Respect for Life

The deepest question beneath the abortion debate is not finally technological or political. It is anthropological: Who is man? The answer we give determines not only how we regard the unborn child, but how we regard every human being whose abilities, independence or social usefulness are diminished.

On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress adopted a document containing perhaps the most consequential sentence in American political history: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Nearly 250 years later, America is still wrestling with the reach of those words.

Imagine that you are a physician in 1776. A woman comes to you and says, “Doctor, I think I may be pregnant.” What can you do? There is no pregnancy test, blood test, hCG test, ultrasound or fetal monitor

Long before any child learns to say “I,” the foundations of a distinct sense of self begin to emerge. The unborn child is not simply a part of his mother’s body, but a distinct human being, developing within and dependent upon her.