There are many causes today in which young people can and should be involved. However, the issue of abortion deserves our utmost attention.
In 1973, our country advanced the legalization of abortion on demand in all 9 months of pregnancy. Since this time, over 54 million pre-born children have been killed. Some were killed early on in their development and others moments before they could have been born. Some were killed because their mothers feared that they would not be able to take proper care of them. The majority of abortions (64%) are performed simply because the father does not want the baby or the woman is coerced by others. The reasons vary, but the end result is the same. The life of an innocent child is ended.
However, there is even greater cause to be concerned. Abortion does not kill only children; it also kills women. Women have died of legal and illegal abortions. Moreover, over 347 women have died from supposedly “safe and legal” abortions. For the most part, abortions today are medically “safe” for women. However, these procedures do have the potential to cause great trauma to the women. Many women who have had abortions say they regret them and suffer from Post-Abortion Syndrome. Regardless of safety and legality, abortions are always deadly for the child.
Abortion is not a women’s rights or reproductive rights issue. It is a human rights issue. This issue challenges our society to determine the values and rights of the most vulnerable among us. When we recognize abortion as a social justice issue, the discussion boils down to one question: Does a pre-born human being have the right to be born or not?
We believe that the pre-born human being is a person deserving the full legal protection of the law- just like you and I. He or she is a whole, living being who is intrinsically valuable. We believe that size, level of development, environment, and degree of dependency do not determine your personhood. You are a person because you are a living human being. You became a person the moment you were created- when your father’s sperm and mother’s ovum united.
Abortion is the greatest genocide that our world and our nation have ever known. We believe that a new generation of pro-life leaders must be educated, trained, and equipped with the tools that they need to abolish abortion once and for all. Our generation is the first since the handing down of the Supreme Court cases Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, which legalized abortion on demand in 1973. We are among the first to know that abortion kills a human person. We must continue this momentum to turn the tide in our lifetime, and that starts with you.
