Editor’s note. The following appears on the blog of Right to Life of Michigan, NRLC’s state affiliate.

The United Nations created Human Rights Day in 1950 after World War II. They wanted to prevent the killing of millions of innocent people from happening again. Therefore, they created a day to remind us that a right is something that belongs to every person.

All human beings have the inalienable right to life. This right is innate to individuals, rather than a privilege granted by governments or those in political office. Unfortunately, this is not a right that has been universally applied to the unborn child, who is undeniably a member of our human family.

Since 1973, in the United States alone, more than 58 million abortions have taken place. The basic human rights of 58 million have been violated through the violence of abortion.

Did you know that a heart of an unborn child starts beating at just 21 days old? Did you know that at 16 weeks a child can suck her thumb? It has been more than four decades since Roe v. Wade, yet many are still unaware of the amazing development of unborn children in the womb. While it can be easy to close our eyes and plug our ears because we do not want to hear about the awful ways so many children are killed, we must be aware that this is happening daily in our country, thousands of times.

If it counted [included in U.S. vital statistics], abortion would be the leading cause of death in America.

It is important that we take the time to remember those poor innocents who lives were taken from them—those who did not get a chance to enjoy those basic human rights.

Right to Life of Michigan has created a new resource that educates people on both the value of children in the womb, and the ways abortion cruelly violates their human dignity. “Cruel and Usual Punishment” is a free PowerPoint presentation you can download and use in any setting for older students and adults .

While the presentation does include accurate descriptions of abortion techniques, it does not include graphic pictures of abortion.