… From the desk of Lara Ketter, AGM Staff Writer

I love this line from Dr. Seuss’s book, Horton Hears a Who. It sums up, so beautifully and simply, everything the pro-life movement stands for. At the miraculous moment that tiny and unique being is formed in the womb, it’s a person. It’s not one-sixteenth a person; it’s not one-half a person; it’s a total person who needs around nine months to form and grow before making its grand entrance into the world. In fact, it’s not an “it” and never was.

In Horton Hears a Who, Horton is a jungle elephant who discovers a tiny speck of dust. On this speck is a microscopic city inhabited by the Whos of Whoville. Horton can’t see them, but he can hear them, and he places the speck on a clover and risks his life to protect the Whos from a variety of jungle animals who don’t believe him and want to destroy the speck. They even try to coerce Horton into denouncing the Whos’ existence. Horton holds firm to his belief and is ultimately able to convince the animals that the Whos do exist while transporting the speck to a safe place.

Horton tells them, “A person’s a person, no matter how small.”

That’s it … the crux of the entire argument. Could it be any simpler? I don’t see how.

Modern medicine is blurring the lines, and the arguments, of the pro-abortion movement. As premature babies are saved, some weighing only a pound or two, they are absolute proof that “a person’s a person, no matter how small.” Should these babies be allowed to die simply because they’re tiny? Because they didn’t spend nine months forming in the womb? Because some would label them “blobs” and not yet people?

I applaud every effort to save unborn babies, from shutting down abortion clinics to providing diapers and resources for new mothers. It’s all necessary and important. But until everyone believes in, and respects, life at conception, the struggle will continue. Minds must be changed, but so, too, hearts. And the hearts of mothers is the best place to start.

I think that if you would ask any doctor or nurse working valiantly to save premature babies if it’s worth the time and resources, they would say, “Yes!” You see, they know the truth. And the truth is simply this:

“A person’s a person, no matter how small.”

Story behind photo

This photo was taken at the University of Minnesota by photographer Robert Wolfe in 1972. It was taken during surgery for an ectopic pregnancy. No one can deny the humanity of the unborn even in these early stages.

A doctor who was present for the surgery later shared this testimony:

“Years ago, while giving an anesthetic for a ruptured ectopic pregnancy (at 2 months), I was handed what I believe was the smallest living human ever seen. The embryo sac was intact and transparent. Within the sac was a tiny human male swimming extremely vigorously in the amniotic fluid, while attached to the wall by the umbilical cord. This tiny human was perfectly developed, with long, tapering fingers, feet and toes. It was almost transparent, as regards the skin, and the delicate arteries and veins were prominent to the ends of the fingers. The baby was extremely alive and did not look at all like the photos and drawings of ‘embryos’ which I have seen. When the sac was opened, the tiny human immediately lost its life and took on the appearance of what is accepted as the appearance of an embryo at this stage, blunt extremities, etc.”

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