The Quality Vs. The Sanctity Of Life

Story byCarolynSole

V^ n acold,snowy January day, 190LBC students traveled to Washington to join 26,000 people marching in opposition to one ofthemost important andcontroversial Supreme Court decisions ever

January 22, 1983,was the 10th anniversary oftheSupreme Court Roe vs. Wade decision on abortion The LBC Marching Band andthe Sounds ofLiberty accompanied the students and performed atthe rally in the mall area around the Washington Monument The marching band played "God Bless America," "America the Beautiful,"andanassortment of songs from its marching season.

Chuck Lowery,afreshman from Muskegon, Mich.,said,"Ifeltproud to bea part ofthe march It is aprivilegetohave apart in a concerted effort to change today's most ethical and political issues." Lowery was a percussionist inthemarch

The Sounds of Liberty sang selections from the"ILove America" rallies It was the second year both groups attendedthe march

Opinion on campus was strongly antiabortion.Brenda Wolff,a sophomore from Sidney, Mont., said, "Ithink itis a cruel and heartless waytoend ahelpless human life."

Another student said, "When a country has no respect for an innocent person's life,something iswrong."

In a letter which was read tothe audience at the march, President Reagan said, "This nation was founded by men and women who shared a strong moral vision of the great value ofeach and every individual The tragic United StatesSupreme Court decision which legalized 'abortion on demand' in 1973, severely tests ourmoral commitments."

Briefly, the 1973 decision states: "A State is forbidden to proscribe abortion anytime prior tobirth if,inthe opinionof one licensed physician,' anabortion is necessary topreserve the lifeorhealth of the mother."

The pro-abortionists feelthe embryohas no lifeand the mother has the right to do as shewishes with herown body.

According to information supplied by the Virginia Society forHuman Life, the baby is not partofthe woman's own body

It is aseparate human being with apersonality all its own

An important issue when dealing with the abortion debate is:When does life begin? "When the sperm andovum unite, a new being comes intoexistence containing within itself a unique genetic package completely programmed forcontinuing development into a mature adult. Nothing but time and nutrition will be added. Each stage ismerely a maturing of what is already thereatthe start. Birth only changes a baby's dining habits, airway and charm." (VSHL)

Joan McGuire, president of the VSHL in Tidewater, Va.,added, "Ifitisnot a baby, then why do you have tokill it?"

According toa VSHL publication, "At 18 days after conception the baby's heart starts to beat From this day forward, its heart will notstop its100,000 beats per day until death.

"At six weeks, movement begins, and human brain activity canbe recorded

"During the second month, the baby increases inmass 500 times but weighs only one gram, slightly less than anaspirin tablet.

"By theend ofthesecond month,the baby iscomplete indevelopment andonly has togrow.

"During thethird month, thebaby has reflexes,cansquint, frown and even look surprised.

"At theend ofthe third month,the baby weighs nine ounces. During the sixth month, thebaby weighs one pound and, with respiratory assistance, can live outside its mother's womb

"It's during the last month that the growth rate slows down Ifitcontinued at the same rate, thebaby would weigh 200 pounds before its first birthday."

According toMcGuire, the rate of abortions hasbeen on therise.Fifteen million babies were aborted during the past ten years, one-and-a-half million last year nationally and 3,000-4,000 in the Common-

wealth of Virginia

The method most often used is suction This can domore harm tothe mother than carrying the baby to term would do A strong vacuum, about seven times stronger than a household vacuum cleaner, sucks thebaby from its mother's womb This can cause bleeding, infection, and even infertility

McGuire said, "Themother is normally told of the dangers if she asks,andthenit is referred toas a simple procedure The truth of the matter is, more mothers' deaths are related toabortions than childbirth."

Another way the doctors perform the abortions iswith thesalt-poisoning method The doctor injects a concentrated amount of salt into the baby's sac For hours, the burning baby fights to live Twenty-four hours later the mother sometimes delivers a dead baby Other times the baby isleftto die without anymedical assistance, butthis does nothave to be

There arealternatives to abortion, the most obvious being adoption There is no shortage ofcouples who would loveto give a baby a good home

There areorganizations such as Birthright and Save-a-Baby who help take care of the expenses ifa mother wishes to put her baby up for adoption.

Yet the problem of abortion raceson, undeterred "Themost important thingis to get people educated Let them know that their taxdollars go tosupport agencies that have abortion clinics," said McGuire

"The second thing is towrite letters to Congressmen and Senators and to keep writing them until this stops," sheadded

The unborn areoften compared to the blacks in1857,whounder the Dred Scott decision were said tohave no rights, and to the Jews whounder Hitler were ruthlessly killed

Isabortion the same as the holocaust or the Dred Scott decision? Isthisafair comparison? Ponder the words of George Santayana and draw your own conclusion. "Those who donot remember the past are condemned toreliveit."

Opinion on campus was strongly anti-abortion. At the •—h. 190 students ventured out In the snow to their opposition.