It is disheartening to read editorials like the one I read in the Sept. 9 edition of the Skiff. The author, who suggests that Gov. Sarah Palin is “not the correct choice to win (Hillary) Clinton supporters,” is so misguided. What is most disturbing about her article is her comment in the third paragraph that “Clinton voters were typically older women who support equal rights and opportunities for their gender.” She then adds, or at least infers, that because Palin does not support abortion, she does not support equal rights. Then, the author proceeds to denigrate Palin, suggesting that she is someone much less than what I believe history will prove her to be. But that’s for another day.

Abortion? Equal rights? I’m trying to understand how anyone can suggest that by being pro-abortion, one is also supporting equal rights. Because the truth is it is exactly the opposite. But I don’t fault the writer (and others under 35 years old), as they were all born after the infamous Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, which set off perhaps the most heinous crimes in history; so for their entire lives, they have had to live under the cloud of the “culture of death” that has hovered over our nation ever since that court case. And unless they are prone to search for the truth, all they may know or understand is the environment in which they’ve grown up – one in which we, as a nation, have often become so complacent, so selfish, so self-serving that we see simple truths as whatever we want them to be. Every day, for example, as many as 4,400 babies are aborted, according to several anti-abortion Web sites; yet it has become so accepted and commonplace that few even take notice.

In any event, regardless of what pro-abortion advocates may believe or want us to believe, science has proved when life – a real “living organism of human species” – begins, it begins at conception. That’s not an opinion, that’s a fact, supported by science. And for that human species, that child in the womb, science has also verified a heartbeat by the 22nd day after conception.

With the above in mind, let’s talk for a moment about the equal rights which the author affirms pro-abortion supporters so proudly espouse. My response is very simple – every human is endowed by our creator with the right to be born. It is the most basic and fundamental principle of natural law, and is reinforced by our Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. And because that right is God-given, it is not negotiable – no person, no government, no law, no court decision – nothing – should be able to take it away. The right to be born (or the right not to be killed) has to be the starting point – the foundation on which all other laws must be based. And it has to apply to all. Otherwise, at the moment that we the people believe that we have the right to grant or deny the most basic of all human rights, to decide who should be protected and who shouldn’t be, who should live or who should die without cause, we have placed ourselves above God, and when we do that, we can’t help but lose our way. To demonstrate how far we have fallen, how much we have lost our way, all one needs to do is go back to the third paragraph of the Sept. 9 article – it is so painfully obvious that abortion is the ultimate, most extreme denier of equal rights for all, but especially for our first neighbors, the helpless, the defenseless, the poorest of the poor, the child in the womb. Yet there are many who believe, and want you to believe, that abortion rights means equal rights for all.

The writer is of course free to support any person or candidate she chooses. But if she is truly in search of one who supports equal rights for all, then the truth – THE TRUTH – is that she need look no further than Palin. If that remains too difficult, perhaps she should try to see Palin through the eyes of her 5-month-old son. While I expect this may prompt some comments, both positive and negative, there is one thing that I ask of anyone who may choose to respond. Please do a little research first. Make sure you really know what an abortion is – that you really understand the various methods used to perform abortions, and that you really understand the excruciating pain most aborted babies endure.

David Mestemaker is the Physical Plant assistant director of resources from Hudson Oaks.