By Joseph Enzler, M.A. student
This year, I attended the 47th annual March for Life. It was not my first time attending, as I have been going since high school, however, it was my first time arriving at 9 am to get close to the stage. This semester I am interning with Susan B. Anthony list, one of the largest Pro Life lobby firms in the area, so I was asked to meet my coworkers downtown early so that we could handout signs to the people arriving for the rally. Although I waited quite some time for the rally to begin, it was all worth it when President Donald J. Trump promulgated the Truth for the whole nation to observe.
The rally was an incredible experience. Never has the President of the United States attended the March for Life, “…to defend the right of every child, born and unborn, to fulfill their God given potential.” The truth that was uttered by our commander and chief, truly inspired me to continue my efforts in the fight for life. The purported “fundamental issue” at the heart of the abortion debate is whether an unborn child’s life is valuable. It seems that no one would dispute that a child in the womb will eventually reach maturity, provided his/her development is left unhindered. I also believe no one would reasonably argue that a fully developed human being, no matter what race or gender, has less rights than another. So why then do some believe that rights begin at birth and not at conception? Why do they begin at birth and not at maturity? Are children afforded the same rights as adults? Ought they be?
All these questions are at the core of the Master of Arts in Human Rights, which I am currently pursuing. While I have yet to uncover all the answers, I know enough that when the President stated, “all of us here today understand an eternal truth: every child is a precious and sacred gift from God,” he was not stating his opinion but stating the Eternal Law as understood by reason, promulgated by the Natural, Divine, and Human Laws. The Truth of the matter is that laws should never promote evils which threaten the common good of society. In fact, Aquinas defined a law as “an ordinance of reason promulgated by an authority for the sake of the common good.” A Supreme Court decision mandating that abortion be permitted nationwide, is neither an ordinance of reason nor is it for the sake of the common good; therefore, it must be corrected through Human Law. It is here that one can begin to comprehend the truism: lex iniusta non lex est.
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