By Judie Brown
The year 2018 has barely begun and already we see reports of preborn babies whose lives depend on whether or not the law in a particular state says they are viable. But the problem with this is that viability is negotiable. The idea of viability suggests that, if a person is viable, he should not be killed. Yet if he is not, the law will not protect him from murder.
How incredibly outrageous!
We see that the term viability is bandied about, but what does it mean? According to Merriam-Webster, viability is defined, in regard to the fetus, as “having attained such form and development of organs as to be normally capable of surviving outside the uterus.” A further definition also describes it as meaning “capable of growing or developing.” Thus, a law protecting preborn babies who are viable only concerns those who have reached some magical gestational age as defined by this law. This type of law can be circumnavigated, as we see in a Life News report that states that, in Ohio, where viability is established at 22 weeks, an abortion clinic tells an undercover caller it aborts babies up to 21 weeks and 6 days of age—one day prior to viability. Furthermore, a few years ago, Operation Rescue reported that abortion practitioners in Kansas were underestimating fetal age so that they would not have to comply with state law.
Yet what we have learned from David Daleiden’s undercover work is that Planned Parenthood conducts its baby body parts business no matter the age of the preborn child!
So, while fetal viability is a legal question and could stop some abortions, the concept is not the road map to ending abortion. And here is why!
The preborn baby starts growing the moment his life begins as a single cell embryo. He is not waiting around somewhere or vegetating for 22 weeks. He grows and matures constantly, and that is why, if he is left alone, he will prepare for birth around nine months of age. This is not only a scientific fact, but common sense. American Life League’s Culture of Life Studies Program teaches this to children beginning in kindergarten. The concept is not that hard to understand.
Viability on the other hand is an arbitrary point in time. Remember viability can be defined as “capable of growing and developing,” so if a baby is not growing and developing BEFORE so-called viability, what is he doing? Why aren’t we working to save babies no matter their stage of growth and development?
I am sick and tired of reading about pro-life goals that will never reach the point of actually saying in the law and in our culture that every preborn human being is a person—an individual member of the human family!
Let us resolve in 2018 to focus on the humanity of every preborn baby. We should never waste our dollars on hapless half-measures.
With your help we can do this. The babies—every one of them, not just the so-called viable ones—are counting on us.
To paraphrase Horton the elephant: A baby is a baby, no matter how small!
Thank you for helping us teach the truth.
