Pro-Life Pondered: Dehumanization of marginalized groups is nothing new

In our world, we have seen many atrocities and injustices.

After reading that sentence, some probably come to your mind right away. Some may think of the Holocaust, injustice towards women, systematic racism and many other forms of harm and systematic oppression. With all of these injustices, we ask ourselves, “How did we do that?” It's almost unbelievable that we as a society have taken rights away from so many groups. These injustices were all justified by one tactic — dehumanization.

Let’s think back to the 19th century. African-Americans were treated in unthinkable ways under the law. Even though our constitution declares that “...all men are created equal,” there was certainly an inequality among the races. “Wouldn’t a law creating an inequality be unconstitutional,” you might ask. It certainly was. However, lawmakers justified the oppression of African-Americans by dehumanizing them. In 1853, The Virginia Supreme Court ruled in Bailey v. Poindexter’s Executor that, “In the eyes of the law … the slave is not a person.” Even though science proved that African-Americans were as human as white Americans, “popular opinion” decided the fate of several African-American slaves.

Another infamous example of social injustice, which was justified by dehumanization, is the Holocaust. Millions of Jewish people, as well as other minority groups, were murdered in Germany. Just as legal oppression of African-Americans was justified, the injustice against the Jewish people was justified by dehumanization. In May 1923, Adolf Hitler declared, “The Jews are undoubtedly a race, but not human.”

This is just a small number of social injustices that were justified by dehumanization. With all of these injustices, one would think that we would learn from our mistakes. As a nation, we have not. In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court asserted in Roe v. Wade that, “The word person ... does not include the unborn.”

We know from embryologists that life begins at fertilization. Dr. Micheline Matthews-Roth of Harvard Medical School stated, “It is scientifically correct to say that an individual human life begins at conception when — egg and sperm join to form the zygote, and this developing human always is a member of our species in all stages of its life.” However, when on campus doing outreach with Bobcats for Life, I hear comments that dehumanize the pre-born. To say that human life does not begin at fertilization is scientifically inaccurate.

The injustice against pre-born human beings is horrific but nothing new. We’ve dehumanized African-Americans, we’ve dehumanized Jewish people and now we are dehumanizing pre-born children. If your argument against equality for pre-born children is that they aren’t human, more power to you. Just remember that there are people who said the same thing about other minority groups.

Jacob is a sophomore studying pre-law at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. What do you think of dehumanization? Let Jacob know by tweeting him @JacobHoback.