What if one day you went to work one day and looked out of your office window to discover a demolition crew. To your horror, you discover that they’re getting ready to tear the building down. With you in it.

You can hear the crew outside talking with the owner about the details of the plans to destroy the building. In anguish, you yell out at the top of your lungs to try to let them know that you’re in there. But they don’t hear you. You try to open the windows. But you discover that you’re not strong enough to get out.

Thankfully, some people do know you’re in there and they go to talk with the building owner. They tell her that there is somebody inside and that it’s not right to tear the building down with somebody in it. She doesn’t seem to believe that there could actually be anyone inside and is assured by the demolition crew that the building is empty except for some worthless furniture. They discourage her from checking for herself, insist that it’s empty and try to hurry her along so that they can get paid.

The people who know you’re in the building don’t give up. They go to court and file a motion to halt the demolition on the grounds that you are in the building, which you are. But the demolition company files a counter-motion on behalf of their client, the building owner, and insist that the people trying to help you are attempting to restrict the owner’s right to do what she wants with her property. The court sides with the demolition crew and the building owner, ruling that there is no evidence that anyone is inside the building and that no one has the right to stop someone from tearing down their own property. The owner and the demolition crew rejoice that justice has been done and their rights have been protected. The news media reports that the owner’s property rights have been protected against the people who tried to take them away.

Back in the building, you nervously look outside the window as the wrecking ball begins to move. You had never planned on being in the building for long and just want to be able to be allowed to leave safely. You instinctively hope that someone will somehow help you. But the owner has most likely been deceived into thinking that you’re not there. In addition, the court has determined that the owner has a right to destroy the property. They ruled this way without even considering the possibility that when the owner allows the demolition crew to destroy the building, they will also be ending your life in the process.

Anyone who bothered to check the building would conclude that there is a living person inside of it. But even this is no longer the issue that concerns those watching. Your struggle to avoid being demolished is now viewed by many as the struggle to allow the building owner to have control of her own property and to prevail against the people who want to stop her from destroying it with you in it.

The wrecking ball swings over and over again. Eventually, the building falls and tragically, your life is ended.

The story you just read does not have a happy ending. But what is saddest about it is that this is exactly what happens every day to thousands of unborn babies whose moms have been convinced by “demolition crews” that there is no one in her “building” - her womb. The courts have declared that mom, the property owner, has the right to do what she wants with her “building” - without fully exploring the question of whether or not anyone is in there.

There is one main difference between this story and the story of the million unborn American babies who face the wrecking ball each year. The unborn babies can’t yell.

If you are pregnant and scared or know someone who is, please know that you have a lot of people who care about both the mother and baby and that there are alternatives. For example, there are a lot of organizations (Life Choices for example) that can help you or refer you to someone who can. There is somebody else in your building.

“The Values Voter