With the recent Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade and the pro-abortion proposal on the Michigan ballot this November, I am compelled to share factual information about the onset of human life, the abortion industry, the prolife movement and the content of Proposal 3.
If we follow the science, life begins at conception. At that moment, the baby is alive and entirely sep- arate from the mother with unique DNA. According to Right to Life
of Michigan, a baby’s heart begins beating at 21 days of gestation. At 20 weeks, this human is capable of feeling pain and can survive outside the womb at 21 weeks.
However, abortion providers have hidden and distorted these facts. The founder of Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider, also believed in eugenics, specifically targeting African American and mentally disabled people. While Planned Parenthood has denounced those beliefs, it appears those who are most often victims of abortion today are from the same groups that proponents of eugenics sought to control.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, African American women have a significantly higher abortion rate (23.8 per 1000 women of reproductive age) than that of Non-Hispanic Whites (6.6) and Hispanics (11.7). In the U.S., 38% of all reported abortions in 2019 were performed on Black women. Yet, they only make up about 13% of the total population, the CDC says.
Abortion profiteers like Planned Parenthood receive, on average, $500 million in taxpayers’ money to fund the killing of innocent babies. They also engage in human organ trafficking and the promotion of
a false image of women’s rights. American taxpayers — you and me — fund this “Culture of Death.”
The pro-life movement is the largest supporter of mothers and babies both during and after pregnancy. Pregnancy centers provide no-cost resources such as pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, diapers, clothing and adoption counseling, as well as prenatal and parenting classes.
Sadly, but predictably, a number of pro-abortion advocates have acted on their ignorance and hatred, vandalizing these centers for supporting life. Similarly, right here on campus, some students can’t stand seeing a positive pro-life chalk message on the sidewalk. So, they wash it away again and again. Their actions reflect a modified axiom: “freedom of speech for me, but not for thee.”
The foundational principles of the pro-life movement are: 1) It is wrong to intentionally kill an innocent hu- man being, 2) abortion intentionally kills an innocent human being and 3) therefore abortion is always wrong.
Declared in the Declaration of Independence and affirmed in the Constitution, we have a God-given moral and legal constitutional right to life regardless of the character- istics (sex, race, etc.) of the unborn child. God-given rights can never be dependent on the rights of another.
Voting NO on Michigan’s Proposal 3 is a step in the right direction in valuing human life. This proposal is branded as “reproductive freedom for all” and if passed would open
the doors to unlimited abortions and feed into this “Culture of Death.” The broad descriptions and ambig- uous language in the proposal could allow abortions up until and beyond the moment of birth, allow minors to undergo abortions without parental notification or consent, exempt abor– tion providers from health and safety regulations, allow people without a medical license to perform abortions and protect abortion providers in the cases where they injure or kill a woman during an abortion. This is the true nature and potential of Proposal 3. Vote NO on proposal 3 to preserve life and protect women.
Abortion is the intentional killing of an innocent life and can never be justified. People should not build their success on the killing of the most innocent and vulnerable in
our society. Babies can’t defend themselves.
We are obligated to protect these babies, “the least among us,” as the Jesuits proclaim. I kindly urge everyone to consider the truth of abortion and vote NO on Tuesday, Nov. 8.
Men, women and babies deserve better than abortion.
The author, Maria Baker, is in her final year of the 5-year MBA program and is the Secretary of the Protect Life Club on campus. If you wish to discuss this topic civilly and productively, are interested in fact sheets, or would like literature rec- ommendations, feel free to email her at bakermc1@udmercy.edu or reach out to the Protect Life Club.
