#Prolife Alert: How MLK’s Dream Applies to the Unborn

Dr. Martin Luther King had a dream that the United States would “make real the promises of democracy.” In 1963, he stood up against oppression, racism, and the unequal treatment of black people iwhen he shared his great dreams with his many followers.

The following year, the U.S. government passed Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to protect people from workplace discrimination based on their race, ethnicity, or skin color. The march to eliminating judgments based on the content of one’s character over the color of one’s skin was finally gaining momentum.

Around the same time, a different march for sexual freedom had begun as people partied at festivals such as Woodstock, advocating for sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Popular music artist Stephen Stills capitalized on the trend with his song: “If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with.”

Feminists began pushing for widely available and legal contraception and legalized abortions, so the government caved. In 1967, Colorado became the first state to make legal the right to an abortion in cases of rape or incest or if the pregnancy would lead to a permanent physical disability.  Other states followed suit, In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Constitution protects a women’s liberty to have an abortion prior to viability when the fetus could survive outside of the mother’s womb. The Supreme Court also stipulated states’ rights to make post-viability determinations. Most states ban abortions after “viability” or at 20 weeks, yet some, such as Oregon, Colorado, Hawaii, New Mexico, Vermont, New Hampshire, and New Jersey have “no limit” on the timing of the abortion.

The Supreme Court erred in 1973 by recognizing one human’s liberty to the detriment of another human’s life.     

This is an image from WebMD of a baby at 20 weeks:

Human Rights

We live under laws in Western societies that are designed to elevate the individual over the collective and to respect and appreciate human rights for all. The U.S. Declaration of Independence states that “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Our founding fathers were wise to state that all men are created equal, rather than born equal, as the latter could suggest that personhood begins upon birth. Rather, human life begins when the egg and sperm cell meet at fertilization.

1. All human life begins at conception. Denying that is denying science.

2. Upon creation, all humans have the unalienable right to life.

3. Unborn humans have the unalienable right to life.

Attempts to dehumanize people to legitimize egregious and immoral acts against them have littered our history.  Recall the Jews in Nazi Germany or the slaves in the antebellum period. If MLK were alive today, he’d be fighting by our side for the lives of the world’s most innocent. He would be horrified to find that thousands more black babies are aborted in New York City than are born each year.[1] The most dangerous place for a black person to be in NYC is inside of the womb.

Abortion is an abomination against God, who told us in Jeremiah 1:5 that before He formed us in the womb, He knew us. Rather than turning our backs on God, let’s turn back to God. He loves. He forgives. And He wants the best for us.

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[1] Riley, J.L. (2018). Let’s talk about the black abortion rate. In New York City, thousands more black babies are aborted each year than born alive. Wall Street Journal, July 10.

Thank you for your time.

• S.J. Thomason