I just got an e-mail from the opinion editor complimenting me on my last piece and asking if I could write another one for Tuesday's issue. Here's what I wrote...

"As November approaches, the bombardment of political advertisements begins to hit the airwaves. The American public hears about all the hot-button partisan issues:gay marriage, the war, and, of course, abortion. The Bush administration has used the phrase 'culture of life' as a reason their stance against abortion and a myriad of other issues ranging from stem cell research to euthanasia. Yet, war kills our soldiers and innocent civilians alike, our justice system endorses the execution of prisoners, and we barely bat an eye as much of Africa and other third-world nations go up in flames. A culture of life? Hardly.

This 'culture of life' the Republican party has set up is anything but. A culture of life respects all life—every single life—no matter what they have done, no matter what stage of life they are in, or where that life lives on this Earth. If we ever truly hope to establish the elusive culture of life in America we have to take a hard look at some extremely difficult and complex issues. For one, abortion destroys a human life. There’s no way around that fact. You can try to reason that it’s only a fetus or that the organism contained inside the woman’s womb is just a part of her body and she has the right to do with it what she sees fit. That’s fine if you believe that. But I don’t. However, we as a society often condemn those who go through with abortions. We degrade their life for ceasing the life of another. This is not the culture of life. The culture of life cares for the hard decision this woman has made and wants to help out in any way it can. I have a suspicion if we as a country really cared so much for these unborn children we would be welcoming a lot more of these women into our homes.

The culture of life also cares for those whom society has cast to the side. It is against capital punishment because redemptive violence only fosters the cycle of hate. It is absolutely absurd to believe a life is worth any less because it has made some grave mistake. Everyone has the right to live, no matter who they are or what they have done. Iraqis, Afghanis, and all others in the Middle East have as much of a right to life as any in America or across the world. Those—including myself—who ascribe to the idea of a culture of life need to wake up and realize all life is precious and needs to be protected by whatever means.

A life is a life is a life. Those who truly believe in the culture of life recognize this. They also realize that life does not begin at conception and end at birth. The true culture of life is a difficult thing to realize, but is something most certainly worth fighting for. I just hope we as a society will have the determination, wisdom and dedication to make it a reality."