Posted on 10/27/2010 4:07:44 PM PDT by wagglebee
TORONTO, Ontario, October 27, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – After proving the humanity of the unborn in an August video, teen pro-life orator Lia Mills has released a new video aiming to prove that the unborn are also “persons” by virtue of being human, as are other classes of humans who have been denied the status of ‘person’ in the past.
The video, released Tuesday, comes out as Lia prepares to address the International Pro-Life Conference in Ottawa, taking place this Thursday through Saturday. She will be joined by a star-studded cast of major leaders from the international pro-life movement, including North American pro-life pioneer Dr. Jack Willke.
"The unborn are definitely human. It's obvious and it’s supported by science,” says Lia in her new video. She points out, however, that people now generally accept the unborn’s humanity and argue instead that they can be killed because they are not yet 'persons'.
"How can we tell when exactly the unborn gain their personhood?" she asks.
To help, she goes to a dictionary, which defined person as “a human being.” “Since the unborn are humans, that means based on this definition the unborn are persons as well," she says. But she then concedes that the issue is more complicated, because the definition of person changes depending on the academic discipline. In law, she points out, “a person is whoever the governing authorities decide to give rights to. ... Under the law, you're only a person if the lawmakers say you are.”
Lia then discusses four examples in history when lawmakers denied personhood to a certain class of people – Jews in the Holocaust, black slaves in the US, North American natives, and women.
"The Jewish people were stripped of their personhood and thereby stripped of their rights and their value, and that's why all of the atrocities committed against them were considered acceptable," she explains.
“People are quick to judge the Germans at the Holocaust, but we have our own Holocaust that's taking the lives of millions of unborn babies every year,” says Lia. “We do it using the same tactics that the Germans did. We deny personhood to the unborn and thereby deny them their rights and justify our own actions.”
"Who decided that the Jews weren't persons, that the natives and slaves weren't persons, and that women weren't persons?” she asks. “Lawmakers."
“Who decides today that the unborn aren't persons? Lawmakers.”
“Personhood has become a fabricated term used by lawmakers to decide who has rights and who doesn't,” she continues. “Personhood is denied to [the unborn] because they're dependent, because they look different, and because they can't do what older babies, children, and adults can do.”
“Should those in power be allowed to decide which humans are 'persons' and which are not, who gets rights and who doesn't?” she asks in conclusion. “Once you allow one group of humans to lose their personhood, every other group's personhood becomes vulnerable and no one is safe.
“When will someone else decide that you're not a person?”
The International Pro-Life Conference will be the first of its kind to take place in Ottawa in 20 years. Lia will be speaking at the conference Friday with Rebecca Richmond of the National Campus Life Network on youth in the pro-life movement.
Conference speakers include, among others, revered pro-life leader and pioneer Dr. Jack Willke (President, International Right to Life Federation), John Smeaton (President of The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, UK), Bill Saunders (Senior Counsel, Americans United for Life), Brad Mattes (winner of a 2010 Emmy Award for his pro-life TV show, “Facing Life Head-on”), and John-Henry Westen (Editor-in-Chief of LifeSiteNews.com).
A ticketed banquet on Friday night will feature Rev. Johnny Hunter of the Life Education and Resource Network (LEARN), and Canadian author and artist Michael O’Brien will speak at a ticketed lunch on Saturday.
The conference is sponsored by Campaign Life Coalition, LifeCanada, LifeSiteNews, and the International Right to Life Federation. It will run from Thursday, October 28 to Saturday, October 30 and will be held at the Hampton Inn Hotel & Conference Centre, 100 Coventry Rd, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
To register visit the conference website. The organizers ask that prospective participants register as soon as possible.
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Teen Pro-Life Phenomenon 'Lia' Defends Rights of the Unborn
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/aug/10083102.html
13-Year-Old Pro-Life Superstar Tackles Euthanasia
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/mar/10030212.html
12-Year-Old Pro-Life Prodigy Gives Moving Speech at Canadian March for Life
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/may/09052210.html
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You've got to see this video!
bfl
Awesome young lady!
Awesome video.
Now...what needs to happen is HR1 in the 112th Congress: “For the purposes of the law, a person is defined as a human being from the moment of fertilization to the moment of natural death. This definition is not subject to review by the Supreme Court.”
Common sense, uncommon in one so young today.
Alas also not to be found in adults today.
She is quite right, the effect of being “stateless”
has been used to abuse people down through time.
If one supposes that rights are granted by a state
then “stateless” people have no expectations of rights.
We have seen our government “Progress” from one founded
on recognition of God given rights, given to all to
a socialist state where all is given by the state.
It’s enough to make you weep.
Abortion is murder.
Lia is articulate far beyond her age....ping
Very straightforward. Very frank. Very succinct. And true.
With young people like this, there is yet hope for the Western world.
Ping for later
Ping for later
"NO PERSON shall be deprived of life without due process of law." -- the United States Constitution ;
Home viewing bookmark.
Thanks for posting this awesome video. It’s a joy to see a young woman who is wiser than her years, rational, sincere and so articulate. I wonder if she’s been home schooled?
Wow! That was a powerful video.
bookmark!
And she’s only 13!
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