That is a straw man. It is the authority to make laws that goes back to the states not the "power of Life" which is a bogus phrase anyway. The government at both the federal and state levels has the authority to "deprive of life" under certain specific conditions that are spelled out in the Constitution. Since abortion could not possibly fit those conditions under a fair reading of the Constitution this paranoia about states being able to legalize abortion without redress or remedy is just the handwringing of sheep and would-be statists.
I disagree. Laws describing penalties for preforming abortions are certainly Constitutional. Laws legalizing abortions are *not*, as they fall afoul of the very premise for which our government was established.
Likewise, states may write laws describing capital punishment for crimes- These are Constitutional, and are the state's by right, providing there is due process. A state cannot give itself the power to kill it's citizens without cause- That is prevented by the Constitution. It is the same thing.
Life is one of the enumerated unalienable rights which stand above the power of all governments. Our government was formed to protect those rights above all other things. You are correct that the government can take life under specific conditions, and ONLY under specific conditions.
That is the point. There is no right given to any level of government which does not specifically require due process of law (with the exception of war). As an American, your government is prevented from killing you without due process. Equally importantly, no person may take your life without just cause. That boils down to your unalienable right to exist, which no one has the right to preempt (without due process / just cause) except for your Creator.
Since abortion could not possibly fit those conditions under a fair reading of the Constitution this paranoia about states being able to legalize abortion without redress or remedy is just the handwringing of sheep and would-be statists.
I resent that misrepresentation. I am not a statist. I am a federalist. I am not advocating a slew of federal laws, nor am I advocating federal enforcement squads. Murder penalties are dealt with severally at the state level, as are most crimes, as would criminal prosecution of abortion.
What I insist upon, and as you, yourself, said, is a "proper reading of the Constitution", but in the light of the Declaration of Independence, and within the scope of the greater Judeo-Christian ethic, as it was meant to be, and as it was established.
What I propose does not take the prosecution away from the states, but only defines the parameters federally, as is proper. Namely, It would be illegal everywhere in these United States to perform abortions on the grounds that it is above the powers of the state, and above the powers of the federal government, to allow the purposeful taking of human life *at all* without due process or just cause.
What is so very important in this issue is this: If government is given power over these unalienable rights, that means that government will invariably decide it has the power to determine who to delegate those right to, and who to take them from. That is what governments do. As long as God is the Arbiter of unalienable rights, it is beyond the scope of government to do anything but protect those rights, and leaves government without the power to exercise power over them.
That is the very basis and root of our freedom FRiend. I give nothing to the federal government, or the state. I take it away from them all, and put it in the Hands of God, where it rightfully belongs, as the wisdom of our fathers so perfectly handed it down to us.