NLA REVIEW	LIFE ISSUES ABORTION AND PUBLIC POLICY	Spring 1997

Many feel that the issue of abortion is a private one and has no place in politics. They feel that it is inappropriate for the government to legislate morality. I disagree.

While the government cannot legislate morality, clearly it should not condone immorality. True, it is far more important that we change the hearts of Americans than the laws of America.This can be done through prayer and increased public awareness of the gruesome facts connected with abortion.

However, our laws do reflect the morals and soul of our country. When slavery was abolished in the 1800's, our government was stating that no one has the right to own another human being (African-Americans previously were not considered legal persons) and thus we will no longer allow such conduct as it is inhumane, immoral and wrong. Now in the late 1900's our government must decide if someone has a right to destroy an unborn child or if doing such is inhumane, immoral or wrong. That is one of the roles of our government, i.e. to pass laws prohibiting certain conduct. We have passed laws prohibiting prostitution, the possession or sale of drugs and stealing. These are moral issues and only a few would argue that it is inappropriate for the government to intervene in these areas.

So what should our country's position be on abortion? Clearly, we as a nation have decided that it is wrong to kill an "unwanted child" after it is born. We have decided that a mother does not have a "choice" or "right" to do such. Regrettably President Clinton, by his veto of the bar on partial birth abortions, has indicated that his moral view is that it is appropriate to kill an "unwanted child" after it is literally partially born i.e. after its feet— which are extracted first—are outside of its mother.

Should a mother have a right or choice to kill an unborn "unwanted child"? To answer this question, we must initially focus on the unborn child and not on the mother as is frequently done. If we focused on the slave owner and his rights and desires and not on the slave and his/her rights, we might very well still have slavery today.

Is an unborn child a person? To answer this question, we should start with consideration of the following fetal development facts: an unborn child's heart is beating and pumping blood just 4 weeks after conception; at 6 weeks brain waves can be recorded; at 8 weeks it can feel pain, suck its thumb and grasp; at 2½ months the body is completely formed including fingerprints; and at 3 months all of the baby's organs are functioning and the baby breathes (fluid)—after this point nothing new develops and there is only growth in size and maturity.

After considering these and other facts the answer becomes obvious. Our society should not condone the destruction of the unborn child as it is alive—a life by any reasonable and sensible standard. A mother should not have a right or choice to destroy that life.