I consider myself to be a right-leaning moderate or classically liberal. I believe in limited government, free speech, and individual liberty. I also believe that one of the roles of government is to protect the rights of others. Abortion violates an unborn child's right to life. No, I'm not anti-woman. I care about the life of the mother as well. I strongly believe that society should help women both during and after pregnancy. I believe that unwed mothers should not be shamed and ostracized. I am pro-woman, pro-life, and pro-liberty, but that does not make me a hypocrite.
Tomi Lahren recently said on "The View" that she was pro-choice and that it would be "hypocritical" of her to be in favor of limited government but also want to ban abortion. She also later tweeted the following:
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Listen, I am not glorifying abortion. I don't personally advocate for it. I just don't think it's the government's place to dictate. https://t.co/qRjbAtJdo7
— Tomi Lahren (@TomiLahren) March 19, 2017
It's not the "government's place"? The Constitution says otherwise. Section one of the Fourteenth Amendment states the following:
All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Some might argue that the Fourteenth Amendment only grants protections to citizens of the United States. After all, the first half of section one states that "[a]ll persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States." One could argue that a fetus who has not yet born is technically not an American citizen and that the Fourteenth Amendment only refers to American citizens, so the unborn are not technically protected, right? Well, not quite. Part of section one of the Fourteenth Amendment refers to American citizens; however, the last part of section uses wording that is distinctly different. The last part of section one says that states must not "deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Notice the use of the word "person" instead of "citizen." According to the Fourteenth Amendment, the government cannot infringe on a person's right to life. This raises another question: Is a fetus a person?
Many states consider killing a fetus to be homicide. If a pregnant woman is murdered, the fetus is a victim as well; however, if a fetus is aborted, it is not a victim because it was the mother's choice? Something's wrong here. There should not be such inconsistency regarding the sanctity of life. Abortion ends an innocent life. Shouldn't the government protect that life? Shouldn't we defend the sanctity of life even when it's inconvenient?
I believe in limited government, not anarchy. I believe that the government has a responsibility to protect our unalienable rights. I believe that we should work to help prevent abortions by keeping contraception available and by helping women through their pregnancies and after childbirth as well. Contrary to what Tomi Lahren believes, supporting limited government and the rights of the unborn does not make me and many others hypocritical. I value liberty for all, even the unborn.
