Choose Life

Life begins at conception. Currently our laws do not protect the constitutional rights of our unborn children! I cannot comprehend why the law states that if a person were to murder a pregnant woman, he or she can be charged with the death of both the mother and the baby; yet a mother for any reason she chooses can enter a doctor’s office and terminate a pregnancy without consequence! The logic there does not make any sense to me. The government should have a minimal role in our lives, but one of these roles must be to protect those who cannot protect themselves.

There are many reasons why I am pro-life, but let me start with the main reason. I was a prime candidate for abortion. My mother gave birth to me one month after her seventeenth birthday. She lived in Hampden (Baltimore City), was poor, had no high school diploma, and was fighting the temptation of drugs. Things were spiraling out of control quickly. She did not make the easy decision and hide from the difficulties of having a child. She fought to get her life on the right track so I could have all of the opportunities she never had. She went back to school, got her G.E.D., and even attended college. She made sure I focused on my schoolwork and used sports to keep me off the streets and give me a drive to succeed.

Did you know that as a Maryland taxpayer you are paying for abortions every day? Through Medicare, the state of Maryland spends more than $2 million on 4,000 abortions annually. In Maryland, medical facilities are not required to report abortion statistics, and at the end of 2005, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene stopped recording abortion statistics. According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, there were 38,077 abortions in the state of Maryland in 2005. That is 104 abortions in Maryland every day!

When my daughters were born almost three years ago, I had no idea of the love a parent could feel for a child. The thought of a person terminating a pregnancy is terribly troubling to me. The argument is often made that a woman has the right to choose. With the exception of the varying degrees of rape, a choice was made. A person does not have the right to take a life just because they do not like the result of that choice. President Reagan once said “I've noticed that everybody that is for abortion has already been born.” Life is precious and it is time that our government stands up for the unborn.

They say the world has become too complex for simple answers. They are wrong. There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.—Ronald Reagan