In determining what to write about for this, my 100th Dnevnik column, I was given a great opportunity by the Government’s proposed recent law on the restriction of abortions. To me this was a sign that I should comment on the subject of something almost all of us appreciate: life.
Life is precious. I hope we can all agree on that. While the lives of many are touched by such things as physical and mental disabilities, those same lives can be a blessing to others, especially their family, friends and caregivers. The lives of others may be touched by other hardships – not enough to eat, for instance – but I firmly believe that most people agree that life is important and worth living.
Except when it comes to those not yet born. Too many people (and here I mean not only Macedonia and America but around the world), believe that the unborn have no rights. The most vulnerable among us, the unborn, do not have a say in the matter. That is why it is vital that we, those who have been born, speak up for them.
Here is what I believe: the moment a human sperm and egg join together at conception, there is a human life, fully deserving of all of the rights of humans who have been born.
According to Balkan Insight and other media outlets, there were immediate protests after the government announced its new package of laws restricting abortion. With banners that declared ‘My body, my decision” among others, individuals proclaimed their “right” to abortion.
While I am all for “women’s rights,” especially over their own body, I need to point out: the unborn baby in the womb is a completely separate and distinct human being. It is medical science and a fact. The late American judge Robert Bork explains it this way: “The male sperm and the female egg each contains twenty-three chromosomes. Upon fertilization, a single cell results containing forty-six chromosomes, which is what all humans have, including, of course, the mother and the father. But the new organism’s forty-six chromosomes are in a different combination from those of either parent; the new organism is unique. It is not an organ of the mother’s body but a different individual. This cell produces specifically human proteins and enzymes from the beginning. Its chromosomes will heavily influence its destiny until the day of its death, whether that death is at the age of ninety or one month after conception….It is impossible to draw a line anywhere after the moment of fertilization and say that before this point the creature is not human but after this point it is.”
So to say “my body, my decision” is disingenuous. The fertilized egg is fully human…just because it is not yet a recognizable human baby at conception is not relevant. Those on the pro-abortion side are simply attempting to define what it means to be human. And that is a dangerous road to travel for more than just the abortion issue.
Here is the crux of the issue: For those seeking abortion the vast majority do so for convenience – their own convenience. This is at the heart of the abortion debate – that the vast majority of women seeking an abortion do so because they simply do not want the baby for a variety of reasons: lack of finances, they are not ready to raise a child, the grandparents don’t want the grandbaby, they are not physically able, etc. And they are all based on the convenience of the woman (I should point out that many times the father also participates in the decision to abort the baby for many of the same reasons and frankly, shouldn’t the father have a say in the decision as well?). The vast majority of abortions – around the world – occur because it would be inconvenient to the mother and oftentimes the father. And so we kill the innocent for convenience.
Those of us who value the life of the unborn need to bring the argument back to the basics: that it is a human life from conception and that abortion deprives that human of his or her life. The pro-abortion side has done an excellent public relations job of attempting to change the argument by changing the language to “reproductive rights,” “choice,” and “women’s health,” but the fact remains, from conception, it is a separate human being who should be afforded all of the same rights governments give to those who are already born.
One of my problems with joining groups like the EU is that they will force upon Macedonia their version of morality which, as far as I can see, is no morality at all. This goes for abortion, gay marriage, gay adoption, the death penalty, you name it. The EU, as an institution, shed whatever vestiges of morality it might have had a long time ago and it will, should Macedonia join, attempt to reverse any gains Macedonia makes in putting restrictions on the taking the life of the innocent unborn.
Until then, we need to educate everyone about the fact, proven by medical science, that life begins from the moment of conception and that human life is precious and worth celebrating.