Fleischman on Abortion

Fleischman cites test-tube babies as irrefutable proof that “life” begins the moment an egg is fertilized, and that destroying a fertilized egg amounts to killing a person. This, of course, is tantamount to calling every doctor a killer when he discards those eggs fertilized in-vitro that are surplus and therefore not used for implant.

The same shoddy logic--cleverly disguised as a nonpartisan dissertation--goes into the “circular reasoning” of using the conclusion of the argument as its premise.

To top it all off, the author is identified not as the pro-life activist she is, but as “an attorney with a special interest in reproduction issues as a function of civil liberties and human rights.”

Giving such prominent exposure--even in the Opinion Section--to this kind of sophistry and implying that the author is a civil libertarian--a term associated with the pro-choice movement--comes awfully close to willful deception.

V.F. SABL

Los Angeles