Letter: Follow the science on right to life
Harry Blackmun, in his defense of the 1973 abortion decision, hedged his position by stating that if it could be proved that a fetus is a human life, then by the 14th Amendment the fetus does indeed have a right to life. This was his own reasoning.
At that time in 1973 experts did not agree on when life begins. Justice Blackmum knew the experts did not agree. So Justice Blackmun decided, we, the Supreme Court, could supply an answer if experts do not agree. So, if anyone in the future does prove there is a human being in there, we'll just have to overturn it. This was an appalling legal precedent.
Dr. Henri Lejeune, a French geneticist in the 1990s, is the man who discovered an extra copy of chromosome 21 that is responsible for Down syndrome. Dr. Lejeune also discovered objectively verifiable evidence that the full human genetic code is present in the human embryo from the moment of sperm-egg fusion. Not just a human genetic code, but a distinct, individual, unique and unrepeatable human genetic code. It is biologically and genetically distinct from its father and mother with a separate DNA.
Dr. Lejeune stated that after fertilization, it is no longer a question or opinion if a human has come into being. It is an established scientific fact. It is experimental evidence confirmed by a whole cadre of modern scientists. People on the Left need to follow the science and understand why Roe is being overturned.
Justice Blackmun and the other justices decided to affirm Roe without publicly verifiable evidence by actually guessing that a baby did not have a unique DNA. For that reason alone, Roe has been one of the greatest travesties in modern legal history.
Kenneth Novak
Glen Ellyn