I Suspect this Article is Blocked in China

Via Drudge...Rural Chinese couple complains about forced, late-term abortion.

Is there anything in the Constitution that definitively protects a married couple's right to give birth to children they have naturally conceived, and, if not, can we start an amendment?

Comments

[Therese]

Well, it shouldn't apply to just married couples and shouldn't apply to only those naturally conceived.

It's better to go off of the child's right to life. Every child conceived has a right to be born - regardless of the circumstances of his conception and regardless of the circumstances into which he may be born.

[PeterTerp]

I certainly agree that the government shouldn't be allowed to force abortions on anyone; that is, I wasn't trying to imply or limit the law just to married couples.

Although if we want to play the litigious-use-of- language game, we might want to make sure we have a clear definition for "birth."

Would a child conceived outside of the womb have a right to be "born?" That is, it has a right to be implanted, gestate, and emerge from a body? Does this right mean "born" of a human mother? How would we articulate such a law so that the right to be "born" doesn't outweigh a woman's right to choose not to have such a child implanted in her against her will?

If we had a right to be born, could the state then force women to give birth to their frozen eggs?

How far should the state be allowed to go to protect the right to be born?

Obviously, I agree that we should have a right to life, but I am not convinced that we necessarily have a right to be born...if you want to be technical about it.

[Therese]

I understand the difference in civil law, but I'm not sure that natural law would see much of a difference between the unborn's right to life and the unborn's right to be born. That said, I believe every child conceived has a right to be born. Does that trump a woman's right to not be forced to have a child implanted against her will? Probably not, but that doesn't mean the child's right to be born doesn't exist.

Catholic Conferences around the country (including ours here in Maryland) have tried to address this issue by introducing several types of legislation, including: Laws that would outlaw anonymous sperm or egg donorship, laws that would mandate that each child be born with a legal mother and legal father (many courts have ruled the opposite), laws that limit the number of embryos that can be created through artificial means at any one time, and laws that limit the number or embryos that can be implanted at one time (to avoid "selective reduction" should all of them take).