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| 5-6 weeks in the womb |
Heather
Surovik was eight months pregnant when she was hit by a drunk driver. Brady, her 8 lbs. 2 oz. baby boy, was
killed. The family was devastated. At the time of the accident, Heather was on
her way home from her final prenatal doctor’s appointment and had just stopped
to purchase the last few things she would need for Brady’s nursery room. The driver was a repeat drunk driver and pled
guilty to related charges, but because Colorado law didn’t consider Brady a human
being, the driver was never prosecuted for Brady’s death. As a result, Heather launched an initiative
that has been called A Voice for Brady. On September 30, 2013, a
petition was filed to place a personhood amendment on the Colorado ballot
for the third time; 140,049 signatures were on it—an estimated 127.3% of the
necessary number! Personhood
USA and Colorado
Right to Life are backing up the initiative.
The proposed
amendment, Amendment
67, reads, “In the interest of the protection of pregnant mothers and their
unborn children from criminal offenses and negligent and wrongful acts, the
words ‘person’ and ‘child’ in the Colorado Criminal Code and the Colorado
Wrongful Death Act must include unborn human beings.”
The opposition to the Brady Amendment points
out that it will ban abortions and contraceptives and makes a variety of other
arguments, saying that Amendment 67 “goes too far.” Contrary to popular
pro-choice argument, Amendment 67 will not
ban contraceptives—devices
or drugs used to prevent pregnancy;
it simply protects the rights of children after
conception. The claim that mothers
would be arrested for miscarriage is pure fear-mongering: even in times and places where abortion has been illegal, never has a mother or a doctor been criminalized as a result of a miscarriage. They laugh at the idea that “eggs have
rights.” Abortion advocates dehumanize
them by referring to the youngest ones as “eggs,” but the Carnegie Institute’s Stages of Early Human Development says
that “the term ‘egg’ is best reserved for the breakfast table.” Such terminology takes the humanity away from
the tiniest children and makes it easier to kill them. Another key argument from the opposition is that personhood will hurt victims of rape and incest, but Colorado Right to Life explains
that “Abortion for incest emboldens a criminal to rape his young relative;
helps him escape being caught; tempts him to repeat his crime; and is not
compassionate because it kills a baby, fuels rape, and increases the woman’s
suffering.” You don’t kill a baby because
her father is a criminal! Legally speaking, nothing in Amendment 67, prevents pregnant mothers from receiving life-saving medical treatment, even when that treatment could result in the death of the unborn child. The amendment protects pregnant women and their unborn children from criminal acts such as drunk driving or murder.
Divert with me for a moment to the Fish and Wildlife
Services website, where it discusses the federal laws protecting
eagles. The punishment for destroying an
eagle egg is severe: a “fine of $5,000
or one year imprisonment with $10,000 or not more than two years in prison for
a second conviction. Felony convictions carry a maximum fine of $250,000 or two
years of imprisonment. The fine doubles for an organization. Rewards are
provided for information leading to arrest and conviction for violation of the
Act.” Destroying an eagles’ egg
is a federal offence, but killing an unborn human being is not? Is an unhatched baby eagle any more of an eagle than an unborn human being is a human being?
Colorado law prohibits the intentional killing of any innocent
person. Colorado Revised Statutes C.R.S. 18-3-102 (2013) states: “A person commits the crime of murder in the
first degree if, after deliberation and with the intent to cause the death of a person other than himself, he causes the
death of that person or of another person...”
PERSON ought to include the
unborn. If you have a strong stomach, Google keyword “abortion”
and click on “images.” I did it when I
was composing this post, and almost vomited at what I saw. There is no question in my mind: abortion is murder. Our founding fathers recognized that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” The Brady Amendment will be an
important breakthrough in the battle to protect life, and to give even the youngest Coloradans a chance to enjoy liberty and pursue happiness. Vote
YES on Amendment 67 and protect the tiniest children among us.
