Recently I ran across an article in the National Catholic Register that highlighted Barack Obama's lack of support in the past for "born-alive" bills in Illinois. These bills would have guaranteed medical care for babies who were born alive after induced-labor abortions.

During debate over the 2001 legislation, Obama said he opposed it because it might undermine abortion rights: "Whenever we define a pre-viable fetus as a person that is protected by the Equal Protection Clause or the other elements in the Constitution, what we're really saying is, in fact, that they are persons that are entitled to the kinds of protections that would be provided to a -- a child, a 9-month-old -- child that was delivered to term," Obama said on the floor of the state Senate.

And that is what sent shivers down my spine: Obama's very own words. Although he was speaking in reference to the born-alive legislation, his words shine a light on his thought process on life in general.

Anyone watching the Democratic National Convention last week couldn't have missed all the talk about guaranteed health coverage for all Americans under an Obama presidency. But I'm going to venture a guess that this coverage would only be for those Americans whom they deem entitled. And I do believe that Obama's own words indicate that my children -- and the thousands of Americans like them who are born premature each year -- may not be entitled to this protection, because they are not 9-month-old, full-term children.

My sons were born at just 27 weeks gestation. They were not 9-month-old, full-term children; they weren't 8-month-old children; they weren't even 7-month-old children -- but I guarantee that they were fully-formed people with a God-given right to life!