Letter: Abortion is not ‘genocide’
A demonstrator shouts slogans during a rally in support of abortion rights, Tuesday, May 21, 2019, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
I object to Holly Richardson’s use of the word “genocide" to describe the practice of abortion.
The word “genocide" was coined by Raphael Lemkin by combining “geno,” from the Greek for tribe, and “cide," from the Latin for killing. This word means the systematic murder of an ethnic or religious group by a state or by members of another group.
The millions of abortions that take place each year are the result of millions of individual decisions. To call this a genocide is a grave disservice to those whose lives were extinguished by systematic state-sponsored murder.
Richardson decries hyperbole but is guilty of it herself.
Mark Johnston, Salt Lake City
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