When are children not yet human?

Note: Fr. Lingyu Fu's views do not necessarily reflect those of Illuminus Theo.

Note from F. Lingyu Fu: before someone has a kneejerk reaction to this post, either for or against it, it would be good to investigate this further if you are interested.  Dozens of blogs have accused Holdren of writing horrific things in a book entitled "Population Limitation," but he never wrote a book with that title!  That is a chapter within a book.  So if people misquote book titles, it is possible they misquote, or quote out of context, the contents as well.  Regardless of your political or moral inclinations (and increasingly I think people have moral inclinations, not actual stands!), be "wise as a serpent but harmless as a dove" and check things out before fueling the internet with rhetoric and hyperbole....

And now to this post...

Many argue that a child is not legally "human," with human rights, until born, but according to a 1973 book co-authored by President Obama's top science adviser, John P. Holdren, even after birth, a baby is only "potentially human," and only, if "given the essential early socializing experiences and sufficient nourishing food during the crucial early years after birth, will ultimately develop into a human being.”

Holdren is director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and wrote his views in “Human Ecology: Problems and Solutions.”

Millions of unborn babies are aborted because they are not legally human. Based on Holdren's logic, even after birth, babies, and perhaps children as well, are still less than human unless they have "essential socializing experiences."

Does this mean that, at some time in the future, Washington may have a panel decide what experiences are essential, and then euthanize those who don't measure up to the requirements for being human--even as unborn babies are aborted now? Farfetched? Probably. Hopefully.

By the way...as far as I understand, the wave of attacks claiming Holdren actually endorsed Draconian forced abortions and sterilization may not be well grounded. It is said that Holdren was not advocating such measures, but merely describing what had been done in some countries. Let's hope so. But the best thing to do is go get a copy of his book and read it for yourself.

Fr. Lingyu Fu
Illuminus Theo