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21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A powerful argument for the sanctity of all human life, December 13, 2003
This review is from: Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation (New edition/issue) (Paperback)
Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation is an historically important document and one of the most passionate and well-argued pro-life essays ever written. The publication of such an essay by a President while in office (and in his first term, no less) was unheard of, but the knowledge that some 15 million unborn children had been aborted in the first ten years after abortion was legalized in this country compelled Ronald Reagan to do something to put an end to a practice doing irreparable harm to both families and the entire nation. The essay is a short but brilliant condemnation of abortion. The issue affects all of us, Reagan insists, because the diminishment of the life of the unborn diminishes the value of all human life. He exposes the ugly underside of the pro-abortion "quality of life" argument, likening it to slavery, drawing parallels between the Roe vs. Wade decision and the Dred Scot decision that divided Americans over a century earlier. The "quality of life" argument is an argument for quality control of the population, according to Reagan. It says that some human lives are worthless and thus deserving of death; as such, it is a dark echo of the Holocaust which has now inconceivably been endowed with the quality of "mercy." Legalized abortion, Reagan makes clear, put America at the top of a very slippery slope. Not only are unborn babies being killed because they are not wanted, many are killed because of defects - someone decides that such a child would be a burden on the parents and family or the child will not be able to live a "normal" life. Such babies are dubbed useless and without value by the abortionist proponents and are thus denied the human rights our Founding Fathers promised every American. Just as slaves were denied the value of their human lives in America's past, "useless" unborn babies are now being denied that same value of human life. Such arbitrary evaluation of unborn lives must stop, Reagan says. Such thinking leads naturally to further crimes such as infanticide. Such a case the previous year served to compel Reagan to write this very essay. The courts of Indiana had allowed "Baby Doe" to starve to death after his birth because the child had Down's Syndrome. In essence, retardation had been equated to a crime, one which deserved the death penalty. No nation can survive and prosper when a group of individuals can look at a child and declare whether that child has any value as a human being. The core of Reagan's forceful argument is to be found here: America has two choices. It can be a nation wherein some human lives are declared to be of no value, or it can be a nation who protects and defends the sanctity of all life. We cannot survive as a free nation, Reagan declares, "when some men decide that others are not fit to live and should be abandoned to abortion or infanticide." That is the core of Reagan's eloquent and insightful essay. I cannot speak to the accompanying articles in the new addition of this book. ... Reagan's essay, though, is one of the most powerful and logical anti-abortion arguments in the library of pro-life advocates. More timely than ever, this is an essay that all Americans should read and ponder over.
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17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good overview of the need to promote sanctity of life, December 16, 2001
This review is from: Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation (New edition/issue) (Paperback)
In this short book on Abortion (63 Pages), Ex-President Ronald Reagan gives a very moving account on how important the issue of abortion is to the conscious of a nation. He stresses the need to stand up against this evil, and hints at what will happen to our great country if we don't take this issue seriously. The book starts off with two forwards and one introduction, all from prominent Pro-Lifers. The first forward is by Reagan's closest friend Judge Clark, who served on the California Supreme Court. Judge Clark gives an overview of how important the moral issue of abortion was to Ronald Reagan. He describes events in Reagan's younger life that may have caused him to realize the intrinsic value of each human being, and how this belief permeated throughout his actions. Brian Johnston, a very influential Pro-Life associate of NRLC, gives the second forward. In this forward Johnston recalls what he learned about President Reagan's true understanding of his "Evil Empire" speech, from talking to his friend Judge Clark. He gives an overview of how President Reagan's main principle throughout the speech, especially when contrasting us with the evils of the communist regimes, is the sanctity of Human Life. He shows how Reagan clearly understood that the definitive standard of ALL governments is how well they protect the lives of their own innocent citizens. The introduction is by Wanda Franz, president of NRLC. Which discusses the various accomplishments Reagan did to promote the sanctity of human life. Wanda Franz clearly shows that whether Reagan was Governor of California, or President of the USA, Ronald Reagan clearly saw the evils of abortion as a primary issue. President Reagan's discussion (only 26 pages of the book) is last in the book. In it, Reagan stresses the importance for everyone to get involved in doing everything they can to promote the sanctity of human life. He starts off by giving shocking (at the time) facts on how far the abortion issue has gotten. He then addresses the most important question abortion poses the nation, and our responsibility in answering that question. He shows how others have answered it in the past with regards to slavery and our constitution. How the answer is a vital part of who we are as Americans. He than addresses what will happen if we don't stop abortion while we can, warning us of the levels it will likely reach. He concludes his discussion with current legal events going on in his time that promote the sanctity of life, and advice on what our part should be. The main one being, creating a culture that welcomes life. This short very moving book, the only book written by a standing President, is an attempt to awaken a nation. A nation that doesn't realize which direction it's going, but a nation that also had little say on the issue of abortion. Reagan is calling us to stand up and do whatever we can for the most important right of all, the right, which every other right stands on, the very right to life itself. For when our culture does everything it can to save whales, timber wolves, bald eagles and coke bottles, but nothing to save unborn children, one can have certainty that unless we take a moral stand against abortion now, there will be greater problems ahead.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Value of ALL Life Brilliantly Defended, February 5, 2003
The Greatest speakers and authors of history no doubt realized that to deliver a powerful presentation, one not need 3 hour sermons or 500 page books to get the job done. In just 26 pages, Former President Ronald Reagan delivers a chilling indictment of abortion. He rightly points out the right to abortion on demand is not the will of the people, but rather the will of progressive judges, who with one swoop of a pen, overturned one thousand nine hundred and seventy two years(I write it out longer just so we see how big that is) of the Traditional Western, and especially American ethic to protect all life. Though written when I was only a year old, as I read it today, and reflect upon it, the former Presidents words are as a chilling prophesy of just how far from morality we have gone. A man who was on the front lines battling the abortionists predicted horrible things would happen if we did not respect all humans, whether born or unborn, as human beings. We now see that today coming true, as human life is so unimportant, it is no longer sacred, but one that is desired to be created by cloning, and destroyed at will. Those of us who are for all life are greatly in debt to one of the staunchest leaders of the pro-life movement from the political arena, Ronald Reagan. The only problem I had with this book was I read it in 20 minutes, but didn't want it to end.
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