Richard E. Johnson, MD, lives in Dunbarton.

We are once again in the political arena, using preborn humans to generate votes for a particular political agenda. We do this because we have devalued those lives to the point of barter without much thought about who they are. Frederick Douglass illustrated the concept well when he described the slave traders as viewing the Black person as a commodity rather than as a human being who has the same thoughts, feelings, emotions, and rights as everyone else. How we label someone determines how we treat them. (Prof. Patrick Henry Winston, MIT AI Lectures).

Here is where you jump in and assert that “the preborn (you fill in the word) is not a human.”

Obviously, if it is not a human being, but simply “products of conception,” a mistake, an inconvenience, or part of “my body” which I have control over, then of course there is no “political” issue, I should be able to do whatever I want with my body parts.

But what if this preborn is a human who needs a voice, who needs to be protected from the disease, injuries and misfortune that affect all humans at various times in their life, from conception to natural death.

Why would I state that the preborn is human and deserving of protection? Consider the following:

■Genetically it is a separate person from its mother and father. It is not another “organ” like heart or lungs that are part of the pregnant woman’s body.

■Its heart is beating 21 days after fertilization.

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■At six weeks its brain waves can be recorded.

■At 12 weeks the baby is fully formed and sucking her thumb.

■At 20 weeks the baby responds to her mother’s voice.

■Babies who have exited their uterine home as early as 22 weeks have, with active treatment, a 28% chance of surviving. Those who are born at 23 weeks have a 55% chance of survival. Although neurodevelopmental challenges are not uncommon in these premature babies, half of these children had no or minimal neurodevelopmental impairments at two years.

Where one is living, how old or young you are, what you can and cannot do does not make you non-human. As a physician I am called to defend the weak, care for all, irrespective of where they live, what their abilities or disabilities are, whether they are wanted or unwanted.

Many in our world are demanding “reproductive rights.” Taken literally, at face value, I too am in support of reproductive rights. Today, however, many are adding to that slogan the right to terminate the life they have created. What they are really saying with the reproductive rights slogan is this: “I fight for your right to end the life of your baby.” I ask, to what extent will we tolerate child sacrifice for our own peace and comfort?

Having said that, I am aware of the added burden that an unexpected pregnancy brings to a woman’s life. The woman may be in school or rising in the ranks of her company. She may be financially stretched to the limit. She may already be a single parent. Her pregnancy may have been the result of rape. She may be a teenager totally unprepared for being a mother and the thought of caring for a child turns her world upside down. These are all extremely difficult situations which need addressing by a compassionate society; a society that values life from conception to natural death. A world view that embraces sanctity of life, realizing that the taking of life is not a remedy.

My plea is that you and I understand that “reproductive rights” as it is being marketed, is the taking of a life, a defenseless life. We need to avoid getting hoodwinked and polarized with vote-seeking rhetoric. We need to put money, commitment, hard work, and compassionate care into providing for good birth control counseling for all. We need community resources and government to support women who find themselves in the extremely tough situation of an unplanned pregnancy.