Click or Tap Icons to Share! Thank you!

Authored By  :
Published On :
Last Updated :

NOTE: This article or series has not been updated recently. As such, it may possibly contain some outdated information, and/or ideas and beliefs which I no longer embrace, or which have changed to some degree.



As I concluded in part one, a fundamental right is simply a right that finds its origin in the US Constitution, or that's implied by the Constitution, according to the interpretation of the U.S. Supreme Court. Some of the rights which the court views as being fundamental rights are the following:

- The right to life.

- The right to freedom of movement.

- The right to own property.

- The right to marry.

- The right to procreate.

- The right to raise children free from unnecessary governmental interference.

- The right to freedom of association.

- The right to freedom of expression.

- The right to equal treatment or equal protection before the law (fair legal procedures).

- The right to freedom of thought.

- The right to religious belief.

- The right to choose when and where to acquire formal education.

- The right to pursue happiness.

- The right to vote.

- The right to freedom of contract.

Now, let me ask you something. Abortion is obviously not a right which finds its origin in the U.S. Constitution as per the previous definition. In other words, going by the first condition, abortion is not a fundamental right. That being the case, how did the Supreme Court arrive at the conclusion that abortion is implied in the Constitution? In the United States, most fundamental rights can be found in the Bill of Rights. The U.S. Bill of Rights is comprised of the first Ten Amendments to the Constitution, which are the following:

1st Amendment : Includes the Establishment Clause, Free Exercise Clause; freedom of speech, of the press, and of assembly; right to petition.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

2nd Amendment : Protects the right to keep and bear arms.

"A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

3rd Amendment : Protects citizens from the quartering of troops.

"No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law."

4th Amendment : Offers protection from unreasonable search and seizure.

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

5th Amendment : due process, double jeopardy, self-incrimination, and eminent domain.

"No person shall be held to answer for any capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."

6th Amendment : Covers trial by jury and the rights of the accused; Confrontation Clause, speedy trial, public trial, right to counsel

"In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district where in the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense."

7th Amendment : Protects civil trial by jury.

"In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law."

8th Amendment : Covers the prohibition of excessive bail, and cruel and unusual punishment.

"Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."

9th Amendment : Covers the protection of rights not specifically enumerated in the U.S. Bill of Rights.

"The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."

10th Amendment : Regarding powers of states and people.

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people."

Okay, it is quiz time again. Did you happen to notice that ugly word "abortion" listed in any of those Ten Amendments? Well, you are not alone, because I didn't either; and that is where the problem lies. There are also some fundamental rights which the U.S. Supreme Court has legally recognized, that are not actually enumerated in the U.S. Constitution, or more specifically, in the Bill of Rights. These include the following:

- The right to interstate travel.
- The right to marriage.
- The right to privacy.
- The right to procreation.

Sadly, on January 22, 1973, the supposedly wise justices who sit on the U.S. Supreme Court, added the right to obtain an abortion to the above short list of recognized fundamental rights. What in the world were they thinking, and how could they possibly arrive at such a terrible conclusion? The way that it happened is simply this: Justice Harry Blackmun and six other justices, embracing a very liberal interpretation of the Bill of Rights, determined that the "right of privacy . . . is broad enough to encompass a woman's decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy"; and that, tragically, is how the Roe v Wade ruling became the deadly instrument for legalizing abortion throughout the United States of America.

Ever since that historic determination was made, many legal experts have argued that it was a poor ruling that was based on an extremely weak interpretation of the US Constitution. While I myself am no legal expert and have never studied law, I must concur with their opinion. Yet despite their protests, the right to obtain an abortion has endured for thirty-six years now, and millions of innocent unborn children have been slaughtered, to the shame of the American people.

The two judges who dissented and did not go along with the majority ruling were Associate Justices Byron R. White and William H. Rehnquist. In his dissent, Justice White stated quite emphatically:

----- Begin Quote -----

"I find nothing in the language or history of the Constitution to support the Court's judgment. The Court simply fashions and announces a new constitutional right for pregnant mothers and, with scarcely any reason or authority for its action, invests that right with sufficient substance to override most existing state abortion statutes."

----- End Quote -----

For his part, Justice William H. Rehnquist basically said that the majority had fabricated the right to an abortion out of thin air, because not only did it not exist in the Bill of Rights, but prior to the Roe v. Wade ruling, the precedent was that the majority of the states wanted to limit abortions. In other words, the Blackmun court even went against the precedent, and overruled what the States clearly wanted. Rehnquist wrote in part:

----- Begin Quote -----

"To reach its result, the Court necessarily has had to find within the scope of the Fourteenth Amendment a right that was apparently completely unknown to the drafters of the Amendment. As early as 1821, the first state law dealing directly with abortion was enacted by the Connecticut Legislature. By the time of the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868, there were at least 36 laws enacted by state or territorial legislatures limiting abortion. While many States have amended or updated their laws, 21 of the laws on the books in 1868 remain in effect today."

----- End Quote -----

Thus we see that, despite President Bush's personal position regarding abortion, and despite the fact that he succeeded in appointing conservative-leaning judges to the Supreme Court, as well as to many courts of appeal, legalized abortion still remains the law of the land; and surely, this is to our shame. Furthermore, due to the fundamental right to privacy, to this day, a woman retains full control over her body when it comes to the issue of abortion. Under normal conditions, neither a spouse, boyfriend, or anyone else, can override her personal decision to obtain an abortion. Thankfully, at least there are restrictions, although by no means bullet-proof, when it comes to a minor girl attempting to do the same.

What aggravates the abortion problem even more, is the fact that we now have sex education being taught in the American public school system. Furthermore, to add insult to injury, it has also become common practice for some schools to make condoms available to their students. In my view, doing this only contributes to the problem of sexual promiscuity, which will obviously increase the opportunity for abortions to be sought out. It's also my belief that sex education is a very private matter, and is something that children should really be taught in the privacy of their own home, by their parents.

I also find it quite disturbing, and in fact alarming, that due to the right to privacy, and the current status of some abortion laws in some states, a teenaged pregnant girl can now receive counseling at school, without her parents even being notified about it. The fact that the girl is still a minor, under the care of her parents, and the fact that her parents are legally responsible for her, should nullify the minor's right to privacy, when it comes to abortion. As we saw earlier, in some states, a pregnant minor can not only get counseling regarding her pregnancy, but she can proceed to have an abortion without her parents' consent, or without their being notified, or without both. I find it rather odd that this same minor is not old enough to vote, and yet she is deemed wise enough to make a decision regarding abortion, which will slaughter and terminate the life of another human being. Surely, this is the epitome of hypocrisy and madness.

While we have been discussing the legal and political aspects of the long fight to overturn Roe v. Wade, there is another aspect which we have yet to examine, and that is the various arguments which have been put forth by those people who are intent on keeping abortion legal throughout the United States of America. In addition to common everyday American citizens, I'm referring to the big names and the national organizations which have waged a relentless fight to keep the evil practice of abortion alive. These people and organizations who condone the slaughter of the innocent include, but are not limited to the following:

American Civil Liberties Union
Center for Reproductive Rights
Former President William Jefferson Clinton
Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
Former Vice President Al Gore
Guttmacher Institute (former division of Planned Parenthood)
Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, Democrat of California
Naral Pro-Choice America
National Organization for Women
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
President-elect Barack Hussein Obama
Senator Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California
Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Democrat of New York
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy
Supreme Court Justice David Souter
Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer
Vice President-elect Joseph Biden

One has to wonder what goes through the minds of people who so adamantly resist outlawing abortion. Well, perhaps I can shed a little light on this issue with the following remarks. One comment I came across while conducting research for this series, which I found rather disturbing, was made by Doctor Vanessa Cullins, who currently serves as vice president for medical affairs for Planned Parenthood Federation of America. In a statement, this woman made a remark regarding how, in her opinion, "draconian parental notification laws endanger the health of young women".

What Dr. Cullins is basically saying, is that we should just trust that young teenaged girls, who are obviously already under a lot of stress due to their situation, and who are by law still minors, possess the wisdom and the maturity to make such an important decision by themselves, without any input whatsoever from their much wiser parents. As a parent myself, I cannot possibly agree with Doctor Cullins' position, and I must strenuously object to her misguided, biased mentality.

Now obviously, some of these minors are probably fearful that their mistake will be discovered; and then not only will they suffer embarrassment, but they'll have to face their parents' disappointment and anger as well. However, I would posit that in many cases, while the parents may not approve of what the child has done by getting pregnant, and may even scold them, they will also offer their child the comfort, understanding, and support that she will need at such a time. If we are only there for our children during the good times, and not for the bad times, what kind of parents are we? Furthermore, a wise parent will encourage their child to give birth to the baby, even if she still chooses to offer it up for adoption at some later date. Isn't this a lot better than murderous abortion which will mercilessly slaughter an unborn, innocent child?

It seems to me that one of the problems is that some of these abortionists don't want to allow this parent/child encounter to occur. These unscrupulous baby killers obviously know how vulnerable a young pregnant girl can be. Likewise, they know that the minor may not go through with the abortion, if the child has any opportunity to consult with her parents first. Thus, they endeavor to break the parental bond when it comes to the all important issue of abortion. They want to isolate the child, and in fact replace the parents, and substitute their opinion, for the parents' opinion. They want to usurp the parents' position. Of course, the abortionists will try to comfort the girl prior to the abortion; but once the deed has been done, it is done, and it most certainly cannot be reversed; and the child will have the rest of her life to regret her decision, while the abortion clinic goes on its merry way, and continues to turn a handsome profit.

Folks, let's not forget that this is precisely what abortion clinics are really all about. Don't be deceived by the false notion that they are just there to help young teenaged girls and women in distress. That is a bunch of nonsense. The fact of the matter remains that abortion clinics are businesses, and no person goes into business for any other reason than to turn a profit. Yes, all businesses may provide some kind of beneficial service or product to the community; nevertheless, they are in business to make money, and not just enough to barely get by, but enough to make a handsome profit and live comfortably. These abortion clinics are no different. If they can't make it as easy as possible to obtain an abortion, then they won't be in business for very long. They will go broke. It is for this reason, and this reason only, that these evil abortionists fight tooth and nail, and use every means, and every argument at their disposal, to keep abortions legal.

I am reminded of another cold-hearted statement from a case which made the news towards the end of 2002. It involved one gynecologist/abortionist in the state of New Jersey by the name of Sheldon Turkish, and a woman named Rosa Acuna. News reports state that Ms. Acuna sued the abortionist, because at the time of her abortion in 1996, he failed to inform her that aborting a baby in the first trimester was in reality terminating the life of a human being. According to Acuna, when she asked Turkish whether or not a baby was already in her womb, he responded that it was "nothing but some blood". This deceptive abortionist in fact admitted in depositions, that he informs pregnant women that there is "nothing but some tissue". Sadly, this is the attitude of many of these cold-blooded, licensed killers, and it has to be one of the biggest, most evil deceptions that surrounds the abortion issue.

In other words, many abortionists intentionally attempt to dehumanize the human embryo, and to desensitize people to the reality of what actually occurs during an abortion, by promoting the false notion that there is "nothing but some tissue". "It's not really a living human being, it's just a clump of cells", they claim; and on and on the argument goes.

Tragically, I even had one individual tell me recently that, in his view, until the baby takes its first breath, and the umbilical cord is cut, it is not even a real person. So what is it then; a breathing, humanoid non-human? So by promoting the utterly false impression that what is in their womb is not really human yet, or a person yet, these abortionists in fact help to relieve pregnant women and minor girls of the guilt which they would surely feel, if they realized that they were in fact murdering an unborn child, who is created in the image of God, in the most horrific of ways, and it is indeed very horrific. If you doubt my word, then you really need to examine the various abortion images which you will find in the abortion section of our Bill's Bible Basics website. Abortion is nothing short of wholesale slaughter of innocent unborn human beings, as the images make very clear.

Thankfully, God, the Creator and Giver of life, doesn't view a fetus or an embryo as just a clump of unrecognizable cells. As I have mentioned a number of times before, God sees us as real, living human beings, long before we are ever conceived or born. This is clearly revealed in the Book of Psalms where we are plainly told that God knew us, and designed us, even before He created us in our mother's womb. In the powerful set of verses below, this is what it means when it uses the word "earth". After all, does not Genesis tell us that Adam was made from the dust of the ground; and did not God cause life to spring forth from the earth? So too, life springs forth from the womb in the same way:

"For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them."


Once we open our hearts and accept the above verses as being true, the argument of when human life begins falls apart. It simply vanishes, and becomes a moot point. By accepting the previous verses as being true, we place the final nail in the coffin of the abortionists, because then they can no longer argue the point that a days-old embryo, or a months-old fetus is not human, or a real person. God has spoken, and His Word is the Final Authority, when it comes to our Christian faith. By accepting these verses, the abortionists' heinous sin of mass murder is fully exposed; and that is why they work so hard to try to conceal this truth from pregnant women, and minors. It is their evil lie, ("nothing but some tissue"), versus God's truth. Which are you going to believe?

The previous verses are not the only Biblical evidence which points to the fact that God knew us, and viewed us as human, long before He ever formed us in our mother's womb. In the Old Testament, there are many books which were written by the Prophets. These were men who were called and ordained by God to be messengers to the nation of Israel. One such Prophet, who heard his prophetic calling at a very early age, was the young child Jeremiah. Similar to the Prophet Samuel, we know that Jeremiah was called by God at a very young age, because he even complained to the Lord about it in the book that is named after him.

The Bible informs us that the Prophet Jeremiah warned the people of Jerusalem and Judah for forty years to repent of their rebellion against the Lord, right up until the very day that the armies of the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, utterly destroyed Jerusalem and Solomon's Temple. However, many years before these dark days arrived, the Lord gave the following message to this young boy Jeremiah, when He first called him to be one of His messengers to the rebellious Jerusalemites. Please notice the very first words of the very first verse:

"Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD."


"Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee", the Lord tells Jeremiah. So just as we saw in the set of verses from Psalm 139, God reveals that He knows us even before He ever physically forms us in our mother's womb. So taken together, these two sets of verses tell us that God personally knows us; that He has designed our organs and physical appearance, and thus knows exactly what we will look like, and that He has even planned and predestinated our lives, long before the moment of our actual conception in our mother's womb. In light of these facts, again I ask, how can abortionists dare claim that we are nothing but an unidentifiable clump of cells, "nothing but some tissue", and not a person or a real human being? Someone is obviously lying here, and it most certainly is not God.

What the previous verses also tell us, is that by condoning and engaging in abortion, people are trying to destroy what God has already chosen to create. They are defying His Will. They are interfering with His plans. How dare anyone do that! Just who do you people think you are, to so haughtily place yourselves, and your will, and your foolish medical opinions, above the Almighty God, El Shaddai, the Creator of life, and the Creator of the Universe? Shame on you all!

Returning to the ministry of the Prophet Jeremiah for just a moment, as I explain in some of my other articles, such as in the in-depth series "The Fruits Of Disobedience", the Bible plainly tells us that one of the primary reasons why the Lord allowed Jerusalem and the temple to be destroyed by the army of King Nebuchadnezzar, was because they were worshipping the false gods of the heathen nations around them. This worship included regular child sacrifices to the god Molech, in the Valley of Hinnom. This valley, known as "geenna' or "Gehenna of fire" in Greek, was located to the south, just beyond the walls of Jerusalem. It was where the Israelites burned their trash, as well as the bodies of dead livestock and criminals. How fitting, albeit tragically so, that this is also where they chose to slaughter their children on the fiery altars of Molech. Consider the following revealing verses:

"And say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle. Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents; They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind: Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter. And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives: and their carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth. And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof. And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them."


"Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon."


"And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech."


"And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin."


To some modern readers, the above verses must sound rather horrific. Yet ironically, some of these same people seem to find absolutely nothing wrong with slaughtering millions of unborn children through the murderous act of abortion. If God punished the ancient Israelites for their wickedness and evil infanticide, how can He not some day soon also punish wicked America for the death of millions of unborn babies at the hands of heartless abortionists? Is America not asking for severe judgment by the Almighty? The ancient Israelites certainly did not escape His wrath, and it is a safe bet to conclude that neither will America.

Please go to part three for the continuation of this series.

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

Click or Tap Icons to Share! Thank you!

---

---

Please avail yourself of other areas of the Bill's Bible Basics website. There are many treasures for you to discover.