In her Nov. 17 column, Alicia Ebaugh stated she believes “our values of ‘liberty and justice for all’ don’t allow for obligatory motherhood.” I believe these same values do not allow for the termination of innocent life.

I understand people may feel they’re not ready for parenthood. But does that mean that human lives are only worthy of our protection when they are wanted by their biological mothers? If so, I would be very frightened if I were an orphaned child.

Almost as alarming as this logic are Alicia’s comments suggesting that being a parent does not entail responsibility. She seems to disagree that women have a responsibility to carry through with pregnancies created through consensual acts. But if an unborn child is in fact human, what kind of an argument is this? Are we now saying parents do not have a responsibility to provide for their children simply because they are physically taxing on a mother’s body? Now we’re not only trampling on the rights of orphans, we’re giving justifications for child negligence.

I’m not a political person, and I’m not participating in an “anti-woman backlash.” All I’m arguing for is the right for innocent people to live. To me, the scariest part of our country is that I actually have to make this argument. If someone like Alicia doesn’t agree with how President Bush is handling foreign and domestic policies on reproduction, good for them. But the fact of the matter is, although Bush may or may not be correct in his methods, his ideas are correct so long as we hold dear the idea that innocent life does not deserve to be knowingly and willingly ended.

The fundamental idea behind abortion is flawed because, in all other cases, we do not allow the active taking of innocent life, especially for the convenience of another as is the case with abortion. If Alicia truly believes America is a great nation because it places high value on our inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, then she needs to stop being hypocritical and apply those values to all of America’s human inhabitants, not making exceptions for women and what their perception of the pursuit of happiness is by allowing them to kill their children.

Jason Iwig

Senior

Elementary Education