Why should government protect life?

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Why should government protect life?

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ANSWER: All human beings have basic, natural rights—the most fundamental of these is the right to life. The right to life belongs not only to the strong and the powerful. It belongs to all human beings regardless of age, dependency, or ability.

The government exists to protect our natural rights and has a duty to protect the weak from the strong. We all benefit when the law respects the dignity and value of every human life. Government should protect the right to life because it is the foundation of all other liberties.

In its 1973 opinion in Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court distorted the Constitution’s view of liberty by excluding the youngest and most vulnerable children from the right to life. That sweeping decision invented a constitutional right to abortion. Roe has been used to advocate for abortionon-demand throughout all nine months of pregnancy—a stance at odds with the majority of Americans and extreme among developed nations.7


ENDNOTES: 

7. “Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization: An Opportunity to Correct a Grave Error,” The Heritage Foundation, 2021.

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