Two little boys celebrated their first birthdays this summer, one in Minnesota and one in Alabama – miles apart, but with similar stories. Both born at 21 weeks, Richard Hutchinson and Curtis Means were 131 and 132 days premature, respectively.
These tiny but resilient babies weighed just ounces when born, fitting into the palms of their mothers’ hands. They both surpassed all medical expectations and were recognized by the Guinness World Records as the most premature baby to survive; Curtis now holds the title.
Their stories, although record-worthy, are becoming more common as advancements in medicine move back the age at which a child can survive outside his or her mother’s womb. Similarly, advancements in technology confirm that a preborn child is a human being at the point of conception – not magically at 21 weeks – a fact discussed Wednesday at the Supreme Court.
This glimpse of early human life demonstrates its true beginning at fertilization when a baby becomes a unique individual with a gender, ethnicity, hair and eye color – among other traits – immediately determined. By nine weeks, a baby can suck their thumb and swallow.
As children, we were each dependent on others for our existence, our nourishment and our survival. Why should a preborn child’s physical dependency on his mother determine whether or not he is protected by law from the lethal violence of abortion?
Why should the court rule that life at 15 weeks is not a life worth saving, but that life at 20 weeks is? There is nothing “potential” about Richard’s humanity at 21 weeks, which existed since conception. Curtis’ life was no less valuable a few weeks before he was born. He was no less human just days before he took his first breath. And he is no more important now, on his first birthday, than he was the first moment he spent in his mother’s womb.
Richard, Curtis and others like them force abortion advocates to acknowledge an inconvenient truth: There is no difference between a 21-week-old baby born prematurely and one that remains inside his or her mother’s womb.
The degree of a child’s dependency does not determine his humanity. If anything, the more vulnerable a child is, the more legal protection they need and deserve.
So regardless of prematurity or “pre-viability” status, human infants, born or in-utero, should be entitled to protection by the same laws that protect the rest of us.
It’s time to trust the science and embrace life.
These tiny but resilient babies weighed just ounces when born, fitting into the palms of their mothers’ hands. They both surpassed all medical expectations and were recognized by the Guinness World Records as the most premature baby to survive; Curtis now holds the title.
Their stories, although record-worthy, are becoming more common as advancements in medicine move back the age at which a child can survive outside his or her mother’s womb. Similarly, advancements in technology confirm that a preborn child is a human being at the point of conception – not magically at 21 weeks – a fact discussed Wednesday at the Supreme Court.
This glimpse of early human life demonstrates its true beginning at fertilization when a baby becomes a unique individual with a gender, ethnicity, hair and eye color – among other traits – immediately determined. By nine weeks, a baby can suck their thumb and swallow.
Dependency doesn't negate humanity
Not only is it logically inconsistent and unscientific, but it is also immoral to use the arbitrary standard of viability to determine a child’s legal status and, ultimately, worth.As children, we were each dependent on others for our existence, our nourishment and our survival. Why should a preborn child’s physical dependency on his mother determine whether or not he is protected by law from the lethal violence of abortion?
Why should the court rule that life at 15 weeks is not a life worth saving, but that life at 20 weeks is? There is nothing “potential” about Richard’s humanity at 21 weeks, which existed since conception. Curtis’ life was no less valuable a few weeks before he was born. He was no less human just days before he took his first breath. And he is no more important now, on his first birthday, than he was the first moment he spent in his mother’s womb.
Richard, Curtis and others like them force abortion advocates to acknowledge an inconvenient truth: There is no difference between a 21-week-old baby born prematurely and one that remains inside his or her mother’s womb.
The degree of a child’s dependency does not determine his humanity. If anything, the more vulnerable a child is, the more legal protection they need and deserve.
So regardless of prematurity or “pre-viability” status, human infants, born or in-utero, should be entitled to protection by the same laws that protect the rest of us.
It’s time to trust the science and embrace life.
