Protecting Unborn Life By Rep. John Bennett

I was a co-author this year of House Resolution 1022, recognizing Rose Day at the state Capitol.

Rose Day is an opportunity each year, early in the legislative session, for hundreds of Oklahomans to gather to voice their support of the sanctity of life for unborn babies. Traditionally, participants pass out roses to their state representatives and senators and to the governor and lieutenant governor – a visible reminder that unborn life is precious and should be protected. Rose Day was Feb. 7 this year.

I also am the House principle author this year of Senate Bill 817, which seeks to abolish abortion for all time in Oklahoma. I am 100 percent prolife and believe abortion should be outlawed not only in Oklahoma but also in the U.S.

God speaks very clearly in His Word, the Bible, about the value of unborn children. God’s Word says He personally made each one of us, and has a plan for each life:

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.” Jeremiah 1:5

“Even before I was born, God had chosen me to be His.” Galatians 1:15

Abortion kills 40 million to 50 million babies worldwide every year. Over 1.4 billion unborn babies have been murdered worldwide since 1980. The latest numbers for the U.S. from 2016 are approximately 893,000. Since the legalization of abortion in 1973 in the U.S., over 60 million unborn children have been killed, more than the entire population of Spain.  That's 155 babies per hour, about one every 24 seconds.

Can we remain indifferent to such immense human slaughter? NO.  This is modern-day genocide. It must be stopped.

By destroying the most basic human bond of all – that between mother and child – abortion dissolves the precious glue that binds our nation together.

While mother and child are the first victims, there is not a single element of society that is not affected by abortion. Mother, child, father, husband, aunt, uncle, friend, sibling and grandparent alike suffer the scars of the abortionist’s scalpel.

A living human person begins to exist at the moment of conception, even though only as a cell. What is important is not the accident of size or weight but the essence – which is fully human. The unborn baby has a distinct, unchanging and unrepeatable genetic code, unique in all of history, from the moment of conception until death. Nothing is added except nutrition and oxygen.

To paraphrase former President Ronald Reagan, It’s amazing to me that the only people fighting to continue abortion have already been born.

“For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb… Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.” Psalm 139:13, 16

It has been said that a strong man stands up for himself, but a stronger man stands up for others. I have and will continue to fight to stop the murder of our unborn children. That is why Senator Silk and I have filed legislation to abolish abortion in the state of Oklahoma.

John Bennett represents Oklahoma House District 2. He can be reached at (405) 557-7315 or John.Bennett@okhouse.gov.

Sally Maxwell, Senior News Director

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