Malleus Maleficarum is the title of the translation of the 15th century book which defined what constitutes a witch: 1) contraception, 2) abortion, and 3) adversely effecting a man's virility. This tract was endorsed by the pope and became part of the Catholic dogma leading to the burning of a million women for witchcraft. The echo of this monstrous view of women as witches prevails today in the Republican platform and among some Christians. Are Republicans back in the 15th century? You can get the Malleus Maleficarum as a 99 cent download for the Kindle.
This superstition and hatred from the 1400's persists here in the 21st Century. We don't burn women as witches any more, but are willing to charge them with murder of an unborn child. I once interviewed two picketers outside Planned Parenthood. They both believed in the death penalty for murder even though they were right to lifers, but one said he wasn't so sure that a woman who had an abortion should be executed for murdering her unborn child. Wasn't so sure? But maybe?
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