Is Abortion Genocide?

A German cardinal compared the act of abortion to the murder of millions by Hitler and Stalin. Although he says he regrets his statement and claims he was misunderstood, DW readers see the issue otherwise.

When does human life begin and what constitutes murder?Image: AP

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First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the communists and I did not speak out because I was not a communist.Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me. Who will speak up for the defenseless unborn? I will. -- Susan Larmour, USA

...From what I read, it seems as if Cardinal Meiser considers euthanasia, abortion, and the mass murders committed by the Soviets and Nazis as equally abhorrent. He's not condoning or sanctioning the Holocaust against the Jews!! ... Cardinal Meiser has done nothing in my opinion that he needs to apologize for. He's not belittling the Holocaust against the Jews by making comparisons to the current holocaust against the unborn -- he's coming to their defense at a time when our cultural institutions are mercilessly drowning the ideal of the sanctity of human life (all human life). The Holocaust against the Jews was wrong, but so is abortion. -- Robert Stalbow, USA

I agree with the Cardinal. Look at what Mother Teresa said, "The so-called right to abortion has pitted mothers against their children and women against men. It has sown violence and discord at the heart of the most intimate human relationships. It has aggravated the derogation of the father's role in an increasingly fatherless society. It has portrayed the greatest of gifts -- a child -- as a competitor, an intrusion, and an inconvenience. It has nominally accorded mothers unfettered dominion over the independent lives of their physically dependent sons and daughters."
And, in granting this unconscionable power, it has exposed many women to unjust and selfish demands from their husbands or other sexual partners. Human rights are not a privilege conferred by government. They are every human being's entitlement by virtue of his humanity. The right to life does not depend, and must not be declared to be contingent, on the pleasure of anyone else, not even a parent or a sovereign." Mother Teresa said about abortion. -- Doug Petkoff

Abtreibungsgegner in Deutschland
German anti-abortion activist Thomas Schührer stands in a field of crosses in Karlsbad on Oct. 14, 2003. The sign reads "1,000 abortions a day in Germany." Image: AP

I agree with Meisner's comments 100%. I am of Jewish origin myself. I don't understand what is insulting. His analogy is totally correct in that, in all three cases, innocent human lives are sacrificed for the sake of what is believed to be a higher good -- racial purity, class cohesiveness, or individual comfort. All three are rationalizations for murder. -- Edward

It is a shame that many people get upset when someone in church condemns the killing of innocents, but the actual act of killing doesn't offend these people with equal intensity. Sane individuals agree that Hitler, Stalin, et.al. were madmen among lesser known madmen, and have the blood of innocent Jews, Christians, and other enemies on their hands. It is easy to see their guilt in the sheer number of carcasses that at one time held human souls and spirits. They were men that decided the mortal fate of others. Innocent others. These men played god. Not for a better idea, not for a love of god or their neighbor, but for total power. Unaccountable power... Should we not hold life more dearly, than the love for self. Mr. Spiegel, don't be so offended by the comparison between the Holocaust and abortion, it reveals you put more weight on reputation and memories than you do on the fate of innocent lives and the battle to save them from those of us that play god. -- Drew Gish, USA

The murdering of modern innocents IS comparable to the atrocities of the Nazis & Stalin. Mass murder is mass murder, whether carried out against the generations of unborn or the generation of the Holocaust. Those who continue to play the victim must grow up. We are all victims. We are all survivors. We are all victors. God and our own choices determines who we are... -- GeneTexas, USA