The most basic argument surrounding the pro-life
versus pro-choice issue is one of rights. The rights of the unborn child
weighed against the rights of the woman carrying it, but the current judicial
climate places the burden on scientific advancement to prove when life begins. The
current standard of “viability” has already replaced the outmoded trimester
standard implemented under Roe v. Wade, and some states like Alabama have
passed “fetal pain” laws, which pushed the mark further to the twentieth week,
when the child has a nervous system developed enough to feel pain.
About the author: Elizabeth Robinson is a Policy Analyst
and Grant Coordinator for the Alabama Policy Institute, a non-partisan,
non-profit research and education organization dedicated to the preservation of
free markets, limited government and strong families, which are indispensable
to a prosperous society.
This article was published by the Alabama Policy
Institute.
But for pro-life advocates, these measures are just
the beginning. They should not be satisfied with enacting laws that could be
quickly struck down in court. While any reduction in the number of abortions
performed is something to be cheered, pro-life groups are not resting until
unborn children are granted the same human rights as their mothers, fathers, grandparents,
aunts, and uncles. That means a renewed effort, even in a conservative state
like Alabama, to pass pro-life legislation that provides new facts for the
Supreme Court to consider.
I had the great pleasure of being invited to a
meeting of Alabama pro-life agencies and crisis pregnancy centers last week,
and energizing does not even begin to describe the atmosphere of the gathering.
Recent congressional testimonies may lead some to believe that the pro-life
movement is made up of old, white, Republican men who want to repress women and
undo all the economic and political growth women have accomplished in the last
century. What I saw instead was a diverse, female-led group of Democrats and
Republicans, African-Americans and Caucasians of all ages, who were deeply
concerned with the long-term well-being of both the unborn child and the
mother.
These passionate men and women don’t volunteer to
teach classes extolling abstinence because they want to suppress women. They
truly believe that teens may not fully comprehend the consequences of becoming
sexually active at a young age, and they want to help prevent the heartache and
pain that come from those decisions. I could clearly see that these advocates
of life don’t want to coldly cast their hands on the bodies of pregnant
mothers, but instead want to wrap them and their unborn child in arms of love,
and show them another way. Again, I was encouraged that it is the pro-life
advocates who present true choice: choice for the mother and a lifetime of choices
for the child.
One of the most shocking things I heard at this
summit of pro-life leaders was that over 90 percent of women decide not to
terminate the pregnancy when they learn that they have true choices. Choices
for adoption, a job, housing, a chance for a new start; these are the choices
that private pro-life organizations offer girls in crisis, choices that these
young ladies might not hear about if they went to a government-funded entity
like Planned Parenthood.
Proponents of abortion rarely label themselves
“pro-abortion,” instead they argue that they are simply protecting a woman’s
right to choose. If that is true, Alabamians would do better to support groups
like The Alabama Pro-Life Coalition and Choose Life of Alabama, who not only preserve
and enhance the dignity and choices of the mother, but also support the promise
of life, health, and future choices for her unborn baby.
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