We have three amendments to the Virginia constitution to vote on this fall. Their impact will last for a long time, so it’s important to have a good understanding of them as you vote.
Amendment One asks if the government or an individual woman has the right to make decisions about her own pregnancy, and if health care professionals can legally help her. Reproductive health is often discussed in terms of whether abortions should be allowed, but a more appropriate focus is the role of government.
Most government laws are based on protecting individuals from the actions of others. Stealing isn’t legal – it would help the recipient but hurt the victim. Someone getting an abortion isn’t hurting anyone else – unless that fetus getting aborted is a person. So how can we tell when a fertilized egg becomes a person?
Of course, there is no clear answer to this personhood issue, and science is not very helpful. The answer must be based on something else – personal faith. Some believe that as soon as an egg is fertilized it becomes a person, so abortion should never be allowed. If so, then in-vitro fertilization (IVF), results in murder.
IVF is now widely used to help women become pregnant. The IVF process results in about seven fertilized eggs never being implanted into a woman and thus having no chance to develop further.
If these fertilized eggs are people but ultimately disposed of – what a terrible, immoral thing. This is the position of some religions.
For others, there isn’t much guidance from any of the major religions’ scriptures regarding when a fertilized egg becomes a person. Most people don’t rely on religions but instead some arbitrary guidelines. Six weeks, 15 weeks and 22-24 weeks are all supported by many people who oppose allowing a woman choice. Of course, none of these timelines address the most important, although scientifically unknowable, issue of when does a fertilized egg mature into a person, Many people think it’s when a viable baby is born. Some religions even believe it happens sometime after birth (weeks or even longer).
Many opponents of abortion will make exceptions in the case of rape or incest. That’s a difficult position to reconcile with the developing fetus already being a person. We don’t allow other children to be killed because their father is a criminal. If a developing fetus is a person, should it be murdered if its father is a rapist? How about if he is a murderer?
Freedom of choice advocates recognize this problem of deciding when human life begins. Their response is to have pregnant women make the decision for themselves. This is not a technical issue for which knowing more gives you a more reliable response. Determining the beginning of personhood is necessarily an act of faith. Of course, one of the basic tenets of the United States is freedom of faith.
Supporters of this amendment will include many who personally oppose abortion, but will not want to impose their personal faith on others. The amendment is really all about big government – should government have the right to limit individual choice? Passage of this amendment would protect pregnant women’s faith-based views from being overruled by government faith-based views, and from tyranny of the majority. This amendment also provides protection to the medical community helping women. Voting no is a vote for government control – targeting personal liberty. Voting yes simply supports individual rights reflecting personal beliefs. This amendment is not focused on voters’ opinions about abortion – it is about who gets to make a faith-based decision about their own health.
