Wading Through the Misinformation

Imagine its three months ago, one month before my daughter Melody was born, and my wife was hit by a drunk driver, resulting in Melody's death. Under current Colorado law, the drunk driver would avoid prosecution because Melody would not have been recognized as a person. Fortunately, this did not happen to us, but it has happened to others.

Amendment 67 would change that.  The ballot question states:

"Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution protecting pregnant women and unborn children by defining "person" and "child" in the Colorado criminal code and the Colorado wrongful death act to include unborn human beings?"

If passed, Article XVIII, Section 17 of the Colorado constitution would then include:

"In the interest of the protection of pregnant mothers and their unborn children from criminal offenses and neglect and wrongful acts, the words "person" and "child" in the Colorado Criminal Code and the Colorado Wrongful Death Act must include unborn human beings."

Some have erroneously made Amendment 67 into an abortion issue.  Some may find it difficult to wade through all the fear-mongering muck of misinformation out there.  They could, however, just try reading the ballot question and the legislation it will actually effect.  

Amendment 67 is about holding those accountable that commit "criminal offenses" which result in the death of unborn children. Drunk driving is a criminal offense, abortion is not. We need to hold criminals accountable.  Of course, those that vote "No" on Amendment 67 would disagree.

Valuing Life in the Face of Death

Our culture has a problem facing death.  This is seen in everything from the death penalty, abortion, foreign policy, to the acceptance of suicide.  While this list may seem like we have embraced death well, we have not.  There is one thing in common between the way we put our guilty to death, murder our unborn, kill foreigners, and praise suicide; they all place the horrible reality of death out of sight.  We want our nation’s guilty to be sentenced to death, but we do not want to watch it happen.  We are fine with encouraging others to kill their babies, but would certainly never want to watch that happen, either.  We are fine with our nation being engaged in a perpetual state of war, as long as the atrocities are committed far from our own homes.  We do not want to be faced with the discomfort of watching a loved one slowly die before our eyes.  We would rather the sick be removed from our sight, now. 

Death is repugnant.  Death is profane.  To some extent I think we grasp this or we would not avoid it so.  On the occasion that we are forced to face the grotesque reality of death, we try to change our perception of it in our minds.  When someone commits suicide, we call it “brave.”  When someone commits suicide in the face of a terminal illness, we call it “dignified.”  Never believe that suicide is “dignified.”  Never let anyone tell you that suicide is “brave.”  Those are lies.  There is nothing dignified about death.  Death is a heinous molestation of that which was once bright and beautiful.  While there may be bravery in death, as is seen when one lays down their life for another, there is nothing brave about self-murder.  I have seen close friends and family die from both agonizing illness and from suicide.  The former was brave, the latter was not, yet neither was dignified.  

As uncomfortable as it may be, facing death helps us value life and see that this value is intrinsic.  Life’s value is independent of our perception of one’s usefulness.  Life’s value is independent of our ever fluctuating standard of what is deemed as “quality of life.”