A person’s a person no matter how small

Unborn children also deserve the right to happiness

By Katie Crabb | gargoyle@flagler.edu

Hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens, tens of thousands of them young people, assembled in Washington, D.C., for the 36th annual March for Life last month.

It was my third year attending the event, and it was no less inspiring this time around.

This year there were more people ready to fight for life, even in light of a presidential administration hostile to our cause.

However, no matter who was in the White House, I still felt the strength to fight for a cause so close to my heart.

How could I not defend those children that have no voice to defend themselves?

The people around me possessed the same vigor I did. Signs sporting all sorts of different slogans, such as “A person’s a person no matter how small,” were found everywhere, and cheers and applause echoed through the air after each speaker.

The day following the march, President Obama signed an executive order lifting the so-called “Mexico City Policy,” which had prohibited aid from being given to international family planning organizations that performed abortions. It was quite a slap in the face to all of us who had gathered less than 24 hours earlier to rally for the lives of unborn children.

Obama pledged during his campaign to pass a piece of legislation known as the Freedom of Choice Act, which makes procuring an abortion easier than the Roe vs. Wade decision ever dreamed.

It’s been 36 years since seven men decided the fate of 50 million unborn children, and yet the FOCA threatens to undo any progress the country has made. This includes not only reducing the number of abortions, but also the hope that one day they won’t exist at all.

According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, if the FOCA is passed several things will happen. The ban on partial birth abortions will be lifted, which would give women the opportunity to abort their child at any time during the nine months. Also, parents would no longer have to sign a consent form for their minor daughters to have an abortion, therefore leaving parents completely out of the process. Doctors and hospital employees who are morally opposed to performing abortions will be forced to do so or risk losing their funding. Finally, and possibly worst of all, taxpayer money will be used to fund abortions.

Obama said in his inaugural speech, “The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit, to choose our better history, to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.”
Obama is right. All should be free to pursue happiness. And that includes the unborn.