Pro-Life Atheists: You Can Oppose Killing Babies in Abortions Without Being Religious

National   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Jan 9, 2023   |   12:32PM   |   Washington, DC

One does not have to be a Christian to believe that every human being deserves a right to life, leaders of Secular Pro-Life told the Christian Post this week.

Founder Kelsey Hazzard and executive director Monica Snyder said their organization represents atheists and agnostics who believe it is wrong to abort an unborn baby. The two also pushed back against a new strategy abortion activists are employing that challenges abortion bans on religious freedom grounds.

Snyder told the Christian Post that her pro-life beliefs are rooted in scientific fact.

“It’s a biological fact” that human life begins at conception, she said. “You don’t need to be religious to recognize biological facts, and you don’t need to be religious to believe all humans are morally valuable.”

But new lawsuits from abortion activists in Kentucky, Indiana, Idaho, Missouri and Texas argue the contrary, claiming state abortion bans violate their religious freedom by imposing Christian beliefs on others. So far, several Jewish women have filed lawsuits in Kentucky and Indiana and the Satanic Temple filed lawsuits in four states, both claiming aborting unborn babies is part of their religious practices.

Hazzard, a lawyer and pro-life atheist, pushed back against these claims, saying religious freedom does not justify destroying the life and rights of a child.

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“Religious freedom has its limits, and the death of a child lies beyond that limit,” she said. “The American legal system has encountered an analogous issue: May Jehovah’s Witnesses condemn their medically fragile sons and daughters to death because they believe that blood transfusions are sinful?”

Hazzard said their pro-abortion beliefs may be sincere but they do not trump the child’s right to life, and the government has a “compelling interest” to protect human rights, according to the report.

“… the right to life must take precedence over religious, unscientific beliefs about ensoulment at birth,” she continued.

Here’s more from the report:

Presenting a hypothetical, the pro-life atheist Snyder questioned whether society would have to allow elective third-trimester abortions in the name of religious freedom if someone’s faith claimed that life doesn’t begin until the first breath.

“Historically, some societies believed neonates aren’t ‘children’ until they’re named, or fed, or baptized. Would we have to allow infanticide prior to those rituals in the name of religious freedom?” she asked. “No, of course not.”

“Freedom of religion is important, but it doesn’t justify human rights violations. Abortion violates human rights by killing human beings,” Snyder asserted. “Freedom of religion doesn’t justify it.”

Although Christians make up a large part of the pro-life movement, the belief that human rights apply to all human beings is not just Christian. The pro-life movement is diverse both religiously and culturally, with people from all beliefs and walks of life working together in unity to protect unborn babies, people with disabilities, the elderly and others who are targeted for death.