"Prejudice and Oppression Is Always Wrong, and This Includes Discrimination against the Unborn".

Editor's note. Last month we ran a story by Joleigh Little that gave you the flavor of the outstanding testimony offered by Wisconsin young people in opposition to SB 398. The bill is an attempt to repeal Wisconsin's protective pro-life statute 940.04 which would immediately shelter unborn children from abortion upon the reversal of Roe v. Wade.

As Joleigh explained, "In front of a hostile committee chair, one by one they testified that abortion has decimated their generation. Many had personal stories about how they escaped the abortion holocaust." Indeed, "Every single one of them made their parents and the entire right-to-life movement proud."

The following is much of the testimony presented February 27 to the Wisconsin Senate Committee on Health, Human Services, Insurance and Job Creation. -- Anna Shirek (16)

Our state is one of the few that give my generation a hope for a better tomorrow. A tomorrow where life is respected and protected by the law of the wonderful state of Wisconsin.

Will we continue to stand for what is right and what is just? You see, my generation has already lost and suffered horribly because of abortion. One-third of the people my age are missing from our state right now. They have been denied the greatest right and gift of all human beingsthe right to live.

Now it falls on you to hold the line of wisdom which is our present law.

Please hear my cry today as a representative of a generation that has lost so many lives already to abortion and cannot bear to lose the hope of a better tomorrow. -- Alyssa Allbaugh (17)

I could have been just a statisticone of the 48 million children aborted since 1973. You see, I was considered a very high-risk pregnancy and so my mother was given the option of aborting me. It was reasoned that if we both lived there was a good possibility that I might have physical disabilities. Thankfully, though, my mother believed that all people should be given the chance of life.

First of all, we need to stop putting so much focus on choice so that we can put more focus on chance. I was given that chance of life, but 48 million people weren't. Think of how many Nobel Prize winners, doctors, teachers, and senators were killed among those people.

Prejudice and oppression of a certain group of people is always wrong, and this includes discrimination of the unborn. 940.04 protects unborn children who cannot protect themselves and it protects mothers from the trauma of abortion. -- Angel Petite (18)

I was born prematurely [at] 27 weeks ... . [U]nborn children are aborted at this age, but I survived the genocide.

At 27 weeks I had a heartbeat, brain waves, was able to sense and respond to pain and every system that is found in a fully developed adult was present in me. Even though I was so developed I still could have been aborted and my life would have ended. I would not have been able to meet my family, to attend school, to grow up, to participate in my government, or to sit before this committee today.

I am here speaking for those who have no voice. A quarter of my generation was not given that privilege. They cannot argue on their behalf, they cannot aid in coming up with solutions for the numerous world problemsthey cannot do this, but I can. -- Tatiana Elowson (20)

I was adopted from Honduras, Central America, when I was a baby. My birth mother was 16 years old when she had me. I've never met her, but when I think of her I picture a young, 16-year-old girl scared out of her mind not knowing what to do or where to turn. I'm sure she considered abortion, then someone showed her love and led her to the option of adoption. Or maybe she knew all along she needed to give me a chance at life.

Either way, she knew that disposing of the life that had begun inside of her was not what life was meant for. If a 16-year-old girl in a third world country realizes that the greatest gift given is life, then what is our excuse here in America, let alone Wisconsin?

Freedom is about America's ability to give the life of equal opportunity to everyone, not the ability to pick and choose which life deserves that opportunity.

Yes, there is such thing as an unwanted pregnancy, but I am proof that there is no such thing as an unwanted baby. -- Emily Moe (18)

It was previously mentioned that before Roe v. Wade there were no safe abortions. The fact of the matter is that there is no such thing as a safe abortion. Not only does abortion completely destroy one human life, but also has the potential to physically and emotionally destroy the life of the mother.

So many people here today have said that abortion will happen, legal or illegal. Well, robbery would happen, legal or illegal, so should we legalize robbery because it is "illegal" for a robber to enter someone's home?

Human life does begin before birth. Children can tell you that. Show them a picture of an unborn child, they'll tell you "baby." Society also knows human life begins before birth. There are public service advertisements that urge women not to smoke, drink alcohol, or take drugs while they're pregnant. Society knows the harm it could do to the baby.

So today, you have a choice. Are you going to support the killing of these innocent children or are you going to speak for the voiceless and make a positive difference in the world? -- Mariah Smet (15)

[W]henever we talk about abortion, suddenly it's not an unborn child anymore. Instead people use words like "fetus" or "embryo" or "blob of tissue" trying to dehumanize the baby. Choosing to end a pregnancy is ending a life and no one should have that choice available. After an abortion there is nothing except death. After a pregnancy, regardless of how hard it might be, there's a new lifea baby. 22% of all pregnancies end in abortion and 47% of women having abortions have had more than one. -- Carla Borstad (21)

Hello, my name is Carla Borstad. I am a senior nursing student at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. One week ago I would have thought that today I would be on a cardiology unit in an Eau Claire hospital as a student nurse caring for people whose lives are precious. Instead, I am here in our state capitol asking you, some of the leaders of our state, to care for people whose lives are precious and whose voices are not heard.

I ask you, members of the committee to save statue 940.04 for the following three reasons:

First, I want Wisconsin to be a state in which God is honored by how we treat His creation. Each unborn child is made by God. I am sure many of you are familiar with the verses from Psalm 139:13-14 which say "For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well." I will say it again. I want Wisconsin to be a state in which God is honored by how we treat His creation.

Second, I want Wisconsin to be a state in which unborn children have full protection under our law. I do not want Wisconsin to be a state in which unborn, precious babies are burned, torn apart, or killed in any other way while our leaders turn their backs and pretend as if they did not know what was happening. So I will say it again, I want Wisconsin to be a state in which unborn children have full protection under our law.

And third, I want Wisconsin to be a state in which pregnant women who are scared and confused will receive compassionate, truthful, hopeful assistance in giving their children life. I do not want women in our state to be victimized by people in the abortion industry. A pregnant woman in Wisconsin should not be defiled by an abortionist killing the child within her and she should not be lied to by counselors who do not acknowledge that something horrid was done to her. Instead, I want Wisconsin to be a state in which a pregnant woman who is scared and confused will receive compassionate, truthful, hopeful assistance in giving her child life. -- Priscilla Breininger (16)

Many people question, though, if abortion is made illegal, what will happen to all of those babies who are termed as "unwanted."

There are more people waiting to adopt than there are children to adopt. So in reality, no child is ever truly unwanted. I can personally testify to the advantages of adoption because my family has already adopted three children over the past six years and we are in the process of adopting three-year-old triplets.

One of the triplets was born with several handicaps. He has only one functioning eye, he had a bilateral cleft palate, and he suffered from hydrocephaly. Today he enjoys playing with his toys and his brothers and sisters and his favorite movie to watch is Dora the Explorer.

Some would have advised his biological mother to abort him because of his handicap, because he would have been an "unwanted burden." I am so very thankful that his mother decided to carry him to full term because he, along with the rest of my siblings, are truly the greatest blessing my family could ever have received.

I urge you, members of the Senate to take the brave and just position of protecting those who cannot protect themselves. Please uphold the Wisconsin Statute 940.04 and reject the passage of SB 398.