by Jessica Elisabeth, age 13
In the fast approaching election, the shaky state of the economy has taken precedence over another important issue: whether a mother has the right to choose an abortion, or whether an unborn baby has a right to life.
Who should decide—the government or the individual? The Declaration of Independence states that every American has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Certainly, we can and should exercise our liberty, but not in a way that infringes on the liberty of another human being.
For example, Americans have the right to keep and bear arms. However, if you shoot someone, that exercise of your liberty has violated another’s right to life. This is why there is a law against murder. The whole purpose of government is to prevent people from misusing their liberty and depriving other people of theirs.
When a woman aborts her baby, the implications are far reaching. Not only does she suffer personally, her choice affects how society views life and living things. When the government allows abortion, it is equivalent to putting a price tag on the value of human life.
Abortion is based on the claim that the mother has the right to choose because it is her body. But if an unborn baby is a human being, it is the government’s responsibility to protect him or her. Individual rights must always be subordinate to greater principles, one of which is life.
Science proves that from the moment of conception, the baby possesses his or her entire DNA. Around twenty days, the baby’s heart starts beating. By ten weeks, the fingernails have begun to form, and the baby even frowns. This tiny baby can feel pain three months into the pregnancy.
Yet since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, abortion has claimed the lives of over 48 million innocent babies in the United States alone, according to National Right to Life. To put it into perspective, that’s more than thirteen times the population of Oregon.
At a political action conference in 2008, John McCain stated, “I am pro-life and an advocate for the Rights of Man everywhere in the world, because to be denied liberty is an offense to nature and nature’s Creator. I will never waver in that conviction.”
During an interview with evangelist Rick Warren, Barack Obama was asked at what point a baby gets human rights. His response was: “… answering that question with specificity is above my pay grade.” At a town hall meeting in March, Obama said, “If [my daughters] make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.”
Obama voted three times against the Infant Born Alive Protection Act because he was concerned it would jeopardize Roe v. Wade. His support of the proposed Freedom of Choice Act would reverse almost every state and federal limitation on abortion.
In her race for governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin affirmed: “I am pro-life. . . I believe that no matter what mistakes we make as a society, we cannot condone ending another life.”
Before you vote, consider whether the decision to protect life is a choice or a duty. If those forty-eight million babies could cast their ballots from Heaven, for whom would they be voting?
Jessica Glaser is a homeschooled thirteen-year-old. She enjoys history, playing the harp, and being an aunt. Her article was originally published in the Democrat Herald.
I’m impressed, Jessica!
You article is very compelling and factual…
Keep writing…you are definitely going to touch people with your words!
~Emily
Awesome post, Jessica!
I just read this beautiful quote from the late Congressman Henry Hyde today:
When the time comes as it surely will, when we face that awesome moment, the final judgment, I’ve often thought, as Fulton Sheen wrote, that it is a terrible moment of loneliness. You have no advocates, you are there alone standing before God and a terror will rip through your soul like nothing you can imagine. But I really think that those in the pro-life movement will not be alone. I think there will be a chorus of voices that have never been heard in this world but are heard beautifully and clearly in the next world and they will plead for everyone who has been in this movement. They will say to God, “Spare him because he loved us,” and God will look at you and say not, “Did you succeed?” but “Did you try?”
God knows that I fail Him on a daily basis, but it gives me comfort to know that this election I’ve not failed those countless innocents, and that on my judgment day I will have some advocates very dear to God.
Jessica, your writing is clear and compelling – you definitely have a talent! I enjoyed your article and agree whole-heartedly with the points you’ve made. Keep it up! (Maybe you’ll take over big sister Gretchen’s place on here someday!)
Excellently put, Jessica. Thank you for using your voice to make an impact, even while you can’t yet with your vote.
And, I must say… “punished with a baby”????!!!! I hadn’t heard that quote. I suppose it’s better to punish the innocent baby with execution?
Oh, my. The title of this post is especially haunting. I pray that our nation will turn to the Lord and repent of shedding the blood of the most fragile and vulnerable among us.
Jessica, absolutely true! And if we took this into account, there really could be only one way people would vote comes Tuesday!
Good job, Jessica…I’d be incredibly proud if our 13 year olds could write like that. Maybe there’s hope, I recently bought some “Excellence in Writing” material and they love it. When a couple 12, 13, 14 years old can sit thru an instruction writing video, it must be good!
Have you by chance seen the video clips where Rick Warren ask the two presidential candidates the question when they think life begins? They are posted in Randy Alcorn’s blog and they are quite…revealing! Obama stutters his way thru it. He later accused McCain of having known the questions to the Rick Warren interview before-hand…go figure!
But help me out here, what does “above my pay grade grade mean?” Is it a figure of speech or some political term?
lisa