Who is Worthy?

Often times you hear Pro-Life advocates use reasoning like this to speak against abortion:

"That child could have been a doctor or discovered the cure to cancer!"

"How do you know that child couldn't have been an important person?  Like a teacher or scientist?"

And lately, I've been hearing some Pro-Choice folks saying things like this:

"Oh come one, the fetus could be a murderer too."

"More than likely the thing won't be anyone important, so who cares?"

I have heard much worse things, but I won't repeat them here.

However, these phrases and points being said is disturbing to me.  Obviously, it is true you are potentially killing a future chef, scientist, parent, etc when you have an abortion.  Did you know Steve Jobs himself was an unexpected pregnancy, and what would be called an "inconvenience"?  Instead, he was set up for adoption by his mother, and he was very grateful for that.  And he isn't the only example!

But what bothers me is that saying things like "you might kill someone important" is implying some lives are worth more than others.  That only someone who "might" be a college-educated, influential individual is a real loss when compared to someone who "might" be a simple working man who does nothing more than get a job and pay his taxes.  It is even implying that such people are more important than the poor who are suffering, or those born with defects are better off dead.  And the drug abusers?  Who cares about them?  Not to mention the people who get into crime are completely useless as well.

This is why I don't like the logic of "you might be killing off someone important".  Because the point is this: Every single human being ever conceived and born is important.  We are all born innocent, we are all going through the challenges life throws at us.  Some of us are fortunate.  Others are trodden upon and may take a path in life that is harmful, both to themselves and to others.

Being Pro-Life means protecting the dignity of every human being.  A pre-born baby?  Check.  A young child born with a disability?  Check.  A woman who has a crack addiction?  Check.  A man who shot another for money?  Check.  A ninety year old man who has numerous medical afflicitions?  Check.  A rapist who has caused great grief and pain to others?  Check.

Not many people like this line of thinking.  And that's okay.  I don't like it either.  But when we find rapists, murderers, drug addicts and crime lords along with the innocent - young and old - that are caught up in their sins, it means we are failing as a society.  It means we are not doing enough to teach the dignity of human life to our younger generations.  It means people are doing these horrible things that could have been prevented.

The justice system needs dire fixing, along with the adoption, foster care, and elderly assistance systems.  Laws need to be changed to punish the rapist and murderer in such a way that they live the rest of their lives knowing the horrible things they did, while at the same time they never leave imprisonment and use their time to work for those they have hurt.  More people should be able to seek out adoption should they desire a child without having to go through bureaucratic, expensive hoops to make it happen.  Those who are facing emotional despair in foster care need better environments to thrive in and better families to reach out to.  The elderly deserve final years of peace and comfort, without having to worry about a stranger neglecting them in a loveless nursing home, or wondering whether or not the doctor and/or their selfish family will pull the plug on them.  The way we reach out to those in need, no matter how they got there, needs to be filled with a hell lot more compassion than what we are giving now.

We have fallen into the trap of judging who is worthy to live, and who is worthy to be called human. 

But we must get out of this trap.  Because we are all human.  We are all worthy. 

We can only build a culture of life when we start living up to it.  We can only truly live in a society that protects human worth when we truly see every single one of us as human with a worth to the world.  It doesn't matter if you're disabled and can't work; if you live in the jailhouse all your life to pay for the child you conceived through rape; if you are begging on the streets just so you can find a scrap of a meal to eat; if you find yourself in the never ending cycle of addiction; if you are old and feeble, completely dependent on other people just to eat and move.

Like I said, not everyone likes this line of thinking.  We want to take passionate revenge on the murderer, the rapist, and others who did us wrong.  We want to do away with those who are a hindrance on our cushy lives.  We want to ignore those who are in a dire situation, as helping them would only make us uncomfortable. 

But we shouldn't do such things.  It is hard, extremely hard.  Yet, 12 year old Maria Goretti forgave the man who tried to sexually assault her and stabbed her to death. Heather Gemmen Wilson welcomed the daughter she conceived through rape, confused as to why people think looking at her precious girl would remind her of the rapist.  Mother Teresa fought for the unloved and unwanted in the streets of Calcutta, where it is so easy to ignore the suffering and the unwanted.  Kevin Fitzpatrick, confined to a wheelchair himself, refuses to believe that those in any sort of pain, age, or disability should "need" to die, and is verbal about it in his campaigning.  Daviene Smittie works with homeless addicts day in and day out, because very few will even bother to help them beyond lending a few bucks.  And even today, they still receive criticisms for the things they do/did.  All because they valued the worth of every human being.

This is the society we live in: a society that looks down on those who help the helpless.

You want equality?  And justice?  And freedom? A world that values life?

Then start living up to the belief that every human being has worth and purpose just as much as the next celebrity, scientist, or other prominent figure.  Know that one does not need to be a genius or "normally functioning" human to be loved and alive.  No judgement, no anger, no fear, no vengeance: just compassion and the wisdom to know how to give a selfless hand to those who desperately need it.

I pray we all find such compassion and wisdom in our lives.