052378 Abortion Holocaust is linked to killing of Jews

To the Editor:

In his letter of May 20, 1978, Contributor Shear would have us believe that it "is only by a long stretch of one's imagination" that one can link abortion with the program of extermination that culminated in Germany in the killing of six million Jews. One striking similarity between the two programs is that the victims in both programs ended up dead. The initial assault on human life in Germany was intended to clear from the state hospitals the incurably sick, the insane, and the mentally deficient. In the United States the attack was launched on the unborn.

In both countries the attack on human life did not follow from the uncontrolled instincts of the uneducated, but from a rationalized policy formulated by a group of elite to take care of a few "hard cases."

These elite had all the hallmarks of civic and scientific respectability. Eat a false fanatical orientation played havoc with their characters. Men who in their private, intimate, and spontaneous lives were paragons of respectability had hearts of stone when they acted in their corporate, public, official capacities.

In both programs, compassion for a few was a factor. In Germany it was to relieve the suffering of the incurably ill; in the United States it was to relieve the mental and physical suffering of the pregnant women. Once any scruples and inhibitions about killing were overcome and the custom was established, there followed an indifference as to whose lives were taken. Almost imperceptively the circle of victims was widened so that anyone whose presence was undesirable was included. Contrary to popular belief the German program was not designed by Hitler and his henchmen. It was developed by the psychiatrists years before the Nazis came to power. The Nazis simply widened the circle of victims to include the six million Jews.

In the United States the victims now include not only the unborn but also the born. Pediatricians deliberately neglect to treat those new borne who do their judgment will not be able to live a "good life."

Economic factors loomed high in the thinking of the proponents of extermination in Germany. Now they loom high in the propaganda of the pro-abortionists in the United States. It is less expensive to kill than it is to care for or cure. With the perfecting of transplant procedures there is a movement to hasten deaths to get "parts."

As long as the program in Germany exploited primarily those who were unable to defend themselves, few, including the Jews, raised their voices in opposition. When the Jews organized to defend themselves and to enlist the help of outsiders, then the program collapsed.

The victims of abortion and infanticide in the United States are unable to dry out for assistance. They must rely on the help from groups such as Birthright and Right-to-life.

There is another point of similarity between the German extermination and the United States abortion programs. In both, large profits were and are realized.

Mr. Shear and his associates continue the canard that pro-lifers are a small group of zealots imposing their morality on the majority. Yet the pro-abortionists obstruct every attempt to permit the generality of voters to express their choice. In the two states, Michigan and North Dakota, where the pro-abortionists felt they had a clear majority, the pro-abortion referendums they were advocating were soundly rejected. Even in New York State the Senate and the Assembly voted to repeal the permissive law that had been passed but the law remained in effect because Rockefeller, a leading advocate of abortion, vetoed the repeal.

With these experiences the pro-abortionists are chary of going to the people and have confined their activities to those courts and judges they can control.

Without "stretching one's imagination" many more similarities between our baby killing program and the German extermination program could be explored. Both should be condemned.