Volume V, Issue II
Forty Years After Roe vs Wade, Where Are We Now?
This week the 'other' weekly news magazine celebrates the ruling of Roe vs Wade [click to read] forty years ago. Calling the ruling an 'epic victory,' they go on to lament the successes of the Pro-life movement in pushing back the wholesale slaughter of unborn babies. The truth is humanity may be the big loser in the overall devaluation of human life in the wake of the 1973 Supreme Court ruling.
Generally considered poor law by scholars [1.], Roe vs Wade finds its substance in a constructed 'right of privacy.' The problem might be seen this way: If I break a car window to rescue to free an overheated puppy on a very hot Summer day, have I infringed on the rights of the car owner? In theory, yes, but if I hadn't rescued the dog, a passing policeman might do the same thing. The overriding concern being the welfare of the poor creature trapped in the car.
What Roe ignores in supporting the privacy of the abortion seeker is the welfare of the unborn child, and any rights (Life, Liberty, etc.) that the child, as a unique human being might possess, thanks to our 'archaic' Constitution [2.]. Indeed, if I see a child falling from a balcony, the 'keep off the grass' sign and the fence are overruled by the facts of the situation. Indeed, I might be considered culpable if I did NOT trespass in this particular instance.
Abortion and the Devaluing of Human Life
Before Christmas an appalling crime occurred in a small town in Connecticut. The murder of six-year old children shocked most Americans. Killing innocent children is wrong. Most of us would agree. When a nine-year old child asks his Mother: “What is an abortion?” and she tries to explain, the child responds: “But, that means killing the baby.” The existence of abortion in the fabric of our culture has long range implications, and they do not bode well for a culture of respect for life [3.].
For forty years abortion has been given privileged protection (your child cannot have an aspirin at school without your consent, but the same school health system may schedule a 'confidential' abortion consultation for your child at Planned Parenthood) [4.]. Attempts to regulate abortion clinics in a manner similar to other medical facilities are regularly challenged. You will never see an abortion performed on educational television. In fact, pro-choice advocates regularly stonewall discussion of the very real issue of protecting preborn life.
I participated in a prayer vigil to silently protest the first abortion clinic built in the city where I lived in 1974. Now, forty years later, one must ask what the long-term consequences are. Occasionally a child survives the attempt to abort her. Gianna Jessen is one such person and though the failed abortion left her with a number of physical challenges, she regularly speaks on the issue of sanctity of life.
A Voice for Those Who Cannot Speak
Gianna Jessen survived an abortion. Now she speaks for the unborn.
She has been on Dr. Dobson's show to tell her story. Since the unborn cannot speak for themselves it is a powerful thing to hear from someone who wasn't supposed to live. Gianna Jessen does not quit. Giving up is not an option to her. Gianna has what she refers to as the "gift" of Cerebral Palsy. She weighed a mere 2 lbs at birth and the doctors said she would never be able to hold up her head, sit up, crawl or walk. She began to walk by the age of three years old with the help of leg braces and a walker.
Gianna is a Christian. Her life was given to her by the grace of God. She shouldn't be walking, but more miraculous still; she should not even be alive. Gianna's biological mother was 17 when she had a saline abortion in her third trimester. Many Americans don’t realize it is legal to have an abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy. After being burned alive for approximately 18 hours in the womb from the saline solution, Gianna was delivered alive in a Los Angeles County abortion clinic. Her medical records state, "born during saline abortion"...this is what caused her Cerebral Palsy.
