In part four of his new series, Patrick Laure reflects on justice, life and belief, drawing on the biblical judgement of King Solomon to question how societies balance morality, law and the evolving rights of women…
King Solomon, ready to cut a baby in two
Solomon’s judgement is a decision or proposed conclusion inspired by a story from the Bible, which depicts Solomon, head of the kingdom of Israel, wisely settling a dispute between two women, each claiming to be the mother of the same child.
The First Book of Kings (3:16-28) says that the dispute was between two women who had each given birth to a child, but one had died of suffocation. They then fought over the surviving child. To settle the dispute, Solomon demanded a sword and ordered, “Cut the living child in two and give half to the first woman and half to the second.”
One of the women declared that she would rather give up the child than see it die. Solomon recognised her as the child’s true mother. He gave her the infant and thus saved the child’s life.
The masterful lesson of this judgement is to be able to detach oneself from equality, which is seemingly satisfactory, and to seek true justice. The analysis of the emotions that led to the dispute (jealousy for the one who is not the mother, maternal instinct for the other) is more important than the material evidence. The appeasement of the parties, a consequence of true justice, takes into account the underlying emotions. The real mother keeps the child, the jealous woman is punished: bad intentions are defeated, love is rewarded. This parable can be used to illustrate the precept that justice is not equality.
The role of the judge appears different from what it has become: more than a “mouthpiece of the law”, an equaliser, he is an actor and reaches a strong verdict. Here we see the role of judge portrayed more as an expression of wisdom and knowledge of human nature than as regulatory expertise.
Thus, Solomon’s judgement is the mother of our projection of justice, which may involve the act of “cutting in two” the child, life itself.
One cannot help but draw an analogy between Solomon’s judgement and Maître Badinter’s plea against the death penalty.
Maître Badinter sums up the death penalty perfectly: it is “cutting a man in two“. Admittedly, it is the guillotine, the only method of execution, that allows this analogy. Neither hanging nor lethal injection allow it.
In lethal injection executions, I have always been surprised by the anti-infection cotton wool rubbed on the condemned man’s forearm before the needle is inserted, as if there were a priority in the mortal judgement of men: you’re a nice microbe, you come after me, and besides, you’re not a microbe for nothing…
So paradoxically, under religion, man wants to be Solomon’s judgement, all the time, before and in place of women.
In his plea for the abolition of the death penalty, Maître Badinter was in fact unconsciously refuting Solomon’s judgement: no human being should be cut in two, whether an innocent baby or an accused adult.
Abortion? Is that cutting a foetus in two? Of course not.
Life is a story of mothers, of women, which will nevertheless form the basis of men’s humility in the face of creation, in short, in the face of women. This will be the legal acceptance of the right to abortion in most countries.
However, the journey will be long, beginning with an awareness of the origin of life.
Where do children come from?
Alongside reflections on the purpose of existence, this is the first question asked by religions. Since prehistoric times, religious manifestations have testified to female power. With the advent of metals, goddesses seem to have receded, rivalled by powerful gods. Nevertheless, they occupy the subtle place of loving companions.
At the dawn of Christianity, a reversal of values took place: sacred eroticism was converted into Christian charity. Animist and Far Eastern religions, on the other hand, maintained the tradition of fertility cults, while Islam emphasised the separation between men and women.
This ancestral history affects both the meaning of the sacred and the transmission of life, a history that modernity, in the age of bioethics and gender equality, is profoundly changing.
To ward off death, one must be reborn, ensuring the continuation of generations. The cult of mothers glorifies eternal birth: a woman’s womb is a promise of the afterlife.
Could this be the first obstacle to the acceptance of abortion? A parallel with euthanasia raises the same question that was asked at the beginning of the debate on abortion.
The Hippocratic Oath, the founding text of Western medical ethics, has been misinterpreted as the origin of the ban on abortion, but the text only prohibits the use of the most dangerous abortive substances. It was only with the need to manage the dem al balance that the Roman emperors Septimius Severus and Caracalla punished abortion in rescripts in the 3rd century. At that time, a plant (silphium) was mainly used as an abortifacient and contraceptive. Myrrh was also used for local application.
The angel makers.
Before abortion was legalised, these procedures were performed illegally, in secret, often using dangerous methods (injecting soapy water into the uterus, inserting probes into the cervix, knitting needles, massages, etc.). Serious complications were common (lesions, infections, bleeding), sometimes with fatal consequences. In France, abortionists were liable to varying degrees of punishment. In most cases, terminations of pregnancy took place without problems, making it impossible to determine the extent of the abortionists’ activities.
The definition of the term, proposed by Émile Littré in 1877, is as follows: “a nurse who deliberately allows the infants entrusted to her to die”. The idea was therefore that these innocent children became angels after death. Between the 19th and20th centuries, there was a semantic shift: previously, the “angel maker” caused the death of children; later, it was embryos.
In 1890-1891, the “aborters of Paris” (or “aborters of Batignolles”) made headlines in France when the press revealed the existence of a “vast agency” of angel makers in Clichy (near Paris).
In most Western countries, this activity has disappeared since the legalisation of abortion, which has become a medical procedure.
Patrick LAURE
Secrétaire Particulier
+33 6 35 45 27 02
laurepatrick@wanadoo.fr
**The information provided in this article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. It is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship. Laws and regulations vary by jurisdiction and may change over time. Readers should consult a qualified legal professional for advice specific to their situation. The author and publisher are not responsible for any actions taken based on this information.