I think it is ironic that the people who believe a woman has a right to an abortion call themselves pro-choice. A woman has many choices regarding motherhood. A woman has a choice whether or not she will have sex. If she chooses to have sex, she has a choice of using a contraceptive. And if a woman does become pregnant she has the choice of keeping the baby or giving it up for adoption. One of the signs at the “pro-choice” rally showed a picture of a coat hanger and said “never again.” I agree that back-alley abortions are a tragedy, but nobody forces a woman to have one; it is her choice. The only one that doesn’t have a choice is the baby.

During the rally, a fetus was described as just a zygote. But two weeks after conception, the child has a blood type and by the end of the third week the heart is beating. By the end of the second month, the child’s hands, feet, head, organs and brain are in place. During the third month the hands become sensitive as do the soles of the feet. The baby can grasp an object and make a fist. She swallows, her lips part, his brow furrows and he or she is capable of moving to avoid light or pressure. Her eyelids even squint. By the end of the third month, when a woman can still get an abortion on demand, the baby has fingernails, sucks his or her thumb and recoils from pain. It is much more than a zygote, it is a human life. And though we have many freedoms in this country, no one should have a choice when it comes to taking a human life.

To those who are fighting for the life of the unborn child, do not become discouraged. Let us remember that the battle to abolish slavery took over 60 years and the battle for full racial equality is still being raged some 100 years later. We can only hope and pray that one day all people will realize that the unborn child is in fact a human being and that his or her right to life deserves protection.

Dave Hugdahl

Third year

Law student