by Mary Brost Reck, May 2025
Human history has often, sadly, been riddled with human rights abuses: slavery, racism, sexism, genocide, holocausts. We like to think we have progressed as a people. In some ways, we have. We now recognize that all of these attacks on human rights stem from denying the humanity of a particular group of people, of seeing the victims as “less than human,” because they are different, unseen, inconvenient. And afterwards we declare: “Never again!”
But unfortunately, we continue to repeat some of these errors, we just direct them against a different group of human beings.
First and foremost, if we are to continue to advance as a society, we should all be able to agree on the basic concept that if someone is a living, innocent, individual human being, their human rights should be protected. Otherwise, we risk crossing the line into the same moral quagmire that the eugenicists did, who we now condemn with horror.
Follow the Science?
The newest victims of dehumanization and denial of rights today are the youngest human beings. Science tells us that preborn babies are living (growing, reproducing cells, metabolizing), and that they are human (biology 101) from the moment they are conceived. They are individuals with their own unique DNA – they are not a “part” of someone else. Whether we refer to them as zygotes, embryos, fetuses, infants, toddlers, adolescents, or adults – these terms simply identify stages in the development of human persons.
When is it okay to directly, intentionally kill a defenseless, innocent human being? Is it okay if she is smaller than you? If you can’t see him? If they were conceived in violence or poverty – is it then okay to kill the child? Should it be legal to punish babies for the guilt of their parents, or for the way they came into existence? These are all excuses used to support elective abortion – the violent intentional killing of a verifiably alive and human being.
Besides always killing one of the patients (the one not yet born), legal abortion has become increasingly dangerous for the mother as well, especially since the rampant use of dangerous chemical abortion drugs, and the 2022 passage of the misleading Proposal 3 in Michigan. Now, abortion clinics are no longer required to follow the health and safety regulations required of other clinics. They are exempt from the informed consent requirements that used to explain the risks and basic medical facts involved. Last year, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, serious complications from abortion increased by 38%.
The Humane Side of History
Are we advanced enough to become a society that recognizes the intrinsic value of all people?
There are many of us who endeavor to speak out on behalf of these littlest victims, and educate others on their dignity. Locally, Tri-Cities Right to Life and Muskegon County Right to Life, are working to educate, advocate, and shine a light in the darkness. There are also a multitude of groups who help to meet the basic needs of these individuals and their families: Positive Options, Pregnancy Care, Love in Action, Walking with Moms in Need, plus food pantries, shelters, and church groups. Where do you fit in? Are you willing to help promote the defense of all human life, so we can advance, once again, past the genocide of our day, to a world that recognizes the civil rights of all human beings, especially the most vulnerable? Watch for us in the upcoming Old-Fashioned Days parade and many other upcoming events our area prolife groups are hosting to inspire people to make a choice for life. Follow or contact us using these links: TCRTL and Linktree or MCRTL
If you are pregnant and need help, call or text 1-800-712-HELP for confidential counseling, free medical care, and material support in our community, from people who care for you and your baby – or even your grandbaby!
Will you be counted among those who speak for the smallest, most vulnerable human beings in society? It’s not too late to choose the right side of history.