Letter to the editor: Unborn Americans have right to life

Our Declaration of Independence states that it is a self-evident truth that our rights are endowed by our creator. First among these rights is the right to live. The Fifth and the 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution likewise protect life, liberty and property from government actions by requiring “due process” before any action can be taken against these rights.

The Constitution doesn’t say when any American is guaranteed their rights, but no one can disagree that it is a birthright.

Abortion activists claim that a woman’s right to chose, i.e. her liberty, is of a higher priority than the right to live. The question is: When does a fetus become an American with all the rights bestowed upon its citizenship?

Reproductive rights end when a sperm and egg fuse into an human embryo. After that, the process is one of production and no longer reproduction.

So when abortion advocates argue that the government can’t tell them what they can do with their bodies, it is a true statement. But women’s reproductive rights are not at issue when the unborn American’s rights are at risk.

Science tells us that unborn babies can feel pain at 15 weeks. Protecting unborn Americans after that is a reasonable secular compromise between these competing rights even though our creator disagrees.

The only exceptions would be to save the life of the mother, rape or incest. There is no legitimate reason to use abortion as a wedge issue in elections. Desperate Democrats disagree.

Dr. Bill Choby

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