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A landmark law on abortion was signed in Texas, USA, this past Wednesday. In what may seem like a play of words, Governor Greg Abbott signed a law that would prohibit abortion from as early as six weeks of pregnancy.
This was after it was scientifically shown a baby has viable heartbeats at six weeks. Pro-life movements have hailed the move as a breakthrough.
Abortionists however argue that six weeks is before some women may even know they are pregnant.
However, according to Governor Abbott, the Bill he signed into law was the outcome of a bipartisan state legislature. They had worked together to ensure the life of every unborn child with a heartbeat will be saved from ravages of abortion.
“Our creator endowed us with the right to life and yet millions of children lose that right every year because of abortion,” declared Abbott at the signing ceremony.
Whereas the law is now set to take effect in September, abortion rights advocates are not taking it lying down. They have vowed to challenge it in court.
According to analysts, this new law is a significant coup against pro-abortionists. It has dealt with some issues hitherto considered difficult. First is the fact that it has insulated the state or federal governments from legal suits.
In the new law, the responsibility for enforcement lies with the public. Thus, any person can sue an abortion provider or anyone who helps someone get an abortion after six weeks’ pregnancy.
Moreover, a litigant does not have to have any relationship with the person who procured an abortion.
Thus, it matters not whether the provider and the procurer of an abortion had mutually agreed to the procedure. The law simply prohibits abortions after a foetal heartbeat has been detected.
The second significant provision is that it includes cases in which a pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.
By all means this is perhaps the most controversial aspect of this new law. Cases of rape and incest have drawn mixed reactions in abortion debates, with even some diehard prolife advocates willing to cede ground in empathy and sympathy with the victims.
There has therefore been no united position from pro-life movements in cases of rape. For the abortionists, however, it has been the strongest ground for advocating legalising of abortion.
What is interesting, however, is that some rape victims or products of rape have come out to defend the right to life.
This is especially so because some of those born out of rape have gone on to become prominent persons. For example, a 16-year-old American high school student was defiled by her 33-year-old married neighbour. When she conceived, many pressured her to abort, but she insisted on keeping her baby.
The baby, Jesse Jackson, grew to become a renowned American political activist, Baptist Church minister, and politician. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as a shadow US Senator for Columbia from 1991 to 1997.
Similar stories are told of other prominent persons. Kelly Wright, a renowned former Fox News anchor, tells the moving story of the decision by his 16-year-old mother to give birth to him despite having conceived through rape.
Kelly says his mother always told him that God had a purpose for his life. Indeed, he became an award winning TV journalist, recording artist, speaker, producer, and author. Another TV celebrity, Faith Daniels, confesses that she was born to a 17-year-old mother who conceived her after a date rape.
These stories are certainly not meant to glorify, justify, or encourage the cruel and diabolical act of rape.
They however affirm the strong assertion by Faith Daniels that, “It really doesn’t matter how you were conceived, only what you ultimately become.”
No one knows what an unborn baby may become if given a chance. That is why the Texas law is so critical in preserving lives of the unborn. Let us give every baby a chance to find their purpose.
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