When do human beings receive the unalienable right to life?  The question the pro-abortion crowd will not (or cannot) answer.

Here in fly-over country South Central PA, we are fortunate to have an excellent local talk radio station (based out of Harrisburg) which has the largest listenership in the area.  One of the popular local talk-bubbas is a criminal defense attorney and an atheist.  While a bit cantankerous with callers at times, he is thoughtful, respectful, and a fearsome debater.  His show can be heard on Saturdays afternoons.

Following the GOP debate in Iowa on Thursday evening, my non-believer friend posted the following to his Face Book page:

"Elect Santorum so I can defend OB-GYNs.. I hear they can afford to pay well."

This was in response to Santorum's assertion that doctors performing abortions should be prosecuted (after abortion is made illegal).

This begs a question, and one that the pro-abortion crowd refuses to (or cannot) address :  When exactly does life begin?   At exactly what point is the unalienable right to life conveyed upon a human being?  No one seems to disagree that depriving a human being of life is murder.  So when exactly do we become human?

Some contrast would be helpful here.  The generally accepted definition of death is when brain function (brain waves) cease.  A thoughtful Nietzsche-gobbling secular humanist might therefore reason that life begins when brain function starts -- around the beginning of the second trimester.  Yet, I have never seen this idea advanced outside of a shoddy paper I wrote as a teen.   It cannot be argued that life begins with birth, because medical science keeps moving back the time at which a viable  birth can occur.

The true and irreversible end of a human life is at the onset of physical decomposition of a human body.  Therefore, the beginning of human life is at the onset of physical composition (conception).  That conception is the beginning of a human life is not simply "religious dogma,"  as is claimed by those in favor of abortion -- it is a completely rational conclusion, even in the absence of a sentient Creator.  Candidates for public office (both right and left) must be made to answer, in open debate, when life begins and at which point a human being receives the unalienable right to life.  This is not a yes or no debate.

For the record and in the interest of philosophical consistency, I am opposed to capital punishment (how the guilty of heinous crimes are treated in prison is another matter).  All human life is sacred, and life should never taken except in the defense of life, liberty, and sometimes property.

Jason McNew is a 37 year old IT professional.  He is working on a forthcoming book titled Jude's Acre.  He can be reached at jasond@mcnew.org