(b.April 18, 1924), a U.S. Representative from Illinois, elected 1975, has served in the 94th–103rd Congresses. He was a member of the Illinois General Assembly, 1967–74; received a degree from Georgetown University, Washington, 1946; and his law degree from Loyola University, Chicago, 1949.
In his address after receiving the “Defender of Life” Award at the Constitutional Litigation Conference, July 16, 1993, Congressman Henry Hyde stated:
“That all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator.” Human beings upon creation, not upon birth. That is where our human dignity comes from. It comes from the Creator. It is an endowment, not an achievement.
By membership in the human family, we are endowed by our Creator with “inalienable rights.” They can’t be voted away by a jury or a court.
“Among which are life”—the first inalienable right, the first endowment from the Creator. That is mainstream America, the predicate for our Constitution, our country’s birth certificate. To respect the right to life as an endowment from the Creator. …
It is the unborn who are the least of God’s creatures. We have been told that whatsoever we do for the least of these we do unto Jesus.3818