Determining when life begins is simple

To the Editor:

If someone asked you for one picture of you -- one that best describes who you are -- what picture would you give them?

A picture of when you were in grade school? How about at your high school graduation? Your wedding picture? When you were awarded MVP?

Maybe a picture of you in your 30s surrounded your toddler and grade school children? Possibly a picture of when you received that big promotion.

How about a picture of you on your 50th, 60th, or 80th birthday?

What picture best describes you? How about a picture of you before you were born? With our technology today, ultrasound can give amazing pictures of an unborn baby. Each of these pictures represents us, don't they?

But every year there are noticeable changes in our appearance and in our bodies. It is a continuum of change from conception to death. There is no one picture of any of us that says "this is me."

Therefore, defining when life begins is simple.

Life is created at conception.

Because of our technology to see within the womb, abortionists tend to sweat and squirm. This is a technology they could have absolutely done without, and definitely one they do not want their prospective clients to have access to. If mom doesn't see the life within her, chances are greater she'll have an abortion.

Cha-ching! Money in the pocket!

Because a child cannot live on its own for several months after conception makes him or her no less a person. After birth, the baby still cannot survive without help.

Many elderly and disabled people cannot survive without the aid of someone else. Are they not considered human? Of course, they are.

So helplessness does not change the fact that an infant -- born or unborn -- is human life. An unborn child is a human being with the God-given right to live at any and all stages during the gestational period.

It is not simply a mass of tissue to be treated like a cancer. And according to our own Constitution "all men were created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

When is life created? At conception. And that life must be protected as written in our own Constitution.

Our president is going to push for the passing of the Freedom of Choice Act. This will nullify approximately 300 abortion laws at the state and federal levels. This includes Indiana's law to inform women considering an abortion of the availability of ultrasound imaging before they choose an abortion.

Minor girls can be taken across state line to have abortions without parental consent, but still have to have parental consent to take an aspirin at school.

How does this even make sense?

It's disturbing how our society devalues life. Do you understand what partial-birth abortion is? Do the research, because we will not get into the barbaric and inhumane details here. Most likely, the passing of FOCA will allow for partial-birth abortions in every state. Don't be ignorant. Do the research.

It is absolutely wrong to deny rights to one human so another can have theirs. This is allowed -- and accepted -- simply because one party does not have a voice that can be heard.

That's why there are pro-lifers: to give those whose lives are threatened a voice. They need to be heard. They deserve a continuum of life just as you and I.

They deserve 1st, 18th, 30th, and 80th birthdays.

They deserve to go to school, get married, and have dreams and goals, no less than you. Who has the right to take the life of another? Once we realize that God beautifully created the woman as a vessel to nurture and carry new life, a completely separate entity from Mom, maybe then we can appreciate the unborn as an individual with rights.

Think about this -- really think about this: The Bible talks about people not having natural affection, 2 Timothy 3:3. There's nothing natural about a mom wanting to end the life of her unborn child. There's nothing natural about others supporting her decision or of those performing the abortion.

According to God, all involved will be held accountable -- and in His eyes, silence is the same as acceptance.

Contact your legislators today. Visit Life Issues Institute online to sign the petition against FOCA. Be that needed voice and make it be heard.

Mike and Andi Williams, Reelsville

Kathy Mizner, Avon

Ben and Suzanne Close, Brazil

Jim and Michelle Foxworthy, Cloverdale

Nathan and Elise Kaiser, Brazil

Andy and Jodi Lohrman, Brazil

Jet and Dani Kaiser, Reelsville

Keith and Michelle Amstutz,

Fort Wayne

Linda Belcher, Coatesville