{"id":238333,"date":"2021-01-19T13:43:14","date_gmt":"2021-01-19T19:43:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=238333"},"modified":"2021-01-19T01:35:22","modified_gmt":"2021-01-19T07:35:22","slug":"abortion-cannot-human-right-kills-beings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/abortion-cannot-human-right-kills-beings\/","title":{"rendered":"Abortion cannot be a human right because it kills human beings"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(Pregnancy Help News<\/a>)\u00a0You\u2019ve seen the photos of protestors holding signs at pro-abortion women\u2019s marches. You\u2019ve read the slogans about reproductive rights, ranging from straightforward to clever to angry.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve heard sentiments like, \u201cIf you don\u2019t have a uterus, you have no say about abortion.\u201d\u00a0One common slogan is \u201cwomen\u2019s rights are human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Technically, I couldn\u2019t agree more with this statement. Women have been oppressed and marginalized for most of history in most of the world.\u00a0That\u2019s why I rejoice when I see wonderful work like what is happening in India to help stop female gendercide<\/a>. \u00a0I celebrate when I hear of progress in eliminating the gruesome ritual of female \u201ccircumcision\u201d in African countries (a euphemism which cloaks the brutal reality of this butchery).\u00a0I seek to encourage younger women to pursue higher education and leadership roles and to use their God-given intellect and talent to help change the world.<\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0The right to life is the most important human right of all<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

When women are empowered, entire nations reap the benefits.\u00a0According to God\u2019s Word, women are created in the image of God just as men are.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.\u201d<\/em> \u2013Genesis 1:27<\/p>\n

I believe women\u2019s rights are indeed human rights.\u00a0However, I disagree that abortion is a right to which women are entitled.\u00a0<\/b>Here\u2019s why:\u00a0Merriam-Websters dictionary defines human rights as \u201ca right that is believed to belong justifiably to every person.\u201d\u00a0In any discussion of human rights, imbalances of power and resulting injustices must be addressed.<\/p>\n

Take slavery in our nation\u2019s history, for example.<\/p>\n

This egregious injustice lasted for generations and was only rectified after civil war (though we still have much work to do for racial justice\u2014something MLK Day helps us remember).\u00a0White slave owners thought they had a right to own Black human beings. They saw this as the natural order of things. They even backed up the notion by misusing Scripture! Eventually, slaveholders had to relinquish their power and give slaves their freedom, because enslaving fellow human beings was never a legitimate \u201cright\u201d in the first place.<\/p>\n

The principle? When one group of people benefits from an unjust advantage over another group, human rights are violated.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s where the abortion issue gets sticky.\u00a0Abortion advocates spin a narrative which generally pits men against women.\u00a0(Yes, there are plenty of pro-abortion men and life-affirming women, but this discussion is about who is the victim in an unplanned pregnancy situation.)<\/p>\n

Women want to have free agency over their own bodies\u2014so goes the argument\u2014and men should not be in a position of power to tell them what to do with their reproductive organs.\u00a0In this narrative, the people seeking to wield power are male, and the more vulnerable parties are female.\u00a0Since men should not be given power over women or be able to take away their rights, the thinking goes, injustice must be rectified by protecting the right of women to have abortions.<\/p>\n

That would be sound reasoning based on what human rights are and how they work\u2014IF all the players were taken into consideration<\/em>.\u00a0But when a woman faces an unplanned pregnancy and is considering abortion, who is the most vulnerable person in that scenario? Who is the victim?<\/p>\n

Is it the woman?\u00a0No, it is not.<\/p>\n

The most vulnerable person in this equation, the one with the greatest need for the protection of his or her human rights, is the preborn child.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s where abortion advocates get it wrong.\u00a0The moment you claim that your group gets to enjoy a human right at the expense of another group<\/em>, you are no longer talking about human rights.\u00a0You are simply demanding power over a people group different from your own.<\/p>\n

When a woman decides on an abortion, she is not merely exercising her human right to make reproductive choices.\u00a0Rather, she is using her power and agency to violate her baby\u2019s most fundamental right\u2014the right to live.\u00a0That\u2019s the true narrative here.<\/p>\n