This essay was written by T.W., our first-place winner of the 9th and 10th graders Pro-Life Essay Contest.
Since we were children, our parents and the Catholic Church taught us to respect human
life. All through our childhood, we honored and kept that natural law and commandment. Now
we have grown up from our younger years, and participate in today’s politics and current news.
In this civilized society, we are told it is alright to abort an unborn baby. A baby is now
considered a hindrance, a burden, a parasite to women. What happened to protecting life? What
happened to this supposedly cultured society? Why are we killing life before it had the chance to
start? Life begins at conception. This is a fact deep down every human knows is true. A baby is
an individual no matter what stage of development. He or she is a human with rights that need to
be protected. At the stages when abortions are performed, it’s no longer about preferences—it’s
about moral principles. Bryan Kemper, the founder of Pro-Life Day of Silent Solidarity, said,
“Abortion does not end the life of a potential human being; it ends the life of an actual human
being with great potential.”
Life begins at conception. What exactly is life? By definition life is the quality that
distinguishes a vital and functional being from a dead body or an inanimate matter. In the womb
of an expectant mother, doesn’t the unborn baby exhibit factors necessary for life? At
conception, cells must divide regularly in order for the baby to grow. Is cell division not an
aspect of life? Does it not show the difference between life and death in a being? Christopher
Hitchens said, “In order to terminate a pregnancy, you have to still a heartbeat, switch off a
developing brain, and whatever the method, break some bones and rupture some organs.”
This is the reality of abortion, ending the life of a baby while vulnerable in a mother’s womb.
Science proves that an unborn baby is not only a human, but a completely different
individual. The unborn child has his or her own DNA and distinct body from the mother and the
father. From the moment of conception, a baby is its own original person, a human being. So if
this baby is a human just like us, why are his or her rights to life taken away in the blink of an
eye? This unborn baby is no different from us, he should also be given a chance to live. We all
have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—born and unborn. And because the
unborn have no voice, we must be that voice for them. We must protect their rights.
Family life is the foundation for all society, but with abortion happening left and right,
it’s hard to find any families. Abortion isn’t a preference, it’s about moral principles. In every
human soul, God placed the natural law. It’s unnatural for a mother to kill her child—born and
unborn. With abortion mills offering abortion up to birth, it makes one wonder how ethical this
“procedure” really is. It is illegal to kill a child, a teenager, or an adult, but somehow it is legal to
kill a newly born baby. Where is the morality? In this generation, there seems to be none. Babies
are being killed every day, there are almost no marriages, and families seem nonexistent. What
has happened to our civilized nation?
Abortion is an evil that can only be defeated with God’s help. As Christ said in
Matthew 17:20, “But this kind is not cast out but by prayer and fasting.” Abortion is that devil
that can only be driven out by prayer and fasting. Without God, we are helpless against this
ongoing war. Saline abortion survivor, Gianna Jessen says, “I speak not only for myself but for
the other survivors…and also those who cannot yet speak.”
We are the voice for the voiceless, the hero for the vulnerable. Let’s make abortion illegal! Let’s
put an end to the baby murder! May Our Lady of Guadalupe and Saint John the Baptist, patrons
of the Pro-Life movement, help us win this war.