Apparently, we are at a point in society, according to an article by CJ Taylor, recently printed in The Salt Lake Tribune, where encouraging a woman to keep her unborn child is a punishment.
She makes the claim, as many others have done before, that because single mothers exist in society, children living in these homes must not be valued. But what makes children valuable? The fact that they have two parents? Their economic situation? Their potential to do good in the world?
These things reflect outside circumstances. If value were based on the things that happened outside of us, everyone’s value would be relative. Taylor’s claim that all children must be born into loving, ideal circumstances before we value the unborn is a callous and hierarchical way of looking at humanity.
There are numerous cases in our past where millions of lives have ended because some people decided which groups of humans were more valuable than others. Today, millions of unborn babies die every year because of this line of thinking. Human value is intrinsic and less-than-ideal circumstances do not negate a child’s value as a human being.
She then goes on to claim that not only does society not value them, but they give them no outside education or support. Besides the fact that I have seen countless members of my community in Salt Lake City give of their time and resources to help single mothers, we can simply do a Google search, “organizations that support single mothers in Utah” that yields an extensive list of programs designed specifically to support single mothers and their children. The Pregnancy Resource Center, WIC, Headstart, the Utah Family Unemployment program, state education grants, Utah CHIP (health insurance) and Utah Legal Services are just a few. And this is just in Utah.
Perhaps we can agree on one point—Taylor calls for accurate medical information to be given to women. It is one of the main concerns of the pro-life movement to get accurate medical information into the hands of women. This is, in part, due to the fact that many women feel they have been lied to by the abortion industry, specifically regarding fetal development.
The facts, backed by medical science, are that babies have a heartbeat six weeks after conception. They have a brain, a spine, legs, arms and every other vital organ they will need 8-9 weeks after conception, not to mention, completely unique DNA like no other human has or ever will have. If this is not a human life, then what is it?
Her last point, that “society should not interfere or determine what is right,” has no logical claim. Society decides what is right and wrong in many instances, which is why we have laws.
This system isn’t always perfect, but we know that it is part of society’s role to decide what it will and will not allow. And when a human being’s rights are being trampled on, it is society’s job to stand up and “interfere.” Everyday, unborn babies are being deprived of the most basic human right: life.
So, as pro-lifers, we will continue to interfere by fighting for the rights of the unborn, and for women — giving them the help and strength they need to raise their children, to see them as blessings, not burdens, and as people, not punishments.
Leah Allred
Leah Allred, Riverton, is a wife and mother of four who also works and writes for the pro-life movement.