Abortion

Justice Blackmun, in the infamous Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion in all fifty states, said, “If this suggestion of personhood is established, [Jane Roe’s] case, of course, collapses, for the fetus’ right to life would then be guaranteed specifically by the [Fourteenth] Amendment.”

 A person is defined as “a human being.” Scientifically, it can be conclusively proven when a human being’s life begins. No point after conception (fertilization) makes us any more alive or any more human than the moment before. Life is a continuum of development, from fertilization until death. Even before the mother is aware that she is pregnant, a living human being with a measurable heartbeat and brain waves lives inside her womb.

 Morally, is it ever right for one class of people to legalize the slaughter of an entire class of weaker and more helpless human beings? According to America’s founders, our rights come from God and are inalienable; that is, they are inviolable and irrevocable, except for punishment for a crime.

 Moreover, abortion is harmful to women. Most of the scientific studies that have looked at the link between abortion and breast cancer have concluded that there is a significant link. Women who have an abortion have an increased risk of infertility, psychological problems, and premature delivery in future pregnancies.

 Many pro-lifers embrace a false dichotomy that until the federal government bans abortion and protects all preborn children, states must continue to let preborn children be slaughtered within their borders. However, the federal government has lawful authority in only three crimes: treason, pirating, and counterfeiting. Every other crime is outside of the lawful jurisdiction of the federal government. The federal government has no lawful authority over abortion, and certainly no authority to prevent the states from criminalizing abortion. The Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says that the powers not delegated to the federal government belong to the states or the people. Our representatives in Congress take an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution: they should keep their promise and cease from all funding and regulation of abortion, and they should limit the jurisdiction of the out-of-control judiciary on abortion, as Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution authorizes them.

 States should stop blaming Washington, D.C., for their reluctance to do justice within their own lawful jurisdiction. Our forefathers designed the federal government to be the servant of the states, not the master of the states. States should exercise their lawful sovereignty over abortion and criminal justice and nullify all federal efforts to regulate, fund, and justify the killing of preborn children. Many states have recently begun to do this through Personhood Amendments and legislation; those efforts should be supported. States should do justice to protect the innocent as their state constitutions authorize, especially those who remain upon the Earth due to governmental fiat. State leaders have an obligation to protect the God-given rights of all within their jurisdiction. 

Our personal beliefs aside, the right to life and the subject of abortion are critical issues best left to the states.  It is not the role of the federal government to dictate to the states when life begins or whether or not abortions are permitted. Whether determined by heartbeat, brainwave, or at the moment of conception, the states will and should make their own decisions on the sanctity of life.  The federal government must not usurp the sovereign power of the states in matters of life.