It’s characteristic of libertarian tinged American political thinking that even conservatives have difficulty dealing with the slippery slope. Or, if you will, climbing into a lukewarm pot on a stovetop on the assumption that the heat will never increase. Exhibit number one these days is Neil Gorsuch, the author of the Bostock decision. If you’re alarmed at the excesses of transhumanism and gender ideology look no further than Gorsuch for how we got to this point as a nation. Of course it’s true that there was a long buildup to this point, but there was never a rational or reasonable need for Gorsuch and Roberts to dive head first down that icy slope, regardless of the consequences. If there’s one lesson to be learned from human history, it’s that—absent forceful intervention—a conceptual careen down a slippery slope is unlikely to stop before the bottom of the slope is reached. The few short years after Bostock (2020) tell us the full story.
But libertarians, in the face of all evidence to the contrary, steadfastly maintain one or both of two propositions: That history tells us nothing about human nature and the future, or that it doesn’t matter in any event—ideology trumps human nature, because who knows what it means to be human? It’s easy to make fun of Justice what’s-her-name who claimed she was unable to define a woman, but that’s essentially the libertarian view and is ultimately at the heart of the legal revolution in sexual matters.
In the wake of the recent Alabama Supreme Court decision that ruled that human embryos, whatever their origin, are human for purposes of Alabama’s wrongful death statute, Donald Trump found himself dancing on the edge of that slippery slope. Now, it’s always a bit difficult with any politician to separate political calculation from genuine principles. Trump is not an exception, and he’s not the person I would reflexively turn to for counsel in matters of sexual ethics. It remains true, however, that unlike any other past “pro-life” Republican president, Trump followed through on his campaign promises—to the gratification of the pro-life voters who put him in the White House.
Unlike Gorsuch and Roberts, Trump appears to have—for the time being—avoided starting out on the slippery slope that could accelerate the slide to social chaos in America. Nevertheless, he’s unquestionably at the edge:
The inability of libertarian infected Americans to understand slippery slopes is the issue that Dems hope to exploit. Most Americans see no problem with Artificial Reproductive Technology, and that view flows from their inability to articulate an in depth understanding of human nature. Worse, Americans seem to reflexively believe that life should be easy, should involve no difficult choices, no disappointments. Perhaps I’m being a bit unfair in singling out Americans, but in some respects—to the good—America remains something of an exception to the rest of the world in these matters. We can argue about that in the comments. The point is, Trump, who is no dummy, sees the pitfalls ahead of him. All you need to do is take a glance at any of the articles covering the Alabama case to see that Dems are absolutely gleeful at the prospect of the MSM drumbeat against the “hard right” and “extreme MAGA Republicans” that we’re about to see.
One publication that has been looking at these issues has been The Federalist. For anyone who isn’t fully conversant with the implications of Artifical Reproductive Technology (ART), here are excerpts from several articles at The Federalist. Count on it—this will be a huge campaign issue, and the issues involved will be consistently falsified to play on Americans’ inability to deal with the problem of slippery slopes. If you’re politically involved you’ll need to understand this issue, because you’ll be faced with the necessity of explaining it to uncomprehending friends and neighbors.
Here we go. Please note—as usual, this is all about money. If you understand that Covid and the Trans revolution were financial cornucopias for Big Med/Pharm, and thus for politicians, you’ll see what really drives this demoralization of America.
First, what did the Alabama Court actually say?
What The Alabama Supreme Court’s Ruling On Frozen Embryos Means For Big Fertility
Big Fertility feels threatened because reproductive technologies like IVF hinge on the destruction of hundreds of millions of embryos.
The Alabama Supreme Court reaffirmed the indisputable scientific fact that life begins at conception last week when it ruled that “all unborn children,” including extrauterine embryos, are humans under the state’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act.
Until now, embryos created outside of the womb with assisted reproductive technology were legally considered property, not people.
So, as a bottom line, the Alabama court did not ban IVF. It did, however, rule that Alabama law mandates certain standards of ethical conduct that apply to IVF as well as to other acts. That is the threat to Big Fertility.
Predictably, the Dems were quick off the mark in proposing a bill that would eliminate all ethical standards, while attempting to frame the political red herring that they’ll be pushing this election year. Republicans blocked the bill, but they’ll need to get their arguments in order.
Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith Blocks Democrats’ Radical IVF Bill But Whiffs On The ‘Why’
Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith used her objection power on Wednesday to block a vote on Democrats’ radical in vitro fertilization bill, which would have legalized the unlimited creation and destruction of embryos in all 50 states via assisted reproductive technology, but her reasoning for opposing the measure does little to satisfy her self-professed pro-life principles.
The bill, proposed by Sen. Tammy Duckworth, aimed to largely shield IVF from any regulation but could easily be construed to cover the creation of motherless and fatherless designer babies, commercial surrogacy, experimental transhumanist technologies like artificial wombs, “gene editing,” and reproduction without women. If passed, the legislation would effectively prohibit politicians and states from reining in even the most unethical and immoral aspects of Big Fertility.
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Translation: For “could easily be construed” means “for sure WILL be construed.” That’s your slippery slope right there. One vague law, and liberal courts will be off to the races, with the likes of Gorsuch and Robers bringing up the rear.
This last article provides a preview of the tactics the Dems will deploy. They will portray Republicans as anti-family, anti-life, pro-murder. Don’t doubt any of that—it’s already being said. It’s a reckless political bludgeon that will have the gravest social consequences—that’s what the slippery slope approach is all about. Get people on the slope and let the courts do the rest. They’re totally confident that they’ll be able to fool a majority of the people long enough to defeat the Republicans, and then the battle will be over, as the money gets distributed and a few lonely souls wonder what happened to their country. Follow the money.
Democrats plan to use the fight over the personhood status of embryos to pass a sweeping bill that would protect the multibillion-dollar assisted reproductive technology (ART) industry and punish states and health institutions that try to limit third-party child manufacturing.
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As I explained last week, “Being pro-baby and pro-life doesn’t mean giving Big Fertility, a multi-billion dollar industry, permission to do whatever they please because scientific advancements have made it possible.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer claimed passing the bill was a necessary step to curb the “hard-right attack on IVF” after the Alabama Supreme Court, per the state’s constitution and legal precedent, deemed embryos minors under the state’s civil Wrongful Death of a Minor Act.
His comments paled in comparison to the inaccurate and radical rhetoric touted by the Biden-Harris 2024 page on X, which … claimed the Alabama Supreme Court “ruled that starting a family is basically murder.”
You have been warned.
This is all about riling up the frenzy of the pro-abortion crowd. The court found that embryos are protected by law from wrongful death. If this holds then abortion is wrongful death. This will be fought to the Supreme Court by the ‘abortion-as-sacrement’ group. The camel’s nose under the tent is correct. They will tie this to abortion and use it to attack the supremes. It is all about getting people to the polls and to get them clawing at the doors of the Supreme Court again. Sotomayor is worrying them. They do not want another Ginsburg situation if Trump gets re-elected in 2024.
In addition to activating the abortion voters this is also about the fundamentals of their ideology. They believe that they are here to mold, shape, nudge, and ultimately engineer humanity into their own self image. They can’t be gods if they can’t manipulate human embryos as if they are just raw material. Striving for immortality might be more difficult without the ability to cannabilize unlimited humans in their embryonic phase of life.
Developing this technology cements their victory by making everyone dependent on the destruction of human beings in their embryonic state for their perception of health and well being. The appetite for health and longevity will serve their purposes for wealth accumulation but more importantly the total rejection of anything other than a materialist/godless belief system.
This will get Screwtape a promotion. To paraphrase: Use their appetites to distract them from The Enemy. In Screwtape’s case the enemy is God.
I don't claim that this will decide the election, but based on preliminary indicators it looks like it will be a major talking point for Dems. As several commenters have pointed out, this may be an issue mostly for a relatively defined demographic that leans strongly Dem to begin with. However, Dems have been known to engage in invalid generalizing, assuming that everyone has the same obsessions that they have. So I'd still be surprised if this doesn't get a lot of print/talk in the usual circles. That, and it may be important for Dems to try to hold on to even that demographic if other issues are as important as they appear to be--inflation/economy/borders.