ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Killing an unborn human being is not health care. That was my response to the utterly ridiculous tweet by the liberal attorney general of Pennsylvania that said abortion was health care. It is not. It is tragic.

Losing an unborn child is a horrible thing. No matter what you call it.

Imagine a pregnant woman being hit by a drunk driver and losing her baby in the crash. Would you send her and her family a get-well card or would you send a sympathy card? In my opinion, a decent human being would send a sympathy card as she lost her unborn child. It would be a sad and somber time for that mother.

Losing a child — at any age — is tough. Growing up, I remember hearing about my Aunt Deborah Walker. She was one of my father’s sisters. She died before my grandmother was able to give birth to her. My father spoke of the pain experienced by his parents when they lost their daughter.

Over years, I’ve met many parents who lost children either through a miscarriage or were stillborn. Sadly, they lost a member of their family. There is a significant grieving process for each of these families. The same is true of abortion.

Think about it. An unborn baby’s heart starts beating about 22 days after she or he is conceived. We also know that science tells us that sudden cardiac arrest occurs when the heart suddenly stops beating. This blocks oxygen-rich blood from getting to the brain and other organs. If not treated right away, a person can die from this within minutes.

Abortion stops a beating heart. The beating heart of an unborn human being. Choosing life is the better alternative to killing an unborn baby. The story of Jermarius Jachin Harbor Jr. is an example of the miracle of life. Jermarius was born five days before Christmas — at just 21 weeks. His mother Jessica McPherson calls him “my miracle baby.”

The medical journal Pediatrics says that Lyla Stensrud is the youngest premature baby to ever survive. She was born at 21 weeks in San Antonio and now is a healthy 5-year-old child.

Years ago, the Journal of the American Medical Association released a study that showed that up to 71 percent of premature babies can survive if they are given active care. Younger and younger infants continue to survive. Yet another reason why pain capable and heartbeat bills must be passed all across the country.

Tonette and I still remember her first ultrasound of our son Matt. We actually have copies of that one and the ultrasound taken of our other son, Alex, a year later. To us, they are the boys’ first baby pictures.

Matt’s image shows him on his side. He is holding his hand by his mouth and it looks like he is sucking his thumb. Both Tonette and I were pro-life before that time, but the ultrasound sealed the deal.

This was one of the reasons I signed a law requiring everyone who is receiving an abortion to be shown an ultrasound of their baby. Abortion racketeers do not want their customers to know what their babies look like. The same is true about the general public. The more people know about what really happens to an unborn baby in an abortion, the less likely people are to support the legalized killing of an unborn human being.

A year ago, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, a pediatric neurosurgeon, told Washington radio station WTOP:

“The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired. And then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.”

Reaction to his comments was fast and furious. He was actually talking about killing a child after birth.

If someone took the life of that child after they left the hospital, they would be charged with homicide. Mr. Northam seems to suggest that a child could be aborted at the hospital — even after birth.

This radical position is driving more and more people toward the pro-life position. Gone are the days of Democrats claiming abortion should be “safe, rare and legal.” Now, they are for abortion-on-demand even after birth. This is murder.

We must push back. This is what the March for Life is all about. And that’s why I am honored to be in our nation’s capital this week to speak with college students and young people in Students for Life.

Our Founders clearly laid out our most important rights in our Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Let us continue to defend the right to life!

• Scott Walker was the 45th governor of Wisconsin. You can contact him at [email protected] or follow him @ScottWalker.

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