"Meanwhile, as a kind of grimly ironic accompaniment to his scriptural musings, Buttigieg’s hometown, South Bend, has just discovered..."
"... that its longtime abortion provider, the late Dr. Ulrich Klopfer, kept a substantial collection of fetal remains on his property: 2,246 'products of conception,' to be exact, carefully preserved. The version of pro-choice politics that has been generally successful in this country allows Americans to support abortion rights within limits, while still regarding figures like Dr. Klopfer as murderous or monstrous. But the more maximalist and mystical your claims about when personhood begins (or doesn’t), the more strained that distinction gets. The unapologetic grisliness of a Klopfer, or a Kermit Gosnell before him, haunts a Buttigiegian abortion politics more than it does a 'safe, legal, rare' triangulation, because it establishes the most visceral of contrasts — between the mysticism required to believe that the right to life begins at birth and the cold and obvious reality that what our laws call a nonperson can still become a corpse."
From "The Abortion Mysticism of Pete Buttigieg/How the party of science decided that personhood begins at birth" by Ross Douthat (NYT).
The article linked at "products of conception" is "More Than 2,200 Preserved Fetuses Found at Property of Dead Doctor, Officials Say/There was no evidence that medical procedures were performed at the Illinois property where the remains were found, the authorities said" (NYT). It doesn't use the words "products of conception" or "corpse" or anything like "murder" or "monster." It says "preserved fetuses" and "medically preserved fetal remains." I can't find anything in that article to support "unapologetic grisliness of a Klopfer" other than that Klopfer is dead and dead men are unapologetic.
Most of Douthat's column is about Buttigieg's discussion of the Bible in connection with his pro-choice position. Buttigieg observes that the Bible isn't clear on the subject — there are verses suggesting that life begins with the first breath — and that supports giving the decision to the individual pregnant woman. That's the same thing the Supreme Court said in Roe v. Wade.
From "The Abortion Mysticism of Pete Buttigieg/How the party of science decided that personhood begins at birth" by Ross Douthat (NYT).
The article linked at "products of conception" is "More Than 2,200 Preserved Fetuses Found at Property of Dead Doctor, Officials Say/There was no evidence that medical procedures were performed at the Illinois property where the remains were found, the authorities said" (NYT). It doesn't use the words "products of conception" or "corpse" or anything like "murder" or "monster." It says "preserved fetuses" and "medically preserved fetal remains." I can't find anything in that article to support "unapologetic grisliness of a Klopfer" other than that Klopfer is dead and dead men are unapologetic.
Most of Douthat's column is about Buttigieg's discussion of the Bible in connection with his pro-choice position. Buttigieg observes that the Bible isn't clear on the subject — there are verses suggesting that life begins with the first breath — and that supports giving the decision to the individual pregnant woman. That's the same thing the Supreme Court said in Roe v. Wade.
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