By Larry Craig

A reader to a local newspaper wrote a letter and raised the question of the rights of the unborn. Unfortunately, he never tried to answer the question. I will try.

Our nation is founded on two fundamental principles: 1) All people are created equal, meaning that nobody has a divine or inherent right to rule over other people. 2) God, our creator, has given human beings unalienable rights, rights that precede and supersede government, rights that the government did not give and that the government cannot take away.

These rights include the right to life.

The issue as regards the unborn is when do they get this right.

It seems to me that if we are even asking this question, then we are assuming we have the right to decide that. As if it is our right to give the child this right. Like we have a right to decide whether this child lives or dies.

Is it after the child fully exits his or her mother’s womb? Is that when the child receives the right to life? Sometimes babies are born during an abortion process, and they then let the child die.

What about during the process of birth? Does a child receive the right to life then? Many abortions are done at this time.

At what point before birth might this child receive this right to live? But again, why do we act as if it is our right to decide this?

This is where and why our country is so divided on this issue.

Our country was founded on the belief that human life was created by God and that He gave all people unalienable rights.

If people were not created by God but are merely the results of random and necessary chemical reactions, then life has no meaning or importance beyond what we choose to give it.

But the Bible, which used to be a major part of the public education in our country and is still regarded by a large majority of people in our country as God’s guide to life, speaks often of life before the womb and of people whose lives were chosen by God before they were born.

Is a child a restriction on a woman’s rights, or is it the greatest privilege that God can give to a human being? God created the first human beings, but now we create all the new ones. Beings in the image of God, we get to create them.

Having a child is like the king himself came to your house and told you that you have been chosen for a very special mission. You are being entrusted with the task of raising the next creation of God. You are to nurture and instruct this new living being in the wisdom of life.

The issue isn’t women’s rights. The issue is: What is this thing that we want so much to be able to kill?