Unborn

Right-to-life propaganda presents all stages of human fetal development from egg to live birth as a standard image of a cute innocent infant, cuddly as a puppy. The only thing missing is floppy ears.

Real gestation, of course, is a lot uglier, squishier, and fraught with issues. All of which are conveniently ignored. But I wish to ask, why are all “future people” sacred? Certainly real people never were in our species past, filled with slaves and war and murder and plague and famine.

The fact is all cute cuddly infants do not grow up to be cute cuddly adults, nor even happy robust supportive citizens. Most would agree that the world would have been better off had some old-time dictators, mass murderers, and evil geniuses never been born. Perhaps the less civil among us could do without a lot of current criminals, lying internet personalities, megalomaniac rulers, and scheming billionaires or politicians. And me, I’m not so sure about you…

Humans are not turtles or fish, laying millions of eggs in hopes that a few survive by chance. Babies require nurture or they may grow into monsters. And current civilization certainly has not yet figured out how to provide guaranteed nurture.

In spite of mythology, most poor people once used offspring as helpers and near slaves, most of the historic wealthy farmed progeny out to teachers and boarding schools. The middle class nurturing nest is a modern invention, and rarely achieved.

The unborn, in fact, are a lot more frightening than the undead.