By Brittany Jones, Esq., policy manager for Family Policy Alliance®
Our American conscience has been living in conflict for quite a while. Culture wants to advance women’s rights—but only until any man can claim to be a woman. Culture wants every person to be free to “be who they want to be”—but not if they want to be a follower of Jesus Christ.
And then there’s the right to life—in which we see the biggest contradictions of all. Some states have laws that give rights and benefits to preborn children from the moment of conception. Yet, in many states those same children could be legally aborted. The inconsistency should be glaringly obvious, but the Supreme Court of Alabama is one of the few to recognize it.
In a sad case where a father shot his wife and their preborn child, the Supreme Court of Alabama recognized that the child who died in his mother’s womb was a unique person according to state law. The Court therefore concluded that the father did not just kill one person, his wife, but he killed two people. In the concurring opinion, Justice Parker noted that the “only major area in which unborn children are denied legal protection is abortion, and that denial is only because of the dictates of Roe.” He called on the Supreme Court of the United States to end the aberration of law known as Roe and to consistently protect life.
Much of the Justices’ reasoning was based on the number of states and the number of laws that specifically protect children before they are born. For example, some states have laws that make it a crime to harm a pregnant mother and cause the death of the preborn child, even if the mother lives. States like Alabama consider it a double murder to kill a mother and her preborn child. In some states, parents can recover civil damages if their baby is harmed or killed while inside the womb by another person. Preborn children can also have rights in their family’s property – they can inherit from a family member if that family member passes away before they are born.
Yet, because of Roe v. Wade, these states are forced to allow the same child to be aborted.
As states continue to grow the list of rights that are recognized for a child in the womb, this contradiction will become even more stark. State policymakers who pass laws recognizing the humanity of preborn babies are helping make a critical point in our laws and culture—and may ultimately be the force that brings about the demise of Roe v. Wade.
At our sister Foundation’s Statesmen Academy®, we train Christian lawmakers in how to think about these issues, stand strong on principle, and to write and support the kind of laws that will ultimately end the reign of Roe v. Wade in our country. As this year draws to a close, please consider a gift to the tax-exempt Family Policy Foundation®, to train and equip Christian legislators to protect the humanity of preborn children.
You can meet one of these prolife, Christian lawmakers who attended the Statesmen Academy, Senator Patricia Rucker from West Virginia. Senator Rucker is originally from Venezuela, and she is now an amazing leader for life, families, and religious freedom.
For Life,
Brittany Jones, Esq.
Policy Manager
