Slipping and Sliding

I have heard time after time that the so called "slippery slope argument" is a logical fallacy and cannot be used in debates.  However, after a look through the not-so-distant history of America I would tend to believe that the slippery slope is altogether too real.  Certainly the progression of laws concerning right to life issues provides ample support for a slippery slope theory. Let us begin in 1973 with the well known ruling of the Supreme Court on Roe v. Wade.  It was in this ruling that the Supreme Court stated the due process clause of the 14th Amendment promoted the right to privacy for a woman, and as such extended a woman's right to have an abortion.   After this ruling, the idea of a slippery slope was proposed, but it was largely dismissed.  After all, how can allowing women reproductive rights cause any kind of harm to society?
Fast forward just about two decades to 1994.  It was in this year that the state of Oregon passed Ballot Measure 16, which provided for the enactment of the Death with Dignity Act.  This was the first instance of a state legalizing "physician assisted suicide," a euphemism for euthanasia.  Washington State followed suit in 2008 with the passing of Initiative 1000 and soon afterward the trail court ruling in Baxter v. Montana legalized physician assisted suicide in Montana.  Once again, the subject of a slippery slope was raised.  How could we ensure that this practice wasn't abused to simply kill those who become a burden?  Rather than address this fundamental problem, superficial restrictions were placed on the practice, aiming to reduce unwarranted killing.
In 2009, President Barack Obama lifted the ban of federal funding for embryonic stem cell research through an executive order.  After this executive order, research began through federal funds toward applications of human embryonic stem cells.  The benefits were claimed to be innumerable, but the costs are far more drastic as research began involving the active destruction of the human embryo.
Now, I do not try to claim that these events were all directly caused from the legalization of abortion in 1973.  However, these issues are all closely related and in recent times have seen a drastic change in legal standing.  What is the connection then?  Although these events may not be linked by a direct cause and effect, there is still an overarching theme among them.  This theme is the degradation of the value of human life.
Each of the events listed above was made possible by the dehumanization of part of the human species. In Roe v. Wade the fetus was not seen as a whole person because it was dependent upon the mother.  Physician assisted suicide dehumanized the terminally ill patient to no more than an animal waiting to die without any hope for the future.  Finally, through embryonic stem cell research, the embryo is dehumanized to the point that it has no more intrinsic value, but only instrumental value, similar to that of a tool.  In each step along the way, the dehumanization process has become increasingly dramatic, leading to equally dramatic attacks on human life.  Although the slippery slope may not directly link one event to another, the culmination of these acts through the dehumanization of human life has caused increasing affronts to the culture of life.