Statement of Policy

The members of the Illinois Right to Life Committee join one another in the defense of human life.  We oppose the use of medical science for any deliberate destruction of human life from the time of conception until natural death.  In those cases where continued pregnancy threatens the life of the mother, every effort must be made to save both lives, and if premature delivery is necessary at any stage, every effort to sustain the life of the child must be mandatory.

We demand due process of law and equal protection of laws for all human beings regardless of size, degree of development, physical or mental competence or political, religious, ethnic or racial characteristics.

We regard any human experimentation that involves risk to life or health, done with informed consent as immoral.  This precludes an such experimentation performed upon live fetuses.

We are opposed to early abortion with drugs, chemicals or devices to the same degree that we oppose any abortion or infanticide.

We are unalterably opposed to abortion, infanticide and exterminative geriatric medicine, no matter what the social problem at hand.  We say to our society that other, more creative means must be found to solve our problems.  The right to life of an innocent human being is absolute and unsurrenderable.

We support pro-life alternatives to abortion, infanticide and exterminative medicine and seek to form our society in such a way that these deliberate, violent actions will remain unspeakable crimes.

The Youngest Member of the Family-
The Unborn Child

The fetus is an unborn infant, in many ways more truly an infant than the one in arms.  The word infant means one unable to speak.  But the fetus cannot even have his/her cries heard!  The invisible, inaudible infant before birth is the same infant when visible and audible after birth.   No mysterious transformations are worked by passage through the pelvic outlet from one location to another.  The baby has the same family resemblances before birth as after birth.  The infant born prematurely at six months is no more distinct in features and traits than another infant of the same age still inside the womb.

Though small, naked, nameless and voiceless, the fetus is characterized by fetologists as "a young human being, dynamic, plastic, resilient, and in a very large measure in charge of his/her environment and destiny."  By three months, fetuses are perfectly formed, thumb sized aquanauts.  They swim, somersault, suck their thumbs and imbibe amniotic fluid.   They even refuse it when bitter and take more when sweetened.  They grimace and cry when stimuli are unpleasant, obviously aware of pain and discomfort.  Their world is alive with sounds and they respond to flashes of light.  Rather than passively inhabiting the uterus, they purposely search for comfort by readjusting their position with each shift of their mothers' body.  Modern research reveals that it is the fetus more than the mother who directs the pregnancy and is a dominant partner in the relationship.  Unfortunately, the fetus has no defense against violence.

The proponents of abortion-on-demand insist that for socio-economic reasons the selection of those who live and those who die should be a private matter. While we recognize that there exist, in our society, a number of serious social and medical problems needful of solution, we reject violent and destructive solutions and strive to provide humane, viable alternatives. The inalienable right to life of every human being, no matter what his or her size, age or competence, must be protected by law.

We feel an obligation to right this situation. We must destroy the notion that innocent human life can be taken for personal convenience or financial gain and without due process. The Illinois Right to Life Committee urges people of good will everywhere to speak out and act to defend innocent human life and work to bring every human life to his or her greatest potential.

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