Basa’s logic does not add up
Because Irene Basa claims that abortion-rights advocates have no
logical case for their views, it is ironic that her column,
“Government already enacts morality in laws” (Jan. 27)
does not hold up to rational scrutiny. The first flaw in her
argument is she presents no support to the claim that
“abortion is wrong.” She merely asserts that this is so
and calls for it to be banned by the government. Next, she attempts
to equate the views that the government should impose morality as
well as the government should not impose morality. The latter, she
claims, is imposing morality all the same. It is nonsense. Holding
onto the idea that the government should not impose the private
morals of some citizens on all the citizens is not a moral doctrine
but a political principle for the government of a pluralistic
society. In fact, she sells herself short. The view that the
government should be able to impose morality is a political, not
moral, position. She also tries to argue that the government
already imposes morality by outlawing murder, theft, etc. In
particular, she makes the following specious argument: Morals are
about right and wrong. Law is about right and wrong. Therefore,
they are the same, and being against government imposition of
morality is being against the rule of law. However, the law is not
about what is right and wrong, but what is permitted and not
permitted by the state. In particular, the function of the law is
not to lay down a moral foundation for society, but to describe
rules by which the people under the law can coexist in society.
Dan Fingal Fourth-year, cognitive science