Leaders have duty to protect right to life

The Declaration of Independence boldly affirms that first among our inalienable rights is the right to life, given to us by the Creator. Yet despite being so solemnly proclaimed, the right to life is today threatened and often denied, particularly at the moments when life is most fragile. Our laws should — first and foremost — protect life. Even with the overturning of Roe v. Wade, many states still do not recognize children in their mothers’ wombs as persons and still claim that abortion is a right. Further, many political leaders in Illinois work actively to increase access to abortion. Some falsely describe it as health care and even as a basic human right. Laws and policies that legalize or promote an intrinsic evil like abortion violate the virtue of justice.

Those who work as public officials and civic leaders have a duty to serve the common good, and therefore have a profound obligation to safeguard this most fundamental right to life.

Harriet Kondziolka

Mount Prospect