Telling Abortion Stories

Michael Stokes Paulsen, University of St. Thomas School of Law, is publishing Kermit Gosnell and Uncle Tom's Cabin in the St. Thomas Journal of Law & Public Policy. Here is the abstract.

Stories persuade and illustrate in a way that pure logic does not. What Kermit Gosnell - the Butcher of Philadelphia - did is, in principle, no different from what any other abortionist does. This repulsive true crime story persuades and it is important for that reason. But the lesson we should draw from it – the logic of the parable, if you will – ought to be one about abortion and abortionists generally. The Kermit Gosnell story has the potential to function, for the anti-abortion movement, in much the same way that Harriet Beecher Stowe’s serialized novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, functioned for the anti-slavery movement more than 150 years ago. It persuades the mind by first moving the heart and wrenching the soul. Kermit Gosnell is today’s Simon Legree. But Gosnell is no composite fictional character. He is the real-life face and voice of Abortion.

Download the article from SSRN at the link. 

The Lincoln Legend

John Blake of CNN reviews (and critiques) Steven Spielberg's new film "Lincoln," and suggests that the Spielberg Lincoln is not as accurate or as complex as the PBS Lincoln available in a three-part documentary which begins airing tonight. In part, says Mr. Blake, the documentary points out that Harriet Beecher Stowe, not President Lincoln, had a great part in persuading people that slavery was immoral, via her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. Further, what fueled the enduring attraction of slavery in the South was not just twisted moral thinking on the part of its defenders, but its economic foundation. He discusses more reasons, more issues, here.