Life

There are several reasons that I am voting for John McCain over Barack Obama. One of the most prominent reasons is on the issue of abortion.

I have always known that abortion was ending a human life, but I had been led to believe that this was due to my religious leanings. Since there's a separation of church and state, I was not allowed to think that abortion should be banned since not everyone believes it's murder.

Now that I'm an adult, I see the complexities of the issue, and it has only solidified my stance against abortion. There is indisputable evidence that an unborn child has unique DNA from the moment of conception. The child needs its mother during gestation to survive, but it is undeniably human. Thus, the question becomes not one of religion but of human rights. The government absolutely must be involved in the protection of human rights.

John McCain says that a baby gets human rights at the moment of conception. I agree with this statement. Barack Obama says that answering this question is "above his pay grade." I realize he was acknowledging the complexity of the situation, but it troubles me that he refuses to say when human rights should be granted. What he won't admit is the liberal agenda founded on the idea that a baby gets human rights when the mother chooses it. Life is only valuable and worth protecting if key people are happy about it.

Do you see where this is going? This isn't just about unborn babies. If other people, namely the government, are allowed to decide whose life is valuable and whose isn't, there will no longer be an age limit. And nationalized health care, as Obama prescribes, will exacerbate the problem. In Oregon, state medicaid won't pay for cancer treatments for terminal patients, but they will fund doctor-assisted suicide. The mayor of New Orleans offered a $1000 tax credit for poor women to be sterilized as well as tax incentives for more wealthy people to have children. Eugenics, anyone?

Abortion is not just about empowering women and giving them "choice." Abortion hurts women. The feminist movement would have us all believe that a young, perhaps poor woman should be able to do away with an unwanted pregnancy with ease and a clear conscience. What happens to that woman who goes through with the abortion and later regrets it? She later realizes the weight of the life she ended, the future she destroyed and must suffer in silence, for she was made to believe she was merely exercising her right to "choose."

Abortion does not affect only the impoverished. Abortion also befalls the inconvenient third and fourth child in a family that was only planning on two, for example. I absolutely can consider myself a survivor of the abortion movement. I know that my parents set out to have only two children. Luckily, they knew that life doesn't always go according to plan, and they accepted God's blessings. But their third and fourth children, me and my brother, would not be here today if they had simply decided they couldn't afford more children. My husband would have only one brother instead of three if the abortion movement had its way with his parents. Barack Obama himself might well have been aborted! I'm glad I'm here. I love my brother and brothers-in-law. And though I'm not a fan of Barack Obama, he definitely has the right to live.

We must promote a culture of life. Judges must not legislate from the bench. Their purpose is to interpret the Constitution, in keeping with the system of checks and balances. Roe v. Wade must be overturned. Every human life has value. John McCain, despite his shortcomings, understands that basic fact and Barack Obama does not.