Although it is disheartening that there is not currently much legal protection for the lives of the unborn, there have been some positive developments in recent years that may be helping to promote a culture of life.
For example, there are now 36 states in which it is recognized that killing an unborn child is homicide [1].
Additionally, there are 22 states that consider nonfatal assaults on the lives of the unborn to be criminal acts [2].
However, with legalized abortion, it is obviously only considered homicide when the person taking the unborn life is someone doing it against the mother’s wishes.
If you find the philosophy in these laws to be somewhat inconsistent (allowing abortion, but criminalizing violence against the unborn in other situations), you are by no means alone.
Because it is now a widely recognized fact that conception marks the beginning of a human life, it is now the responsibility of our political leaders to take the lead and push for greater protections for these unborn lives.
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References
[1] Americans United for Life. (2008). Defending Life 2008. AUL: 198
[2] Ibid
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