Posted on 10/11/2008 9:13:24 AM PDT by wagglebee
The question of when our rights begin has always brought us back to the fundamental question of when life begins. This is because we operate under the assumption that since "all men are created equal," if you are a person, you have rights.
Even Justice Blackmun, author of the Roe v. Wade decision, which created a woman's "constitutional right" to an abortion, recognized that this was the essential question: Is the child in the womb a person? He and the other justices who voted with him in Roe ultimately decided that the fetus was not a person, while still recognizing the "vigorous opposing views, even among physicians." But he wrote, "[i]f this suggestion of personhood is established, [Roe's] case, of course, collapses, for the fetus' right to life would then be guaranteed specifically by the [Fourteenth] Amendment."
This belief was evident to all Americans when, in August of 2002, President Bush signed into law the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act. This law guarantees that every infant born alive under any circumstance, including a failed abortion, enjoys full legal rights under the Constitution.
This was not a controversial bill by any means. It actually passed by a voice vote in the U.S. House of Representatives and by unanimous consent in the U.S. Senate. Everyone in Congress, and I dare say 99.99 percent of Americans, agree whatever their view on the right to abortion is, if a child is born alive he is a person and enjoys full legal rights under the Constitution. We can safely say that when a child is born, all questions about personhood cease, right?
Well, apparently not.
In a recent interview with Concerned Women for America, Jill Stanek, the registered-nurse-turned-whistleblower whose testimony propelled the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act into national law, exposed how Senator and Presidential Candidate Barack Obama (D-Illinois) actually voted against a state version of the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act four times while serving in the Illinois Senate. Here is the text of the Illinois bill:
AN ACT concerning infants who are born alive.
(a) In determining the meaning of any statute or of any rule, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative agencies of this State, the words "person", "human being", "child", and "individual" include every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive at any stage of development.
(b) As used in this Section, the term "born alive", with respect to a member of the species homo sapiens, means the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of that member, at any stage of development, who after that expulsion or extraction breathes or has a beating heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles, regardless of whether the umbilical cord has been cut and regardless of whether the expulsion or extraction occurs as a result of natural or induced labor, cesarean section, or induced abortion.
(c) A live child born as a result of an abortion shall be fully recognized as a human person and accorded immediate protection under the law.
Again, the bill applies only after a child is born. Why anyone would oppose giving that child rights is beyond comprehension.
But perhaps the August 16 Saddleback Forum with Pastor Rick Warren gives us a glimpse of Sen. Obama's mindset. Pastor Warren asked Sen. Obama the question directly: "At what point does a baby get human rights, in your view?" Sen. Obama struggled for the right words and then delivered an unbelievable and almost bizarre answer: "Well, I think that whether you are looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity, you know is, above my pay grade." (Click here for the video clip.)
Maybe Sen. Obama has not really thought the question through, since he believes it to be "above his pay grade." Then again, maybe he is confusing the question with the question of when life begins, but you would think that he could agree with the rest of the nation that when a baby is born, there is no longer any question. A thing was not born. A baby, a person, a human being was born. One of those who are "created equal."
In that regard, I hope that the recent reports that this question might surface in the next Presidential debate are true. Whatever political party you belong to, we all belong to the human race and no one should "struggle" with what to call a baby when he or she is born.
It's simple, Obama and his ilk don't give a damn about rights.
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Sarah was in Johnstown today bringing up the social issues the MSM doesn’t want you to hear.
Just wait and see what effects his viewpoint will have on the elderly and sich receiving mediacal care.
Just wait and see what effects his viewpoint will have on the elderly and sich receiving mediacal care.
Pro-lifers **must** do the following:
1) Comb through the voter registrations to look for suspect registrations. Have their attorneys challenge every one of them. Send out mailings today. Challenge any registrations that the postal service sends back marked with “addressee unknown”.
2) Before election notify **all** poll workers that if there is any suspect fraud their specific names and faces will be widely published through the conservative media.
3) On election day assign **aggressive** poll watchers, especially in precincts with a history of fraud. Ber prepared with video and cameras. Have attorneys prepared and ready to fight fraud on election day. Have volunteers at these polling places with literature and signs that notify all voters that fraud ( with names and faces) will be widely publicized.
4) After election, see that fraud is widely publicized, prosecuted, and **punished**.
Finally, pro-lifers and other PACs can do this. The Republicans can't without being smeared as racists. This will cause the Republicans to lose the election.
YouTube: OBAMA STORIES FOR KIDS #3 - Barack and Abortion
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2103141/posts
If Obama gets elected, America will die. It would be better to have never been conceived than to see what he will surely do.
Angel in the Waters -- New Pro-Life book for children [Tissue Alert]
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