There is a Constitutional right to life in the United States. Amendment 5 of the U.S. Constitution’s Bill of Rights states that no one can be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. This was based on the Declaration of Independence, which said that all people are endowed by their Creator with the inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and that the primary purpose of government is to secure these rights. The 14th Amendment to the Constitution repeats the right to life, liberty or property and requires that every person be provided equal protection of the laws. Every president, vice-president, cabinet member, federal or Supreme Court judge, Congressman, and Senator, upon election or appointment to office, swears an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States.
In spite of this, it’s estimated that about one million abortions take place annually and about 60 million abortions have been performed in the U.S. since 1973, based on accumulative data from the two primary sources of U.S. abortion statistics – U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Guttmacher Institute, an arm of Planned Parenthood.
From 1973 to 1997, the CDC received data from all 50 states; however, beginning in 1998, some states did not report, including California. The sizable drop in abortions between 1997 and 1998 (from 1,186,039 to 884,273) reflects the absence of data from those non-reporting states. The third column of the chart lists the annual percent of change based on the states reporting the previous year and provides the best big picture of abortion trends.
Human life and personhood begin at conception. This is a scientifically proven and indisputable fact. According to the worldwide acclaimed geneticist Dr. Jerome Lejeune, at the moment of conception every chromosome that will determine every genetic trait is present at conception. At 18 days after conception the baby’s heartbeat is strong enough that a sonogram can detect it. The brain and central nervous system are working in the womb–a definite sign of life, according to The Developing Human, a textbook in embryology used by medical schools training obstetricians.