LOCATION, LOCATION

No doubt we’ve all heard the real estate cry of location, location, location, when it comes to determining the value of a house. A premium price can be commanded if it’s located in a highly rated school district, or a crime-free neighborhood, possibly even in a resort area. Higher taxes are a reflection of that value. Unfortunately too many people have allowed themselves to be taken in by that same mantra when it comes to the value of human life.

Think for a moment about a person’s value, and not their perceived social status. Should someone living in a developing country be valued less than someone in the U.S.? What about someone in a homeless shelter vs. someone in a house in the suburbs? How about a person in the womb vs. one outside the womb? Your answer should be that the value of a human life does not (and should not) depend on location.

Human development takes place outside the womb as well as inside, yet our laws currently allow the one in the womb to be disposed of according to someone’s “choice”. That’s hardly logical. After all, no one can deny that a 2 year old child is still in the stages of development. So is a teen. And is anyone of us the same person we were several years ago? Even last month? We are all constantly developing and changing, either toward some “ideal” adult condition, or to a declining one and eventual death.

Maybe the right-to-abortion mentality originally took hold because the person in the womb was not visible. For quite a while, however, medical advancements have allowed us to “see” inside the womb and watch the developing human for several months, just as we watch our babies and adolescents develop through the years. Maybe it’s terms like zygote, embryo or fetus that have people confused. But baby, adolescent, teen, etc. are also just arbitrary names assigned to a particular stage of life, and yet we do our best to safeguard them.

There really is no sound reasoning that can justify a life value rating based on location. As a result, we need to go beyond our silent witness to life and begin to challenge those who choose the illogical and fatal thinking that location determines a human’s value. And let us also pray for those who have fallen victim to this unfortunate way of thinking.