ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Many children grow up reading Dr. Seuss‘ “Horton Hears a Who,” the classic story of a brave elephant who works to protect the tiny people of Whoville from destruction. In the end of the tale, the Whos are saved because Horton believes he has a duty to protect those who can’t protect themselves. Horton famously states, “A person’s a person, no matter how small!” Though Dr. Seuss may not have intended it, this story teaches a timeless lesson on the value of human life, no matter how tiny.

It is interesting that such a simple and eloquent pro-life statement was spoken by a fictional elephant. If only some members of Congress would think like Horton and see the value inherent in all lives. If only they would see that a child is a child no matter how small and that we all have a duty to protect life from those who wish to take it away.

There was a time when the abortion industry thrived on the lie that life does not begin at conception and, therefore, an abortion does not kill a child. However, science caught up and debunked this claim, so next the industry took refuge in the belief that unborn children do not feel pain, which has now also been disproven. Now, with their foundation crumbling beneath them, the abortion lobby has elected to ignore the life matter altogether and focus on women’s rights (or, as was the case during a recent Planned Parenthood hearing, the need for gun control, better sex education, and various other off-topic subjects).

According to Planned Parenthood supporters at the hearing, the investigation into the abortion giant’s alleged illegal activities is nothing more than a campaign against the “right of a woman to choose what to do with her own body.” Based on this false characterization of the effort to bring the truth to light, Planned Parenthood has done nothing wrong — that is, if you don’t count selling body parts for profit (which is illegal according to 42 U.S. Code, Section 274e), the daily butchering of innocent babies, failing to report on victims of rape or incest, endangering and permanently injuring their patients, and continuously profiting off government funding, just to name a few examples of the harm this organization does.

Just to be clear, I believe in and support women’s rights — the right to vote, to bear arms, freedom of speech, and all those rights specifically laid out in the U.S. Constitution. Killing an unborn child via abortion is not a human right, but the right to life is. We must also recognize the predatory nature of the abortion industry: Women experiencing great difficulty are exploited by those purveying the death of an unborn little one for profit.

Moreover, if pro-abortion activists want women’s rights protected, shouldn’t that protection extend to women in the womb? Thousands of voiceless girls have lost their lives as others have spoken for them, but thankfully, there are women who choose to hear and protect the vulnerable ones they carry. Brianna was one of these voiceless girls.

When Brianna was in her mother’s womb, she was diagnosed with gastroschisis, a defect in which the developing abdominal wall does not close and thus allows internal organs — in Brianna’s case, her small intestine — to develop outside the body. Her mother’s doctor advised her to have an abortion, saying it would be “kinder to terminate” the child than for Brianna to live a physically challenging life. By God’s grace, Brianna’s mother believed her child was a “person, no matter how small” and chose to carry and deliver her child. Though the pregnancy and recovery was difficult, Brianna is a healthy, thriving 18-year-old woman today.

So what about Brianna? Did she, as a woman, get a say in whether she should be allowed to live or not? Unfortunately, in our nation, a person is only a person when she can survive outside the womb. If only we could remember that God made all people in His image and that they deserve to be protected, since “a person’s a person, no matter how small!”

• Katelin Myers is currently an intern at the Family Research Council and a senior studying pre-law at Liberty University.

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