I try not to get political on my blog, but the homily at church this week was too good to only be heard by a thousand or so people. The subject was the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade and the fallacy of "Freedom of Choice", a term often used to soften the reality of a mother terminating her unborn child's life, for the sake of her convenience. According to this term, she is free to do what she wants with her body. But how much freedom do we all really have? I really need some cash these days, am I free to rob someone? It would be convenient for me to steal someone else's money, then I wouldn't have to worry about my own. Or if a person finds out something about me that could damage my reputation, am I free to kill them, so that they would be unable to share my secret? According to the law, I cannot do either of these things. Why? Because my freedom ends where another's rights begin. The other person has the right to his money and life, and I cannot take those from him. His rights are protected by our law. Unborn children actually have rights protected by the law as well, except in this case, the goverment likes to talk out of both sides of its mouth. In my state, if I were to cause harm to a pregnant woman that resulted in the death of her unborn child, I would be charged with manslaughter and sentenced to time in prison. However, if this same mother were to decide to abort her child, she would do so with the blessing of the law. The baby's rights change depending on whether it's an unwanted pregnancy or not, which is absolutely ludicrous. What if everyone's rights were based on their popularity? Some would literally get away with murder while others would never stand a chance. The American government states that all citizens have the same inalienable rights--life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness--no matter whether that citizen is Oprah or a bum living under a bridge. Yet we do not uphold this in this case of unborn children. We hide behind more fallacies, like saying a fetus is not a person. What is it then? A bird? A squirrel? Here is a picture of my son Ben at 9 weeks in utero:
Even with the grainy ultrasound, you can see that he was a developing person with a head, a body, arm buds and an immature but functioning muscular system that allowed him to begin movement. He had the beginnings of eyes and ears. My doctors never once called him tissue or fetus. They treated him with respect and called him my baby. Here is a picture of Ben today:
He is the same object as in the picture above, only more developed. He will continue to develop his entire life, just as he has since the day that first picture was taken. But those are the same eyes that allow him to look at me each day, the same ears that enable him to hear my voice and the same arms and muscular system that make him capable of hugging me like no one else can. He doesn't look like he did back then, but he won't look the same in 18 years either. He was a person then, he is now, and he will be always, and he deserves to have the same fundamental rights no matter what stage of his life he enters.
**Congratulations to Luke's cousin Jennifer, who is scheduled to give birth to her fourth child today. I know that she will bless and enrich your life as much as the first three have!
Even with the grainy ultrasound, you can see that he was a developing person with a head, a body, arm buds and an immature but functioning muscular system that allowed him to begin movement. He had the beginnings of eyes and ears. My doctors never once called him tissue or fetus. They treated him with respect and called him my baby. Here is a picture of Ben today:
He is the same object as in the picture above, only more developed. He will continue to develop his entire life, just as he has since the day that first picture was taken. But those are the same eyes that allow him to look at me each day, the same ears that enable him to hear my voice and the same arms and muscular system that make him capable of hugging me like no one else can. He doesn't look like he did back then, but he won't look the same in 18 years either. He was a person then, he is now, and he will be always, and he deserves to have the same fundamental rights no matter what stage of his life he enters.**Congratulations to Luke's cousin Jennifer, who is scheduled to give birth to her fourth child today. I know that she will bless and enrich your life as much as the first three have!
