An open letter to abortion rights advocates

Dear abortion rights advocate:

I want to take this opportunity to introduce you to three precious human beings. These little people were born prematurely to a mother, Michele, who mourns the loss of her children. They lived only a short time outside of her womb. 

First, there are the twins, Nicholas and Sophia:

Nicholas

Sophia

Nicholas was born at nearly 16 weeks, and he lived for 55 documented minutes. Sophia was born 15 days later, at 18 weeks. She lived for 5 minutes. They were both loved and baptized.

Next, I'd like you to meet their brother, Alexander. Today is his birthday. He would have been two years old. He was born at 17 weeks, and he lived for 5 minutes. He was strong, and kicked against his father's hands. He, also, was loved and baptized.

Alexander

Now, dear abortion rights advocate, I know that you work very hard to make sure that children just like these are dehumanized and denied the right to life. 

And yet I wonder: Does it strike you as you look at their pictures that these tiny people are not "blobs of tissue"? I challenge you to look at these babies and then publicly (in the comment box) deny their humanity. Tell me, or tell their mother (who is reading this), that they had no human dignity and no right to life. Tell their mother that they are not her children.

Oh, wait.... You know that their mother loved them, so you would never publicly deny that they are her babies? It's only if she had not wanted them that they would go from being beloved children to being "products of conception"? If she had chosen to abort these very same little ones (that's what fetus means, you know, "little one"), you would have supported her right to have them dismembered, scraped out, and tossed in the trash as medical waste, correct? So, if I'm understanding you, it's "wantedness" that gives a human being value? Help me understand. 

Or perhaps you want to claim that these children (or those of like age and size) are a "part of the woman's body" and therefore not people? But hang on a second.... What about those fingers you see laying across Alexander's little chest and under his chin? Whose fingers are those? Are those his mother's fingers, or do those fingers belong to Alexander? They are attached to hands. Which are attached to wrists. And look at those ears, attached to a beautiful head! Whose body is that? Is it hard to say?

Well, what about Sophia's perfect nose and eyes, right there on her pretty face? And the elegant lines of Nicholas' fingers, arms, biceps? To whom do these parts belong? I know for a fact that their mother has her own fingers, her own nose, her own chin and eyes and ears and face and arms and biceps. You believe a woman has a right to control her own body, but are you sure these parts don't belong to someone else's body?

May I ask, do you see yourself as "more human" than they? Can there possibly be degrees of humanity? It seems to me that one group of people getting to determine the humanity of another group of people leads to, well, inhuman things. Check your history on that. And tell us why you get to determine who belongs in the human family and who does not. Do you call those shots because you are bigger and stronger than Nicholas, Sophia and Alexander? But that would mean that "might makes right" which makes you an oppressor of the weak. If not, show me how.

Oh, but you say that babies that age are not viable, and that they cannot live independently outside of their mother's womb. Their complete dependence on their mother makes them undeserving of human status. An interesting argument, but can you name any born baby who can live independently? Aren't all babies totally dependent on others? I haven't met one yet that isn't.

One day medical technology (maybe an artificial womb?) will be able to save babies as small as Nicholas, Sophia and Alexander. It's only a matter of time, and you and I both know it. What to do then, when the threshold of "viability" gets lower and lower? Will a baby attain human rights earlier, simply because technology is better? How does that work, exactly? Please explain.

Perhaps you think it's wrong to bring emotion to this debate by posting the pictures of these little lost babies. These are real pictures of real babies at a stage of human development when lives have no legal protection. When they are totally vulnerable and at your mercy. Looking at their pictures may bring up strong feelings. You bet it's emotional. I feel a lot of emotions when I look at these little ones and think of abortion. Remember, I've never said that emotions do not accompany truth, only that emotions do not determine truth.

It's true, dear abortion rights advocate, that I have asked a lot of questions. I want to hear your answers. Please answer even one or two, because I cannot wrap my mind around how you think as you do, and I want to understand.

Sincerely,

Leila

A note of profound gratitude to the babies' mother, Michele. No human being created will ever be the same as Nicholas, or Sophia, or Alexander. They were irreplaceable and unrepeatable, just like every baby lost either by natural causes or the violence of abortion. Nicholas, Sophia and Alexander never had a voice, but they are speaking loudly now.