By Joseph Lynch
The development of a preborn baby during the second trimester is fascinating! The baby goes from looking like an embryo to looking like what we think of when we think of a baby. The baby’s sex—boy or girl—becomes known and fingerprints and footprints develop. The baby’s lungs form, and his heartbeat can be heard on a stethoscope. By the end of the second trimester, the baby’s nervous system has formed, and the baby can respond to familiar voices. The baby can feel pain. We need people to see the humanity of a preborn baby, and we can only do that by talking about babies in a pro-life way, acting toward them in a pro-life way, and acting for them in a pro-life way.
How can we talk about babies in a pro-life way? If you know a newly expecting couple, instead of congratulating them on being a mother- and father-to-be, congratulate them on being a mother and father now. The way we talk about someone matters! If we talk about babies as if they are subhuman, we will start to think of them as subhuman. But if we talk about them as immortal souls, we will think of them as immortal souls.
Another way to help people understand the humanity of the preborn baby is to take classes. Justice For All gives free training sessions for people ages 12 and up on how to defend the preborn. You can take them online or in person. These classes can help people talk about preborn babies in a way that can influence someone not to have an abortion or just think differently on the subject.
Yet another way to help people understand the humanity of the preborn baby is to mourn a miscarried baby the same way you would a baby after birth. When a family miscarries a baby, you can support them by making them a meal, praying for them, having a Mass said for them, babysitting their children for them, and making them a card. The family themselves could have a memorial Mass offered and ask people to attend. If the baby was baptized while he was still alive, then they could and should have a funeral. Because of the baby’s humanity, we can still mourn for him even though we didn’t know him.
A preborn baby is as much person as you or I. A preborn baby should have the right to grow to maturity! To show that a preborn baby has humanity, we can talk about babies in a pro-life way, we can educate others, and if they die, we can mourn them like a fully grown child. Preborn babies need to be defended, cherished, and recognized as human beings!
Joseph Lynch won third place in the middle school category of the Culture of Life Studies Program’s 2024 Pro-Life Essay Contest.