The root of human rights

What is the basic human right?

Most of us would say freedom. 

Freedom is, of course, important, and it would be intolerable to live without it completely. 

But freedom is a double-edged sword...does it include the freedom to destroy the lives of others? Does it include the freedom to kill, rape, steal, bully?

If someone is attacking you, how much freedom do you really have? 

I say that human rights are rooted in another place...and it is spelled R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

When we start off with respecting each other, we see the human being in front of us. Not the symbol, not the punching bag, not the blame magnet.

When we see the human being, we cannot help but realize that he or she is just like us more than we ever imagined.

Respect is for everyone. For the newborn baby. The difficult child. The cranky co-worker. The political opponent. Even the prison inmate. 

You don’t have to love everyone (no matter what the Bible says). That can’t be done in any event. When you respect people – even if you know you must limit your contact with them for your own sake – you strengthen your connection to humaneness.  

If we all respected each other, what kind of world do you think this would be?

Take time to think about it.

Birth control = a human right

For the bulk of my adult life – from ages 23 to 45 – I took birth control pills. It was the right thing to do for me. At first, it was to delay childbirth until an undefined “later.” When “later” came along and I realized that I valued peace and quiet far more than the inevitable chaos that children bring, I took pills to hold onto my peaceful, quiet lifestyle. I only stopped because my doctor said that pills were not good for women of a certain age.

At this point, I could try from now until menopause to get pregnant and fail. What I would do in case of an unplanned pregnancy is something I don’t worry about anymore. Not much, anyways.

I do worry about what other women are able to do about their unplanned pregnancies.

I have felt this way since I was old enough to be aware of the issue: Women’s power is curtailed unless they have full control over when they get pregnant. Men can say what they want, but it is the woman alone who takes on the physical risks of pregnancy, which can lead all the way up to death. Contraception is nothing less than a human right – and when contraception fails, it is necessary that abortion be an option.

Too many American states are walking backward on this issue. Why? Is it because as women (and non-whites, and the non-religious) become stronger, the forces of traditionalism become more shrill and strident, fighting for their lives before it’s too late?

In my heart, I know the traditionalists will lose in the long run. But we must never take anything for granted.

Life is meant to be lived facing forward, not back. I had the freedom to choose my own reproductive destiny. I will stand up so every other woman, now and in the future, can have that same freedom. After all, one of our codified American freedoms is “the pursuit of happiness.” For some of us, that means two children, or one – or none.

Think about it.