Preserving Precious Life

For over 200 years, our country has been grounded in the belief that life is a basic human right. On July 4, 1776, our founding fathers signed and agreed that “all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” And we hold true to that very same principle today, that all people have the right to life.

However, the act of abortion has created a raging controversy for well over 40 years in our country. In the case Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court ruled abortion as legal—based on the idea that a fetus is not actually human until it is viable (able to live successfully on its own). Since this decision though, there have been great advances in the scientific field allowing us to understand human development even better.

The date when a human is actually “human” has been continually pushed back earlier and earlier since the time of the court’s ruling. This is a direct result of technologies like the ultrasound, which have allowed us to look inside of a woman’s uterus while the baby develops.

Despite the many differing dates that scientists give, the evidence shows that a fetus is, in fact, a human life from the moment it is conceived. What many people do not realize is that, from the moment the sperm enters the egg, the fetus has every bit of genetic information that it will ever have. This genetic information codes for their personality, their physical features, and even their basic intellect. All of this is present and active once fertilization occurs.

From the moment of conception, the rapidly growing bundle of cells meets all of the seven requirements for life (found in any biology textbook today). The living bundle of cells is, obviously, a developing human. Therefore, the extermination of this life is the taking of a human life. In fact, the only difference between a fetus and you, is time and nutrients. This is the same difference that lies between us and a toddler, the killing of which we would never tolerate.

Furthermore, within a few days of detecting pregnancy (around two weeks after fertilization) the baby’s heart is already beating; and by six weeks old, their brain is already sending signals to their body. Fascinatingly, the absence of these two criteria means that a human is dead; therefore, is it not logical then to conclude that they also define when a human is alive?

Yet, despite the clear fact that a fetus is a human life, we have deemed it acceptable to take the life of an unborn child on the basis of the mother’s rights. However, the law allows one person’s rights to extend only up to the point where another person’s rights begin.

Now don’t get me wrong, I believe that a woman has the right to make choices about her own body, and that women more than deserve every right that a man deserves. However, it cannot be ignored that her rights end where the rights of another human begin. A baby’s right to life cannot, and should not, be violated simply because a mother wills it.

We need to fully understand the facts about when life begins. We need to wake up to the harsh reality that the killing (and it is killing) of an unborn baby is wrong. Let’s wake up in America, wake up in Millard North, and fight with a passion for the rights of our little ones which have been undermined for far too long.