“Neither the sun nor death can be looked at with a steady eye.”

—Francis, duc de La Rochefoucauld, Maxim 26

Each year, over 32,000 people commit suicide in the United States. In Oregon in 1997, 15 terminally ill patients took advantage of a newly enacted law legalizing physician-assisted suicide and committed suicide with doctor-prescribed lethal medication. Approximately 1.37 million abortions were performed in the United States in 1996. Finally, 74 prisoners were executed in the United States in 1997, while 3,335 more remained on death row.

Is there a relationship among these statistics? Many people believe there is. They contend that increased acceptance of abortion, physician-assisted suicide, and the death penalty are hallmarks of a “culture of death” that grips modern society. The following quote—excerpted from a speech given by Allan Carlson, president of the Howard Center for Family, Religion, and Society, at a meeting of pro-life leaders on January...