The act of conceiving is remarkably easy (with apologies to couples who do have trouble doing so). Sanctity, frankly, just isnt on our minds at the time. Were not thinking ahead to potential unintended consequences. Heck, were not thinking at all. Its pleasurable. Were wired to do it. No credit card, permission, driver license or smart phone required. All you need is a partner.

For countless millennia Homo sapiens was just another species on the planet, struggling to forage and survive. Nowadays were adept at overpopulating the planet, a veritable poster child for an invasive species. What was historically sacrosanct is now much less so.

If you really want to honor sanctity, quit focusing on the first weeks and instead focus on what really matters the next five or 15 years. Thats where a child needs support on so many fronts. That childs mother is by far the best equipped to decide if she can or will make that childs life what life should be. No one else can make that decision.

Mike Duncan, Moab

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Letter: 'Sanctity' and 'sacredness' of life are malleable concepts. Let's focus on what really matters. - Salt Lake Tribune