The Civil Rights of the Unborn [OPINION]

A powerful case is being made for the civil rights of the unborn and that case is being argued by none other than the niece of the great civil rights leader Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. Alveda King, director of Priests for Life’s Civil Rights for the Unborn project, spoke with SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Tonight with Breitbart Senior Editor-at-Large Rebecca Mansour about a greater awareness of life before birth, and the need to consider the civil rights of "little people in the womb." King says doctors who continue to perform abortions "medically know that that is a person. That is a human being. Ultrasound shows that to all of us, now, and science has caught up with us.”

Dr. King, who herself has had two abortions and considered a third in the early 1970s, says many women have been victims of the abortion culture.

“In most instances, mothers have been either coerced — sometimes even (in the case of) rape or incest — and are forced into abortions, or at least confused and under stress and pressure," she said. "So we know we want to protect the baby and the mother.”

Dr. King notes that societal attitudes towards abortion are shifting and says tougher abortion laws like the one just enacted in Alabama that virtually bans all abortions “is not to punish women but it is to stop and give the baby civil rights." And King says many who have accepted the abortion culture are re-evaluating their beliefs.

"The objective is to give the babies civil rights, to protect and to help the mothers, and then to strengthen the family. That is the goal. It’s not too harsh. It’s not too much. It’s not too extreme," she said.

Dr. King says the key to changing attitudes about abortion is compassion. "You need to be able to serve these mothers [and] serve these babies. If they actually cannot be ready to raise that child, then put that child into adoptive situations," she said.

The abortion culture claims many victims. The "little people in the womb," as Dr. King refers to the unborn, are the obvious victims. But mothers are often silent victims who suffer alone for many years after choosing to abort a child. The father and grandparents of aborted children are victims of this culture as well.

It is unlikely that all abortions will be outlawed in the U.S. but the staggering numbers that are performed annually have to be reduced. That can only happen when attitudes about the sanctity of life are re-examined and we are willing to recognize the civil rights of the unborn as guaranteed by God and by the laws of the United States of America.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." — Declaration of Independence, 1776

Barry Richard is the host of The Barry Richard Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. Contact him at barry@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @BarryJRichard58. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.