I Am Pro-Life

Image courtesy of Jonathan Fitch
at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

It might surprise many who know me well to find this out. I'm the last name that would come out of your mouth when asked who your "pro-life" friends are. But I am, and I'm here to set the record straight.

I am pro the lives of the tens of thousands of civilians being killed in Syria. I am pro the lives of those trying desperately to flee, willing to accept anything just so they and their children have a chance to not die. I believe that anyone who is pro-life should be trying to assist these people, who already go through a rigorous, almost impossible-to-pass screening process. Here's a church that is doing so. Many Christian leaders believe that helping Syrian refugees is the Christian thing to do.

I am pro the lives of individuals in poverty. I am aware that the health of impoverished Americans is much worse than that of Americans who are not impoverished. I am particularly troubled by the fact that poverty is a huge factor in both maternal and infant mortality. Because a 40-hour work week at the minimum wage is not enough to raise a person above the poverty line, I support a minimum wage increase.

I am pro the lives of people who become ill, or who are in an accident, or who suffer from the inequities mentioned in the previous paragraph, and become bankrupted by medical costs. Therefore I support a single-payer healthcare system like every other civilized country in the entire world.

I am pro the lives of all those unjustly murdered. In particular, I am pro the lives of individuals, mostly young black men, being killed by police for minor crimes or for nothing at all.

I believe everyone has a basic right to live, and that right forfeited only in the rarest of circumstances where one autonomous individual is about to immediately cause the death of another and the death of the first individual is the only way to stop that. I don't believe that it's my place, or any other mortal's place to decide to kill someone for any other reason. Because I am pro-life, I am against the death penalty.

I don't draw a species line, by the way. I used the term "autonomous individual" in the previous paragraph; it defines precisely whom I believe has the inalienable right to life. Autonomous individuals include dogs, pigs, turkeys, fish, cows and so forth. Because I am pro-life, I am vegan.

And to be an "autonomous individual," one must be born. More specifically, one cannot be dependent on a host for life itself. If a being is dependent on its host for life itself, then its existence is at the pleasure of the host.

I am pro the life of the wanted unborn child being hosted by a parent who is enthusiastic about an upcoming birth.

I am pro the life of the thirteen-year-old rape victim who would rather commit suicide than give birth to her rapist's baby.

I am pro-life.