Abortion: Rick Santorum vs. Rick Perry -- 10th or 14th Amendment Issue?

Lisa Graas explains why Rick Santorum is correct on the abortion issue and Rick Perry is wrong.  She explains how abortion is NOT a 10th Amendment issue but in fact falls under the 14th Amendment.

I stand with Lisa Graas and other pro-lifers in supporting the Republican Party's 2008 pro-life platform. Here is the part which discusses abortion in relation to the Constitution:

Faithful to the first guarantee of the Declaration of Independence, we assert the inherent dignity and sanctity of all human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution, and we endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children.

Lisa goes onto explain why abortion has everything to do with the 14th Amendment and not the 10th Amendment:

Do you see anything in there about the 10th Amendment? No. There is a very important reason for that.Abortion has nothing to do with the 10th Amendment. It has everything to do with theFourteenth Amendment or potentially a valid Human Life Amendment.

Why is that? Simple. An unborn child is a “person“. All “persons” are protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. Here is the specific provision in Section 1 of the amendment which protects unborn children…and the rest of us, from being destroyed by a rogue state legislature.

nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

The rights of “persons” to equal protection of the laws trumps state legislatures. Read McDonald v. Chicago, a recent Supreme Court decision in which the Court ruled (correctly) that States must extend the Second Amendment right to bear arms to citizens within that state. If it were not for the Fourteenth Amendment, any state could ban guns. Because of the Fourteenth Amendment, NO state may ban guns.

This goes the same with abortion. NO state may allow abortion. Period. Because the unborn child is, objectively, a person.

It is true that prior to Roe v. Wade, the States handled the abortion issue. But that doesn’t mean it was legitimate for them to. It was not legitimate for slavery to be a “state’s rights” issue either. The reason is that…hold onto your hats, libertarian Tea Partiers, states do not have “rights”. They have “powers”. People have rights. The unborn have rights. Rights come from God Almighty, not the federal government and not state legislatures. They come from God alone. America is supposed to be on a journey toward a greater respect for human dignity. The Founders did not end slavery. Slavery was rightly ended because of that journey.

Those who argue that abortion is a “states rights” issue are taking us backward to the Founders….who did not end slavery. America rightly ended slavery. America must also journey forward and end abortion by recognizing the personhood of the unborn child, thereby acknowledging that the child is protected under the Fourteenth Amendment.

Rick Perry does not understand this. Sarah Palin doesn’t either. Ron Paul certainly does not. Michele Bachmann “may” understand this, but I’m just not sure. RICK SANTORUM understands that our rights come from God, not government. He understands that all levels of government, both federal and state, must defend our God-given rights.

And you thought I supported him because of his cowboy boots? Nuh uh. He’s the only one who “gets” that our rights actually trump both state and federal powers.

Are we clear now? I certainly hope so because I blogged on this ad nauseum during Kentucky’s U.S Senate primary and ended up writing in the name of a real pro-life Republican during the general election. I won’t compromise on personhood and the Fourteenth Amendment, no matter how many trillions of dollars Obama spends. You can take that to the bank. I’m voting for Santorum.

We cannot build a decent America on top of a pile of dead babies and brutalized women. Anyone who claims to be for freedom while claiming state powers trump our rights is just (knowingly or not) giving you a different brand of salt water to drink than the Left is giving you through their brand of “economic justice”.

Refresh and strengthen this nation. Quench the thirst of the downtrodden and uplift them by freeing them from their oppression. Vote for Rick Santorum.