JOHN CANNADY: When life starts is the question

In Carlton Fletcher’s column (“Hypocritical fight for the unborn,” May 1), he left out the most important issue and that is the reason the pro-life supporters are so passionate. To do that you must ask yourself the question as to when does human life begin. Within the framework of that question, there are three areas that apply — spiritually (biblical), medically (scientifically) and legally.

The Bible has little to say, but what it says is clear. In Jeremiah 1:4-5, God says that He knew us before He formed us in the womb. That means that we are each a unique individual with a unique identity before conception. In Luke 1: 39-44, Elizabeth’s baby, John the Baptist, reacted in her womb to the voice of Mary, pregnant with Jesus. There was spiritual awareness and life, as well as physical awareness between Elizabeth’s baby and Mary.

Medically, I believe science has been able to show that the baby in the womb is alive and human as far back as the moment of conception. Our daughter allowed us to see a 3D picture in the womb of our newest grandson at 18 weeks. I can assure you that it showed a human boy with normal human physical characteristics. In 1999, there was a picture taken in an operating room of a small arm and hand sticking out of the mother’s womb. The surgery was on a 21-week-old baby boy to correct a problem of spina bifida prior to birth. It sure looked like a human arm and hand to me.

Legally is the hard part. Isn’t it a shame that in our nation if someone wants you to live, that can be the sole determining factor as to whether you live or die? An unwanted baby in a mother’s womb can be killed while a baby that is wanted lives. I wonder if there will come a day when that rationale will be applied to those in the last stages of life. If that happens and you find yourself in that situation, maybe you will have a different view of the actions of passionate pro-lifers.

JOHN CANNADY

Baconton