John Sheda

Two weeks ago, my wife and I attended a funeral of a six month old baby girl. Her name was Brittany Rose. On the funeral leaflet that shared all her pertinent information were also copies of her beautiful footprints and hand prints. Brittany Rose weighed .62 pounds and measured eight inches long. She was still inside the womb of her mother when she died.

For the matter of legal record, Brittany Rose was not a human being–yet. Her legal and Constitutional rights status were still several months away. Of course she had all her organs functioning, albeit weakly to be sure. She had beatuful eyes, a cute little nose, (I was told this by her mother and father), and she had her very own set of fingerprints. Yet in the eyes of our United States legal system, she had absolutely no rights at all.

The only question here is this; Was Brittany Rose a human being, as any reader of this column is, or wasn’t she? A month earlier, Brittany began having some serious complications and it was the strong suggestion by the medical staff at her hospital to terminate the pregnancy. Thank God, Brittany’s mother said, “NO.” In fact she said something to the effect of “protecting her precious child, whether she was inside the womb or outside the womb.” That’s the way mothers think.

The funeral celebrated the life of Brittany Rose. It wasn’t a long life, but a life none the less. How anyone could possible say that Brittany Rose was less of a human life than any of us is beyond comprehension, at least in my opinion? Was she less of a human being one month earlier? Two months earlier, three, four, five or even six? If she was not a real live human life from the “get-go,” when was she? Or wasn’t she yet?

Someone asked me several years ago why America was having the trouble she was having. I thought for a moment and then stated, “We have legalized the killing of human life.” And our country, (unlike every other country in the world), was founded on Godly, religious and faith principles. Check out our Founding Fathers thoughts on this. Legal killing is not part of these principles.

So there are two indisputable facts-and they are indisputable:

1. Life begins at conception. Everyone knows this. Even those who think and argue otherwise know it. Because they cannot answer the simplest question; if life doesn’t begin at conception, when EXACTLY does life begin? The law says birth. You know you don’t believe that at all.

2. Here’s the tough one. If you vote for people that vote “pro-choice” than you ARE PRO-CHOICE. It again really is that simple.

That’s The Way I See It. Love to hear your thoughts at jsheda@indytel.com or give me a call at 319.327.4640. RIP Brittany Rose, still born at 6 months.