About a month ago, I read an article about abortion.  The author declared that “abortion is the holocaust of our generation.”  Those words pierced me.  My first reaction thought was- that’s a bit extreme.  I struggle with this for a number of reasons.  Up until this point, I’ve supported abortion rights.  Let’s be clear—I don’t think it should be used as a means of birth control, but some situations- extreme medical situations, rape, incest, I’ve believed that abortion should be an option for women.  So, internally, I have to ask myself- Do I support genocide?  Do I support the shedding of innocent life?  Because that’s what abortion does, it kills.  It kills defenseless people.  Is that death excusable because my life is on the line?  Does this death become more justifiable because it is a product of abuse from a father, brother, or stranger?  As I pondered these questions for this whole month, my loud and defiant yes becomes a small faint no, not really.

My second struggle is more a historical one, I suppose.  To me, World War II is one of the most intriguing things that have ever happened in human history.  When you read about the Third Reich, you really have to ask yourself, how did that even happen?  It amazes me all the time.  The Holocaust was so bad that we still don’t how many people died.  The best estimate is between 5-10 Million people.  The devastation was unreal and almost unbelievable.  And to compare abortion to the evil of the Holocaust just seems a bit misguided.

As I thought about it all month long, I just kept asking myself- Really?  The Holocaust of our Generation… Really?  In an attempt to give myself some peace about this, I began looking up abortion statistics- just in the US.  Since this is such a political issue, I skipped all the right and left wing organizations; I headed straight for the government websites.  They’re supposedly non-biased, paid for by tax-payer dollars, no message, just facts.  I was astounded at what I learned.  According to the US Census and the CDC, 1.2 Million legal abortions were reported in 2008.  Over a million abortions have occurred every year since 1979 in the United States!  That’s over 33 Million People- more than any holocaust estimate ever!

Here’s another comparison.  In the 236 years that we have been in country, we’ve declared war 8 times: Revolutionary War, Civil War, WWI, WWII, Korean War, Vietnam War, Persian Gulf War, and Global War on Terror.  Let’s count the War of 1812, the Mexican-American, and the Spanish-American War to be fair.  In those 236 years and 11 wars, we’ve lost about a little over 1.3 million military personnel.  In the deadliest conflict, the American Civil War, about 600 people died per day.  Today, over 3,200 abortions are performed daily.

More deadly than every US-fought war and the Holocaust combined, abortion is definitely the stealthiest killer our nation as known.  One thing that struck me most about Auschwitz was its close proximity to private residencies.  When the Americans liberated Poland, these people were interviewed, and they had no idea of the atrocities that happened there.  (Again, one of the most fascinating things in human history.)  Many of us know women that have had abortions, for whatever reason.  In our silence, we become like those people that live next door to Auschwitz, allowing an entire of generation of people die.

You might say that my position on this topic has changed considerably.  I’d support that.