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TREATISE ON HUMAN LIFE: An Unalienable Right Dr. Kletschka traces the history of how ancient societies up through the common law treated abortion, and explains how the Roe v. Wade decision is utterly incompatible with this progression. |
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“We hold these truths
to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they
are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness…..” In his introduction to this well-documented book, A Treatise on Human Life by Dr. Harold Kletschka, Dave Racer states that “when the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision it wiped clean multiple centuries of legal precedent. From universal condemnation of abortion to the Court’s sanctioning of legal abortions, the Court had rendered stare decisis moot. Instead, by the whim of seven justices, the foolishness of interest-group politics was substituted for the wisdom of the ages. As tragic is the loss of millions of human lives through abortion, the Court’s substitution of man’s will for immutable law has wreaked an even more far-ranging devastation on freedom and liberty; it has rendered futile a predictable future.” Dr. Kletschka’s
book is divided into three sections. He begins Section I by
stating that “When the sperm and ovum unite in conception
a zygote – a unicell – is formed. This unicell has
life, but it also carries the Homo sapiens genetic code. Thus,
it is human In Section II Dr. Kletschka discusses ancient and common law governing abortion. Through his extensive research into primary documents he is able to state: “In the historical and apocryphal works, dating back thousands of years B.C., we find that human life was considered to be sacred from the moment of conception, and that prevention of that life or its destruction in utero was continuously condemned in an unbroken chain of laws and precedents comprising the common law inherited by America. Even in pagan, uncivilized, and barbaric societies this sacredness of human life was recognized.” It is well-known that the Catholic religion has steadfastly opposed abortion. Less well-known is the fact that the Catholic religion “formed the basis of the common law developed by the kings of England in governing abortion……England lived under these laws in communion with the Catholic Church for almost 1500 years…… Even after Henry VIII broke from allegiance to the Catholic faith during his reign from 1509 to 1547, the common law remained in place as the common law of that nation.” (II – 70) Legal scholars Bracton and Coke also confirm that “the very earliest controlling precedents regarding abortion had been continuously recognized without change, save for reducing the degree and type of punishment meted out for commission of the crime. But the seriousness of the crime was never disputed, always being considered as murder or as barely less than murder, depending on the circumstances.” (II – 70) Dr. Kletschka next establishes the connection of the common law precedents concerning abortion to the establishment of similar laws in America. He also thoroughly discusses the Otis-Henry doctrine in which “the supremacy and permanency of common law precedents became recognized and firmly entrenched in development of the law of the newly formed country.” (p II – 67) Section
III is Dr. Kletschka’s analysis of Roe v. Wade.
He particularly shows how the justices not only departed from
previous case law (stare desisis), the Constitution, and the
Declaration of Independence in their infamous decision, but
especially documents Dr. Kletschka concludes: “For the courts to continuously find a legal basis for abortion, in the face of the clear established common law prohibiting such practice, amounts to misbehavior by failing to enforce the law and to uphold the constitutional guarantees protecting the rights of the unborn.. Unless the established law is enforced as recited in this treatise it means we will have become a nation of men instead of laws… It will mean we are in a state of anarchy which will, if not arrested now, promise to spread in scope along with its venal consequences. Ultimately, tyranny can be expected to surface because all rights find their foundation in the right to life. Preservation of the sacred right to life is the prime barrier against tyranny. If that right disappears then all other rights can be expected to eventually vanish as well.” (III – 68) Dr. Kletschka’s
book is a valuable addition to the libraries of those seeking
to understand the underlying issues involved with Roe v.
Wade. Even though there is extensive quoting of primary
sources, which should prove invaluable to legal scholars, Dr.
Kletschka provides helpful commentary so that even the most
uneducated reader can easily understand the legal, historical
and moral issues involved. |