Educating Women on the Real Choices Available
By Cong. Trent Franks (R-AZ)Jan. 22, 2012For almost 40 years, abortion on demand has placed over fifty million separate scars on America's soul. Each time after the death of their child, mothers were never quite the same. A nameless little baby died a tragic and lonely death, and all the gifts the child might have brought to humanity were lost forever. The United States Constitution guarantees to all the "right to life," Human life commences with fertilization, cloning, or its functional equivalent. Who else can state with exact certainty when a human life does or does not begin?I have made it one of my priorities in public office to fight for the end of abortion on demand. I believe that life begins at conception; that each life is given by our Creator. If all of this is true – and I believe with all my heart that it is – then our nation has engaged in the greatest genocide known to mankind on the history of this planet. I will not stand by and watch thousands of innocent babies slaughtered everyday simply because they are not wanted, or because they incur too large of a cost to society. These flawed arguments attempt to destroy all the good our country has stood for since the formation of the Union, and I will continue to tirelessly work for every innocent baby.In 1980, a man said these following words: “I've noticed that everybody that is for abortion has already been born.” That man was President Ronald Reagan – also a stalwart defender of innocent human life. If all those in favor of abortion would simply imagine what the world would be like if they were not in existence, they might strongly reconsider their position on the issue.In the meantime, before a challenge to Roe v Wade makes its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, we must instead do more to educate women about the choices they are making with the lives growing inside of them. If abortion is still to be accepted as a misguided outgrowth of a woman’s “choice,” then we should give the woman all of the resources necessary to make her “choice” in the most educationally sound way possibly. A woman considering abortion should be counseled that the biological form within her womb might be a living human being, and she should be informed that there are other places to take care of her baby once delivered. I am a strong supporter of requiring abortion clinics to take ultrasounds on the pregnant woman with intentions of showing her the results before she gives consent to the abortion. Congress must also allow for more research into the after-effects of an abortion – what happens mentally and physically to a woman after she gives consent to abort the fetus within her womb. Women need more information about abortion, and about the self-inflicted consequences they may face after an abortion is committed.I am very pleased that the House of Representatives cut funding to abortion-provider Planned Parenthood when debating this year’s budget proposal. Taxpayers should not be required to fund a family planning organization committing such heinous acts against fellow human beings. I also am a co-sponsor of H.R. 3, which would ban taxpayer funds from funding any abortions.On November 5, 2003, I was deeply honored to stand by President George W. Bush as he signed the Partial Birth Abortion Ban into law. The Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act is the most significant pro-life legislation since 1973, and makes it illegal in the United States for a physician to perform this barbaric, nightmarish procedure. This law was upheld by the United States Supreme Court in 2007 by a 5-4 decision.In the 111th Congress, I sponsored the Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act of 2009. This bill would have eliminated all abortions based on the sex or race of the child inside the womb. Many other countries have these laws on their books, and our country should definitely show its commitment to life by following suit. I plan to continue to re-introduce this legislation until it is passed through the Congress.Even though this bill and the partial birth abortion law would do little to protect the other 4,000 unborn children who die each day from abortion on demand, the unspeakable and far-reaching cost of diminished respect for innocent human life - born and unborn - now dawns in the hearts of more Americans than ever before. The winds of change have begun to blow, and there is brighter hope than ever for a day soon to come when the sunlight of life will break through the clouds and shine once again on the faces of America's children - even those in the womb— the most innocent and helpless of all.
