Abortion not a human right, but the right to life is

By Letter to the Editor on June 1, 2018.

Re: “It’s hard to make any sense of some arguments,” May 19

Thank you, Mo Cranker, for this opportunity to share my personal views on pro-life perspective.

Pro-life worldview is often faith-based. I believe in the God of the Bible, the Creator of all things. God made mankind in His own image (Gen. 1:27), breathed into Adam His own breath (Gen. 2:7), and mandated Adam to care for the earth and all its creatures (Genesis 1:26, 28). Pro-life work has always been about human beings; if humans are not thriving on the earth, the earth itself will suffer. God calls me to love my neighbour as I love myself (Lev. 19:18) and do to others as I would like them to do to me (Luke 6:31).

Abortion is the ending of a child’s life inside its mother’s body. That child is completely human, just not independent. The same is true of an astronaut in space, a new immigrant or a cellist in an orchestra. An unborn child is completely human, just not fully developed. The same is true of a newborn infant, a six-year-old or a teenager. Through a pro-life lens, an unborn child has the same value as any other human being. That is why pro-life advocates like myself ask that unborn children be given legal status as persons under the law in Canada.

Abortion impacts the life of the mother carrying the child. Post-abortive depression, sterility and peritonitis are just some of the risks associated with abortion. From the pro-life perspective, women’s health care in any circumstance should always include complete disclosure for associated health risks, available supports and alternatives. That is why most communities have pro-life prenatal, post-natal, adoption and post-abortive support services.

Abortion is not a human right. The right to life is.

The right to life applies to everyone, regardless of age or status, race or religion, ability or disability. That is why in the circumstance of suffering or terminal illness, the pro-life response is to offer effective palliative health care where death is neither hastened nor hindered. That is why pro-life citizens engage with government, to ask that health care dollars be assigned to real health care — not death — for suffering and vulnerable people.

I am only one person in a worldwide pro-life movement. Can we do better? Yes. We are imperfect people, but we work to bring life to people in our communities. People that we love.

Joyce Stigter

Medicine Hat

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