The issues of taxpayer-funded abortions and the legality of abortion are being debated and discussed in this election year as they have been in past years.
On campus Wednesday, a strong anti-abortion sentiment was present.
Graphic and disturbing images were presented in the public square.
The idea was that if these images didn’t give individuals time to reflect on their own positions on this vital social issue, then nothing would save them from their apathy.
Students must realize the necessity of giving thought to this issue.
The issue is that of life itself.
No one is free of its effects.
The abortion issue is not uniquely American, but the apparent solution to the issue was present at the American founding.
This nation was declared independent under the belief that ”…all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
The essence of our political and legal system is grounded in the idea that these rights are “self-evident” to all.
The idea that the legal grounds for our nation’s independence are not admissible to the issue of abortion is a fallacy.
Yet it is promoted in today’s popular culture that somehow an opposition to women being able to choose whether their child has a right to life is an attack on the very health and safety of women.
How selfish a nation have we become that a right that was granted to us is somehow ours to deny to future generations?
This is not unlike slavery — the idea that the life of another human being is your property.
You do not have a right to deny yourself life, so on what basis do you have a right to deny the life of another?
A popular argument is that, without abortion, an unplanned pregnancy can restrict an individual’s freedom and opportunities in life.
The reasoning of this argument is disgusting, claiming that your own freedom relies on the denial of freedom to your offspring.
Children are not a burden but rather a blessing.
Some individuals complain about the word “genocide” being used to describe the tolerance of abortion in current society.
It is not unreasonable to associate the smothering of unborn fetuses in the womb to genocide.
Many governments in history have presided over atrocious acts of genocide.
How does genocide end?
Either those who are being killed are completely exterminated, or those in the position to end the genocide hear the cries of the persecuted still living.
The unborn cannot cry out for help, so it is a right and a duty of citizens to petition their government for the grievances being committed against them.
Every human has a right to live, and it is the duty of government to secure this right.
Who are you to deny future generations the blessing of a human life?
Who are you to deny future generations the next great innovator, researcher, scholar, musician, athlete or president?
It is my belief and the belief of many who support the right of every unborn human to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness that this generation will be condemned for the injustice it has done against future generations.
Austin Swink is a political science sophomore at UF.
