“Angel”

When Does Life Begin?

If we’re honest, let us concede for a moment that life begins at conception. The instant a seed finds and combines with an egg, a soul comes into being. So, if we are talking about institutionalizing the sanctity of life, we must do away with abortion altogether, except in the case of unviability. It is the moral choice.

But then what?

Few people have considered a world where all viable babies must be born, or face charges for murder. So, for the moment, let us put aside the legal challenges of making abortion a capital crime. Let us consider what a total ban on abortion might actually have to look like. When we think about all the babies being born that otherwise wouldn’t be, the question becomes, what do we do with all these children, many of whom are unwanted. The parents certainly are not prepared to raise them; why else would they consider such a desperate remedy as abortion? So once we’ve set up what is essentially a baby farm, who will provide financial and mental health support to birth parents, adoptive parents and adoptees and create an effective, efficient adoption process for all those with forced pregnancies? Simply banning abortion isn’t enough. Mainly because the sacred life we have guided into the world will more than likely suffer unjustly once it is born. And that is not morally acceptable or should not be. All efforts must therefore instead be made to protect and nurture that sacred life, before and after it is born.

Currently, those we shall call “pro-birthers” have no plan for what to do with a child once it is born, other than depending on the random kindnesses of the few private individuals and organizations willing to help, hoping for charity to take care of these “unwanted” children. And this is to the fatal flaw in the pro-birth movement.

Who Will Provide?

In a capitalist society the question always comes down to, “what’s in it for me?” Or in the case of a baby or a child, who cannot speak for themselves, what’s in it for them? Without an infrastructure that protects the rights of and provides necessities for the unborn, newly born, and indeed all children under age 18, the pro-birth movement is doomed to fail in its service to humanity and to God Himself. It is a moral imperative that a physical infrastructure must be in place which provides virtually all the needs the child will ever have. It simply is immoral for a society to force people to bring a child into the world and not provide for it. One could argue that it is immoral not to provide for all children, regardless of whether they arrive wanted or not. In fact, one could argue it is immoral for a society not to provide for its children, regardless of its position on abortion.

Certainly, all children born in a society that mandates a child’s birth must provide guaranteed healthcare. In fact, every child’s needs in a developed society must also become the responsibility of any state that would mandate childbirth. This includes healthcare, childcare, insurance, education (including college), a significant guaranteed income allowance for music lessons, soccer, and anything else a child or their caregivers might imagine wanting them to have and experience. The government that mandates pregnancy should also assign a designated child advocate social worker to work with caregivers to ensure all childhood needs are being met. In fact, why shouldn’t the government provide for the needs of all children, whether born under government mandate or through a planned birth? Don’t all children deserve equal opportunities and full equity.

Rights Inherently Come with Responsibilities

If this sounds like communism, it kind of is. But if the state can mandate the birth of a child, it most certainly is also its responsibility to provide for all their needs, regardless of the socio-economic status of its parents or whether the pregnancy was wanted or not. Until such a massive infrastructure is in place, there should be no more call for abortion bans. In a society that mandates all pregnancies, the notion of personal responsibility goes right out the window. The burden rightly falls on society to care for the children they have essentially forced into the world.