Photo: Adobe Stock
Op-ed by Samantha Flom
In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Today, those words ring truer than they have in nearly half a century thanks to the Supreme Court’s recent overturning of Roe v. Wade.
In holding that the Constitution does not confer a right to an abortion, the court has not only returned the issue of abortion to the states but also realigned the country with its most essential founding principle: the belief that every human being, from the moment of their creation, has a God-given right to live and be free.
Now, it is time to formally recognize that right.
In the 49 years since Roe was decided, the United States has come a long way on its continuous path toward self-improvement. In truth, the voices of the formerly oppressed or downtrodden have never held more weight than they do today as our modern society strives to ensure every voice is heard – every voice, that is, save those of the most vulnerable among us: the unborn.
In fact, as other groups have become more enfranchised over time, the rights of the unborn have been increasingly restricted under Roe as the availability of abortion has expanded.
For instance, as recently as May, Democrats in Congress attempted to force through radical legislation that would have created an unlimited right to abortion for any reason up until the moment of birth.
Further, according to Axios, there are many places in the United States where this is already the case, including Alaska, Colorado, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont and Washington, D.C.
This is the human rights atrocity of our time.
With the reversal of Roe, the Supreme Court has taken a step toward rectifying this injustice. However, the court stopped short of answering the one question that must be answered if the United States is ever to achieve its stated goal of “liberty and justice for all.”
Is there a constitutional right to life?
I believe the answer to that question is woven into the very fabric of the Constitution itself, for how can there be a right to free speech, religion, the bearing of arms or, indeed, any rights at all if there is not first a guaranteed right to exist?
Without life, all other so-called “rights” are meaningless.
As the legal battles over abortion are far from over, the Supreme Court will undoubtedly have another opportunity to lay this issue to rest once and for all. When that day comes, I pray the sitting justices will have the strength and courage to acknowledge what Jefferson declared so eloquently, which is that before the pursuit of happiness and even freedom itself must come the unalienable and most essential right to life.