The Declaration of Independence reaffirms that all people are endowed with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is true the pursuit of happiness is ambiguous and different people can interpret liberty differently. It is equally true that the right to life can only be taken to mean one thing. Furthermore, our Nation’s founding document clearly defines this right as unalienable and endowed by one’s Creator. It is not granted by government and cannot be taken by it.

 Our Nation spent nearly a century after its founding in violation of this principle. African-Americans were denied their right to life and liberty. The Supreme Court in the Dred Scott case upheld this denial of an unalienable right. According to the Court, a slave-owner’s right to property took precedence over another’s right to life and liberty. The Civil War would be fought to end this obvious contradiction.

 Following the Civil War, the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified. It states, “nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.” In Section 5 of the same Amendment it continues to articulate, “The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article [the XIV Amendment].” It charges the US Congress with protecting, by federal law, the God-given, unalienable right to life.

 If you are around my age (45) or younger, legalized abortion has been a reality for as long as you can remember. It is the norm and as such perhaps you have never examined this practice in an analytical manner. When I did, I came to two inescapable conclusions. The first is the practice of abortion considers the human life in the womb to be property of the Mother and further considers the Mother’s right to property to exceed the child’s right to life. That practice is akin to slavery and has always been morally wrong and legally wrong in the United States since 1865.

The second conclusion is that as American men and women, we have the responsibility to protect those who cannot protect themselves. We have a duty to stand up for equal protection for all under the law. Great Patriots have done this since our Nation’s founding. I will continue to do that on our generation’s watch.

 Both scientifically and ideologically, human life begins at conception. As your Congressman, I will fight for the human and civil rights for all, especially those who cannot fight for their own.