In the wake of the overturn of Roe v. Wade, the debate surrounding abortion has taken center stage, with advocates of abortion rights arguing that it’s a matter of “human rights.” You don’t have to look far to see this slogan: “Women’s rights are human rights.” 

Is abortion a woman’s right? Is it a human right? Before answering that question, we must first consider the definition of human rights. 

What Are Human Rights?

Human rights are the bedrock of our values, ensuring that every individual is entitled to fundamental rights and freedoms regardless of their background. It’s about the right to live, to be free, and to pursue happiness. It’s also about protecting every person from torture or cruel treatment and ensuring equal recognition before the law. Human rights encompass the very essence of what it means to be human.

Yet, there’s a growing movement that includes abortion in the list of human rights. Their rationale is that pregnancy poses life-threatening risks to women and that abortion is the savior. They paint pregnancy as a dangerous and vulnerable state, insisting that, without access to abortion, women will suffer and even die. 

But is pregnancy truly as life-threatening as they claim?

Let’s start by turning to the experts. If abortion indeed poses substantial risks to the well-being and survival of women, one would logically expect obstetricians and gynecologists (OB-GYNs), as specialists in women’s health, to be at the forefront of advocating for and conducting such procedures.

Interestingly, most of them do not perform abortions. This raises an important question – if pregnancy is so life-threatening, why are the very experts who deal with it every day not endorsing abortion?

Did You Know…?

  • “9 out of 10 OB-GYNs will not perform an abortion when requested by their patients.” That statistic alone should dispel the false assertion that abortion is necessary for women’s health care.
  • Medical procedures are often performed on babies while they are still in the womb. Preborn babies are alive and can receive and deserve healing as much as their mothers.
  • Very few women die from pregnancy, childbirth, or related complications. In the United States, the vast majority of pregnant women survive their pregnancy. It is always devastating when a mother dies. And a viable preborn baby dies 100% of the time during an abortion procedure.

Here’s the Thing About Human Rights

Perhaps the most crucial reason abortion can never be considered a human right is that, by definition, human rights are meant to apply to *all* humans. Human rights offer no protection or help if they don’t also protect the weakest and most vulnerable.

You might say… But aren’t preborn babies just a clump of cells? I didn’t think they were human yet.

While this viewpoint is incredibly prevalent, it is not even seriously considered in academic circles anymore. Even staunch pro-abortion biologists have admitted that preborn babies are just as human as you or I – even from conception!

What does this mean? It means that if we consider abortion a human right, we place ourselves in the role of deciding who does and who does not qualify as a human being, despite scientific evidence as stated above. If a preborn baby is obviously a human being, then following the path of choosing which humans do and do not get to receive human rights is a treacherous and dangerous one. 

It seems that our country has a questionable history when it comes to deciding who and who is not human ‘enough’ to receive ‘human rights’.

Endorsing abortion as a human right suggests that some people have the power to harm the lives of others because they believe they need to do so. This notion directly contradicts the core values of human rights, which should uplift and protect all individuals, regardless of their stage or position of life.

We Believe in the Value and Dignity of All life

Psalm 139 says, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb… My frame was not hidden from you when I was made… Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

At Choices, we believe that all life is sacred and worth protecting. We invite you to contact us today if you are facing an unwanted pregnancy. You have options! You have people who care about you and are ready to come alongside you, advocate for you, and help you every step of the way.