Banning abortion is not enough: unborns must be citizens!

Since I still don't have my regular computer back, and my present computing is slow, I just thought I'd put forward some thoughts rather than comment on news stories-- news stories can be slow to load and a pain to link under the circumstances.

I have said it before, and I will say it again: criminalizing abortion is not enough. It will never be enough. Why? Because abortion is an act. Acts can be legalized or criminalized according to the regime.

What needs to be accomplished is the recognition of the unborn child as an equal citizen. Right now, the UN is trying to get many countries to legalize abortion.

How is that even conscienable? For one thing, even though life is protected in these countries unborns are not-- obviously. Because you seriously cannot consider an unborn child an equal, then turn around and take his right to life away.

Malta is gearing up to take that step. It realizes that it is up against incredible pressure, so it is attempting to modify its constitution to acknowledge that unborn children are citizens-- with the overwhelming support of its citizens.

I find it interesting that the United Nations is so gung-ho on legalizing abortion, when its own Declaration on the Rights of the Child says that there must be no discrimination against the child on the basis of birth status.

This agreement remains a dead letter, but really, pro-lifers should be reminding the U.N. of its obligations towards the child, as member countries signed that declaration.

What we really need to help the unborn child is a civil rights movement for the child, not a politcal movement to criminalize abortion. I believe that the pro-life movement must get away from the anti-abortion rhetoric and towards a civil rights rhetoric in respect to the unborn child. I do think the elites of the pro-life movement understand that it's not enough to be anti-abortion, but I feel that there are still many grassroots pro-lifers out there who still frame the debate in terms of the morality of abortion, not in terms of the legal recognition of the unborn child.

When we emphasize the unborn child, his humanity, his place in our families, his abilities, his social recognition, his intrinsic worth, he wins. Just look at the states. We don't need to talk a lot about morality (although we can) and we don't need to appeal to any particular religious doctrine to make our point. Just show the unborn child, give the facts, and show what people REALLY feel about him. When people realize he is just as human as we are, they will grant him social and legal recognition and eventually citizenship. We've complained too long that the media doesn't do our bidding, but now we live in the age of the internet, where anyone with a computer and a phone line and put out his ideas.

We don't have that excuse any more. We can do it ourselves. The question is: are pro-lifers ready to do it?