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The Right to Life is not simply a modern idiom used for political purpose and mainstream media. It is one of the significant foundations of our nation and it must honored.
Our Forefathers wrote in our Declaration of Independence that "we are endowed by the creator with certain inalienable rights, among these; life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." In this triad, life comes first: you can neither have liberty, nor the opportunity to pursue happiness, if you are not afforded the right to life.
The "Pro-Life" issue is not one that can be addressed with a simple black/white answer. Though I am pro-life, that is not the only discussion that we must have. We must address parental notification, for example, and whether these discussions should take place at the federal or state level.
I served in the New Hampshire state legislature for 14 years. During which I worked hard to protect parental rights and to keep life decisions out of the hands of politicians and placed where they belong--with the family. Current law, here and in many states, allows for a minor child to be taken to a clinic to end her pregnancy without a parent knowing. This lacks clear common sense. A 13 year old cannot go to a tanning booth without the consent of a parent, and yet can have a medically intrusive procedure, such as an abortion, without the parent even being made aware.
We see on the news far too often young teenagers meeting older men on line and beginning a relationship. However with the removal of the rights of a parent to care for his or her child, a 13 year old girl in New Hampshire can be brought to an abortion clinic by a 30 year old who caused the pregnancy and the parents will never be the wiser. To allow this lacks common sense. The government has taken over where family belongs.
It is time these discussions take place with the people. Life and the right to life is an issue that should not live within the court system, nor within the federal government. The state government is the best place to hold discussions. Those elected locally by the people have a better and stronger understanding of the needs and philosophies of the people than the federal government—who creates broad stroke laws that can never truly represent the individual issues and dynamics of states. It is a matter of state rights and it is a matter of individual and family rights.
We must remember to respect life at every stage, from childbirth to old age. It is a sacred gift that is to be cared for and nurtured until it expires.
Please visit my website at www.CleggforCongress.com for more details on my campaign.
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Cullum, Danielle
07/24/2008 04:07 PM
I agree with other posts here that state that abortion is not an issue that should be decided among the family. It should be illegal to take another person's life, period! It is not the government's nor the family's choice to take that life. It is God's life! And when he allowed that child to be conceived he is choosing for that child to live. How can we say we have more authority?
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herron, john
07/24/2008 01:06 PM
I hear all of the time that an embryo is not human life; I think this argument gets used to make people feel better for being irresponsible. This is ridiculous; I sit back and just shake my head because these are the same people that will not eat a chicken egg if the white spot is too big or even present because that is a baby chicken. This is not only an issue for abortions but embryonic stem cell research, which does not need to happen. Every time there is a child born there is an umbilical cord full of stem cells that gets disposed of, this could be used for the research. The value of life has been lost by many it is nice to see people that still appreciate it.
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Cabell, Tracy
07/24/2008 10:46 AM
My thoughts are, how are people getting away with saying a living , growing , developing embryo/baby is not a life and does not matter?
When it is a proven scientific fact that life starts at conception, what argument do they have? You can not push aside the facts and totally ignore the truth to make laws that are convenient and self serving. I do not see how we have let it come this far. It is time to stop ignoring the Truth/Facts, and start making laws upon Them! -
Dennis, Angela
07/24/2008 09:29 AM
Sir,
I respect your position, but I do not believe that the family should have final judgement. Abortion should be illegal, period.
First, we must remember that Hitler started the same way... aborting those who did not fit his "perfect plan" for the "perfect race". Why should we lower ourselves and our morals to that of Hitler to allow families and states to make these decisions?
Second, and more importantly, it is against God's will. He says in the Bible: "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations" (Jeremiah 1:5). We cannot ignore this, nor can we allow people to "choose" because God made that choice for us thousands of years before any of us were born! We don't have that choice... and it is murder if we assume that we do.
Third, it was already stated in a previous comment that this same style issue was raised with slavery. It was immoral and should be outlawed on a national level. Same with abortion!
Last, I know personally a family who was faced with a teenage pregnancy. Two teens at my church made the wrong decision to have sex, the girl got pregnant, and they made the decision to raise the child. The boy got a good job to help support the child, but her wealthy parents bribed her with a new car to get an abortion to avoid a "stain" on the wealthy family's appearance. Needless to say she's driving around with a new car! That life was lost so the family didn't have a "stain". That is the kind of decisions that we will be supporting if we allow the families to make the decision. A life was lost so they didn't look bad. That child may have been a very important figure in our nation had he/she been born, but now we'll never know.
Think of how many great Americans that were lost before they were born because of horrible decisions. How many free-thinkers, inventors, great leaders, or good Christian influences are possibly lost because of the "freedom to choose"? It is an abomination and against the will of God. We must not sway away from His Word in the name of "freedom to choose"!
Angela from GA
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Glass, Tamara
07/24/2008 08:33 AM
Well I disagree and agree. I disagree with the statement that Pro-Life isn't a black and white issue or have a black and white answer. It does. Abortion is murder. Period. End of story. Life begins at conception. 2 living cells or particals whatever you want to call sperm and the egg. They are alive before and during the conception phase. It is unreasonable to even entertain the possibility that 2 living cells create a non-life for some period of weeks after conception. Living cells cannot create non-life!! Therefore, embryo's are living at all times which means to end an embryo or babies life at any time from conception to birth or after is murder unless it happens naturally! PERIOD!! If someone killed a baby after it was born like during the 1st minute outside it's mother it would be murder and they would be prosecuted. Why should it be any different coming down the birth canal or in the womb? What should be made law is that the doctor who performs the abortion should be tried under criminal law for murder 1? The girl or women having the abortion is an accessory to that murder which I think is murder 2? The nurse present in the room would also be an accessory and so on. If a parent has consented they are accessories. Bottom line is without morals our country is doomed. Requiring parental consent for abortions is relatively better than what is currently going on and maybe baby steps towards ending this murderous law is what it's going to take. However, if Pro-Lifers and the Judicial world would actually use the word "murder" it would help our case.
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God is with us
07/24/2008 02:13 AM
Senator Clegg:
I applaud you for taking a stand for life, but if I read your statement correctly, you mean to say that the federal government cannot get involved on this issue and leave it to the states? An issue as moral as this cannot be left to the states, where it could potentially lead to a divided nation concerning life. This was the same philosophy that politicians used when advocating for slavery saying, "slavey may be immoral, but should let the states decide." This is one area I disagree with you, to which you need to change on.
For Christ I stand,
David Crespo
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Centrella, Thomas
07/23/2008 11:38 PM
Some acts are *intrinsically* evil—that is, by the very nature of the act—and therefore the circumstances or the intentions do nothing to change that. They are always gravely evil, in all circumstances and regardless of the intentions.
War, for example, is not one of those acts. It really does depend on the circumstances and the intentions. That doesn’t mean there are no objective criteria, but it does mean there are some cases in which going to war is just and some cases in which it isn’t.
But intentional killing an innocent human being through abortion, embryonic stem cell research, or any other means is *intrinsically*—by the very nature of the act—evil. There are *no* cases in which such acts could be morally permissible. They are always evil acts, and so are *never* morally permissible, and should never be legal in any civilized nation.
It is a scientific fact, that human life begins at fertilization. And since, as the Declaration of Independence clearly affirms, “all men are created equal,” the life of the preborn is EQUAL in value to the life of the mother and the father, and to your life and mine. Therefore, any procedure or chemical that intentionally kills a preborn human being, from fertilization onward is always gravely evil, and should be completely prohibited by law *with no exceptions*.
**We must treat the preborn like we would treat any other innocent human being, because that’s what they are: persons to be loved and respected, not objects to be used and discarded.**
The purpose of medicine must be always to save lives, not kill. So, doctors, nurses, etc. must be required to do all they can to save the life of BOTH the mother and the baby in ALL cases.
To ensure that every child is safe from the crime of abortion, we need a Federal Human Life Amendment. This Amendment would need to make clear that (1) from the moment of fertilization onward, the preborn are persons with all rights pertaining thereto; and (2) therefore, all abortions, and any other procedures or chemicals that result in the death of the preborn, are expressly prohibited “except as an *unintended* consequence of saving the life of the mother.”
The words "except as an unintended consequence" are very important, because it would *never* be morally justified to intentionally kill a preborn baby, even to save the life of the mother, just as it would never be morally justified to intentionally kill the mother to save the life of the baby, and just as it would never be morally justified to directly kill you or me to save someone else's life.
BOTTOM LINE: The life of the preborn is EQUAL in value to the life of every other human being and so must be treated as such. PERIOD.
Because the life of the preborn baby is equal in value to the life of the mother, and every other human life, there is an absolute moral obligation to do all that is possible to try to save BOTH the baby's life and the mother's life in every case. In the tragic situation in which saving one person’s life results in the *unintended* consequence of the other person dying (an extremely rare situation today, thank God), then the doctors did all they could to save both persons and--very tragically--one died. That is totally different from someone doing a standard abortion procedure to *intentionally* kill the preborn baby. Such an act is always evil, in all cases, with no exceptions.
*Again, the life of the preborn baby is EQUAL in value to the life of every other human being, including the mother and father, you and I, and everyone else. That is the key. Every act must uphold this unshakable principle.*
The sacred words "ALL MEAN WERE CREATED EQUAL" means *ALL*! And “ALL” means every single human being, from fertilization on. All our laws must start with this principle. It is the very bedrock on this nation!
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2Kings22-23
07/23/2008 11:21 PM
Frankly I am a little confused and a little dissapointed. I think you are supposed to be pro-life but you advocate a Stephan Douglas style of popular sovereignty in order to deal with the issue. The right to life is not a personal moral issue any more than slavery was. It is an unalianable, God given, human right that must be supported at ALL levels. The notion that a nation can stand when each of its states adheres to its own code of ethics is proposterous. This is the verry reason I ended up becoming a Mike Huckabee supporter over Fred Thompson (that and his tendencies towards narcolepsy, oh and the Fair Tax).
If I have misinterpreted your words or your intent I apologise. I do thank you for what you have done for parental consent and notifaction and for your other conservative efforts in your state I would support you over your oponent in any way I could should I be living there.
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Cullum, Danielle
07/23/2008 05:24 PM
I noticed another comment stating that they disagreed that life starts at childbirth. I hadn't noticed you said this the first time that I read the article, but when I looked back I did notice. But if you believe that life starts at childbirth then you would not think that a child inside a mother is a life, therefore you would not consider an abortion taking a life, which it is. So, my question is, when do you think that life begins for a human? the moment the egg is fertilized on the day of conception or when a child is actually born? Or somewhere in between?
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CAtoNH
07/23/2008 04:42 PM
Thank you for taking such a strong stand on the right to life issue. This issue is foundational to so many others. Whether it be parental notification or embryonic stem cell research. We need to protect life from conception and we need to take a stand by voting for good candidates who share these values.
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Carem
07/23/2008 04:41 PM
As a New Hampshire voter, I can't wait to check the ballot for you on election day.
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TOGETHER WE STAND!!!
07/23/2008 04:03 PM
Day 1: fertilization: all human chromosomes are present; unique human life begins.
Day 6: embryo begins implantation in the uterus.
Day 22: heart begins to beat with the child's own blood, often a different type than the mothers'.
Week 3: By the end of third week the child's backbone spinal column and nervous system are forming. The liver, kidneys and intestines begin to take shape.
Week 4: By the end of week four the child is ten thousand times larger than the fertilized egg.
Week 7: Eyelids, and toes form, nose distinct. The baby is kicking and swimming.
Week 8: By the 8th week the baby can begin to hear.
Weeks 9 and 10: The baby can turn his head, and frown. The baby can hiccup.
Weeks 10 and 11: Week 11 the baby can grasp objects placed in its hand; all organ systems are functioning. The baby has a skeletal structure, nerves, and circulation.
Week 12: The baby has all of the parts necessary to experience pain, including nerves, spinal cord, and thalamus. Vocal cords are complete. The baby can suck its thumb.
Week 17: The baby can have dream (REM) sleep.
Week 20: The earliest stage at which Partial birth abortions are performed. At 20 weeks the baby recognizes its' mothers voice.
Notice: Life begins on day one, any time living cells are involved, It's life. I thought we lived in a country where taking a life was Murder, I believe its a state and federal thing all should recognize LIFE starts on Day ONE. why should any one have the right to take a life. What if George Washington's mother had Aborted Him? What if we have already aborted the next Einstein or Benjamin Franklin? This seems like a no brainer to me!! Someone with a loud Bold Voice needs to standed up and sell this argument for what it is, MURDER!!!!!!!!!!
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Jill 4 America
07/23/2008 02:15 PM
Bob Clegg,
I could not have said it better. You are Right on your view of "Right to Life"... it is amazing how that they could possibly think that a 13 yr old is capable of making such an important decision. Thank-you for all that you are doing and fighting for parental rights and for life at conception and henceforth to the elderly.
God Bless you!
Jill Anderson -
VA, Tatiana
07/23/2008 01:52 PM
This is what a bumper sticker had on it: "Guns don't kill people, abortion clinics kill people"
Isn't it true? -
Zanagy
07/23/2008 01:33 PM
Rep. Clegg,
While I agree with the right to life and I thank you for taking a stand for life, I disagree with your stand that life begins with childbirth. Ultrasounds, photos, and many other scientific processes have shown that life begins at conception and not simply childbirth. I disagree that these matters need to be kept at the state level. Life, liberty and property are basic rights afforded protection by the US constitution, thus that same constitution must give the same rights to all people under protection of its amendments and within its borders.
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Joseph
07/23/2008 01:28 PM
Very well said. I sincerely hope you are elected by the people of NH. The North East is a tough place to be Republican these days. We appreciate your hard work and your being true to your convictions. Best of luck.
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Fitzpatrick, Dale
07/23/2008 01:27 PM
Senator Clegg,
What a fantastic piece you wrote! It is often the case that we Pro Life folks succumb to simplistic 'sound bytes' on the issue. Parental notification is, and should be, an area where reasonable persons - both Pro Choice and Pro Life - can come together towards a common sense solution.
Having worked in the Huckabee NH campaign, I was lucky to get to know you and value your friendship. I can't wait to call you Congressman Clegg.
Dale Fitzpatrick
MA For Huckabee
