To abort is to terminate prematurely; to halt, stop, cut short, end. This all implies that without a conscious and concerted effort, whatever is being aborted would continue. In the case of an offspring, it would continue to grow to maturity unless otherwise aborted. Does that life in the womb have the same right to live as the mother that carries it?
The irony of it all is that abortion proponents argue the laws are in place to protect the woman’s rights and health; yet, while protecting her rights, they are supremely infringing on the health of the helpless life that woman initiated. Weird, right? To fight so hard for the right to choose what happens to your body, while denying the new life within to have that same right. Furthermore, the new life – a.k.a. baby – did not have any say in whether or not it was brought into being. The mother and father made that decision on their own. Now that the new life has begun, is it fair, reasonable, or just to then steal that life away?
Wouldn’t it be better not to start the life at all, if you are going to fret over how long you will let it live before terminating it? Why not take full responsibility for putting your emotions on hold, denying your selfishly motivated feelings, and exercising restraint and contraception instead? According to the CDC, unintended pregnancy mainly results from not using contraception, or inconsistent or incorrect use of effective contraceptive methods.
Unfortunately, with the passing of the new Reproductive Health Act in New York, every fetus – with fully recognizable human features, facial expressions, and internal organs – has been stripped of all rights to continue its life. As long as the baby is inside the mother’s womb – arguably the safest place for a fetus – he can be put to death at any moment.
Historically, abortion in the third trimester has been thought of as barbaric, since the baby at that point can feel pain and could survive outside the mother’s womb. In fact, someone looking at a 16-40 week old fetus would have no trouble identifying it as a human baby. More than that, an inch long, curled embryo can increasingly be recognized by new parents as early as 8-10 weeks. Most people would ooh and aah at the wee little infant and maybe even reach out to touch their itty-bitty fingers and toes. This is not your great grandmother’s blob of unformed matter, as was once thought decades ago. It is a human life with eyes to see, a tongue to speak, a heart to beat, a brain to think, and feelings to express.
Yet, the New York State Senate decided that despite its humanity, any baby still within the confines of the mother’s womb can have its life terminated at the discretion of the mother and her doctor. And this, for a laundry list of physical and emotional reasons – including insignificant, arbitrary, or loosely defined ones. It is no longer the absolute last resort to save the critically endangered life of the mother.
Doesn’t all human life have equal rights under the law? Is there a way to preserve both lives; that of the mother and the child? Does one have to die in order to protect, satisfy, or comply with the wants or needs of the other? Surely there is a way.
#notafraidtothink #humanrights #fetalrights
EmmSix 