Hundreds of thousands of pro-life advocates will march in Washington, D.C. to stand up for life and defend the most innocent among us.
As someone who believes in the dignity of life from the moment of conception, and someone who writes regularly on the topic, I’m amazed at the sheer number of people who collapse on Capitol Hill on an almost-always cold morning every January.
[sharequote align="center"]It’s logic 101. Taking innocent life should be illegal. Abortion takes an innocent life.[/sharequote]
I’ve spent years reading about the various arguments on both sides of the abortion debate. I’ve seen and heard passionate testimonies from men and women on both sides. Through all of my reading, examining, and conclusion-drawing, there is only one question I can’t seem to answer:
How is it still legal?
In 1973, when abortion was universally legalized, it was easier to believe that the unborn child was “just a fetus” or “a clump of cells,” and it was thus easier to justify abortion. But as we moved into the late 20th century, fetal ultrasounds became more common, and the technology advanced. The modern ultrasound offers a “window to the womb” and can offer incredible detail on an unborn child. It is no longer logical to use “pregnancy tissue” or any other dehumanizing phrase when referring to the unborn child.
We have also grown in our understanding of prenatal development. We know that at the time of conception, a single thread of DNA from a human cell contains enough genetic information to fill a library. We know that an unborn baby’s heart starts beating 21 days after conception. Twenty-one days! That is before the majority of women know they are pregnant. When you see signs along the road that say “Abortion stops a beating heart,” if nothing else they are inarguably medically accurate.
We know that at 40 days after conception, brainwaves can be detected, and by day 42, the skeleton has formed and the brain is controlling bodily movements. In fact, the entire first seven weeks, which is the average week when abortions occur, are incredible periods of time marked by intense biological growth and functional development.
Yet abortion remains legal. And the question of abortion’s legality is, in a way, a rhetorical question.
(SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
I know how abortion became legal and I know how it continues to be legal. Pro-abortion advocates are always quick to offer a reminder of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, where the Supreme Court reached into its proverbial hat and pulled out the rabbit of abortion rights. They will quickly call attention to the 1992 case Planned Parenthood v. Caseyin which it became illegal to place any “undue burden” on a woman’s right to abortion.
And those same advocates will point to a woman’s right to choose and her inherent, God-given control of her body. They will proclaim that nobody can make the decision any better than a woman, and anyone who disagrees will be accused of mansplainin or misogyny. They will claim that men have no place in the discussion (unless we agree with them) because we can’t get pregnant, and so on and so forth.
But at the end of the day, it’s really simple. It’s logic 101. Taking innocent life should be illegal. Abortion takes an innocent life. Therefore, abortion should be illegal. Plain and simple.
We can hem and haw all we want about socio-economic factors, why life should or should not matter, immorality versus impermissibility, definitions of words and phrases such as "reproductive rights," whether the unborn child is actually just a parasite, etc. But those are all red herrings meant to distract us from what abortion really is. And that is the taking of an innocent life.
It’s the ultimate injustice. The strong against the weak. The powerful against the voiceless. It’s discrimination to the letter. We live in a country that is literally obsessed with trying to ward off even the slightest hint of discrimination, but many continue to advocate for the legality of abortion. An entire demographic of human beings is given no rights at all, and we allow it to happen. I can’t wrap my head around it.
And believe me, I know the arguments for abortion. I’ve read them. I’ve considered them backward and forward. Perhaps, at least in my mind, the most compelling argument to support abortion (this is not to ignore the rest of them, as there are many) centers on a woman’s right to refuse the use of her body to the unborn baby. I see, sort of, the point in this argument, but even this has been answered decisively.
At the end of the day, it’s women’s rights versus babies’ rights. When we consider what is at stake, there is no doubt that a baby’s life should take precedence over the mother’s lifestyle. And don’t mistake this for misogyny. I can defend innocent life without hating women or demanding that they be treated unequally. That particular claim is baseless and unwarranted, and serves only to categorize an argument without considering its merits.
Moreover, I’ve yet to hear a convincing argument as to why it should be okay to take the life of an unborn child. Rape and incest are frequently brought up, and while these are serious and devastating cases that require compassion of the deepest sort, they are a relatively small percentage of elective abortions. Furthermore, the unborn baby is no more or less innocent in these cases than in any other case, nor is he or she any more or less human. Taking the life of the child punishes the wrong person for whatever crime has been committed. The perpetrator should be punished, not the baby.
Pro-abortion advocates wax on about how abortion is not a black and white issue, and that it’s a complex discussion with many variables to consider. But when we boil it down to its simplest form, we find that it is not complex at all. In fact, despite the emotionally-charged disagreements and ideologically-driven political debates, the bottom line when it comes to abortion is really quite simple.
It is the taking of an innocent life, and it should therefore be illegal.
Cullen Herout is a pro-life, pro-family writer. He has a passion for writing about life issues, Marriage, fatherhood, and creating a culture of life. Follow him on his new Facebook page at www.facebook.com/cullenheroutwriter.
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