Upholding Human Rights

Whenever asked to explore a time in my life in which dignity was upheld or restored I immediately thought of the March for Life in Washington, DC.  I thought of the March for Life because I have been asked multiple times to participate in the walk but I have been unable to go due to prior commitments.  The March for Life is a march that begins at Mall in Washington, DC and ends at Capitol Hill.  The March was created back in late 1973 by a group of people who were prolife that wanted to remember the Supreme Court’s abortion decisions in Roe vs. Wade that took place in January of 1973 without petitioning Congress.

The first March for Life occurred on January 22, 1974 and it is believed that approximately 20,000 Americans rallied and advocated to support life.  In that same year, the March for Life became a non-profit, non-partisan, and non-sectarian organization.  Since 1974 that March has continued to grow every year.  This year, 2011, marked for the 38th March for Life.  It is estimated that over 400,000 people participated in the walk and many participants were amazed that some marchers reached the end before some even left the beginning. 

What exactly are Marchers marching for?  According to the March for Life’s website, the Life Principles were created as a way to indicate the purpose of March for Life as well as explaining the beliefs of many prolife individuals.  The Life Principles state that “we hold these truths to be self-evident: That all human beings are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among which is the right to life, and therefore the right to life of each human being shall be preserved and protected by every human being in the society and by the society as a whole…from that human being's biological beginning when the Father's sperm fertilizes the Mother's ovum, and…throughout the natural continuum of that human being's life by all available ordinary means and reasonable efforts…at each stage of the life continuum to the same extent as at each and every other stage regardless of state of health or condition of dependency… regardless of state of health or condition of dependency, and when there is any doubt that there exists a human being's life to preserve and protect, such doubt shall be resolved In favor of the existence of a human being, and when two or more human beings are in a situation in which their lives are mutually endangered, all available ordinary means and reasonable efforts shall be used to preserve and protect the life of each and every human being.”  The Life Principles also suggest that human life amendment should be added to the Constitution.

This is an example of dignity being upheld because hundreds of thousands of people are marching and advocating for human life.  Supporters value life, especially the lives of those who are unborn.  Hundreds of thousands of people are fighting for those who cannot fight for themselves.  The March for Life is an example of dignity being upheld because people who march and support the March for Life are restoring the dignity of others.  Supporters believe all people are created equal, "from that human being's biological beginning when the Father's sperm fertilizes the Mother's ovum"- meaning fetuses are people too. 

Now there are many arguments for and against those who are prolife.  In my colloquium class we have explored many opinions and views of human life.  Peter Singer, one of the most influential philosophers of our time, believes that a person is not a person unless he or she can be aware of one's existence in time.  He believes that the law should support the killing of those who are not a "person."  Meaning, if a mother wanted to kill her unborn child, that unborn child is not a person anyway.  Is awareness really a valid distinction of life?  On the other hand, there is the Catholic Social Teaching which, I believe, is pretty hand and hand with the March for Life's Life Principles.  The Catholic Social Teaching states: "human dignity can be protected and a healthy community can be achieved only if human rights are protected and responsibilities are met.  Every person has a fundamental right to life."  If every person has a fundamental right to life, how can one kill a fetus in abortion- especially because, as defined in the Principles of Life, a fetus is a person?  Then there is George Kateb.  Kateb values the individuality of a person.  In Human Dignity he says, "every human is unique without trying to be, "and "I have a life to live, it is my life and no one else’s; it is my only life, let me live.  I exist and no one can take my place."  I think Kateb's opinions are really important to consider when discussing something as important as life and death- especially when it comes to abortion.  When aborting a fetus, that fetus's life is stripped away.  Someone else decided that the fetus's life was not important enough to be lived- in a sense their dignity was not even considered.  This is why the March for Life is an example of restoring dignity.  The March for Life, as I said previously, is upholding the lives of all humans, even those who are not born yet. 

The debate over human life speaks a lot about what society is like today.  There are people who fight for life and people who fight against life.  I believe the largest part of the controversy, especially when discussing abortion, is defining when life begins.  I think it is safe to safe that everyone would agree that killing another human is wrong and strips away that individual's dignity, so why would killing a fetus be any different?  Well, not everyone agrees that a fetus is a person.  The Life Principles say that life begins when an egg is fertilized; Singer believes that life does not begin at that time because the zygote is not "aware".  The problem in that is that everyone has different beliefs.  I think it would be very hard for a consensus to be reached about when life actually begins.  If it were easy, it would have already been done.  While I am not sure of how this debate will play out, I do believe that the March for Life's Life Principles offers a unique solution- to add a human life amendment to the constitution.