The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Our Readers Speak

February 24, 2013

Our Readers Speak - Sunday, February 24, 2013

Speaking for the unborn children



We Americans often consider ourselves champions for those too weak or oppressed to stand up for basic rights clearly given and protected by a combination of natural and divine law. Our founders  recognized that God has given us all certain rights such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness which form the foundation of our liberties.  

One group forbidden to enjoy these fundamental rights is also the most helpless and the most forsaken in our society today, unborn children. They cannot speak in defense of their own cause.  

These children cannot tell you that even before birth, they deserve the same natural and divine rights enjoyed by those of us who were not aborted. A child in utero is recognized as a person under both state (WV Senate Bill 146, 2005) and federal (Unborn Victims of Violence Act) law as a legal victim separate from the mother if he or she is injured or killed during the commission of certain crimes.

This basic belief is also supported by God’s law which states that if an unborn child dies as a result of a blow to the mother, then a life for a life is required (Exodus 21:22).

These children cannot tell you that the Hyde Amendment does not prevent state funding of abortions, and that state Medicaid funds are being used to pay for those abortions. In 1993, the West Virginia Supreme Court ruled in Women’s Health Center, Inc. v Panepinto that our state must offer public Medicaid funding for abortions. West Virginia is one of only 15 states which require state tax money to pay for abortions.

These children cannot tell you that rape, incest and the health of the mother are not the only circumstances in our state under which a woman may qualify for a state funded abortion. Our state abortion policy is one of the most liberal in the United States and allows for “medically necessary” abortions for certain physical, emotional, familial, psychological, or age factors.  

Abraham Lincoln once stated that the Civil War was God’s judgment on our nation for slavery. These children cannot tell you what His judgment will be on us for taking their lives by the millions before they are able to enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.



Stephen M. Kirby

Fairdale

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