This seems to be a hot topic right now based on how divided the presidential candidates are on the issue and it seems fitting to discuss now since November is Premature Birth Awareness Month. I figured I would put in my two cents because that is what I do.
First I want to say very plainly where I currently plant my feet on the issue. I am strongly Pro-Life. I believe abortion is murder and I believe there is medical, legal and Biblical backing for that claim. Now that is said I want to also step forward and say that I myself have had an abortion. When I was a stupid 17 year old teenager I had unprotected sex and I got pregnant. I went to my senior prom pregnant. I walked across the stage at my graduation pregnant and there was only 3 people who knew this fact for almost 3 years. I was scared and though the procedure was expensive it was readily available and seemed like the most feasible option for someone who did not think she could raise a baby at 17. I walked into a Planned Parenthood Clinic in the morning and 8 hours later walked out a changed person. Some may say that my stance on this topic is hypocritical and to some extent I suppose they could be right, but because I believe in the saving Grace of Jesus Christ and in the fact that I have intimate knowledge what goes on behind those doors I feel 100% justified in my beliefs and having an opinion on the topic.
First of all, I do believe that the locations of Planned
Parenthoods and other so-called "women's health centers" are
strategic. They are very much located in neighborhoods with a particular
demographic. Here in Phoenix you find them near colleges, high crime rate areas
and in communities that are most definitely lower income. The areas in which
they are targeting are those that have higher unwanted pregnancy rate. I do
want to point out that my word choice in that last sentence was intentional.
Mainstream media would have said unexpected as opposed to unwanted because
unexpected takes the responsibility out of desire to terminate the pregnancy.
If you have sex you should expect to get pregnant, period. If you do get
pregnant and that was not your plan then the feeling you should have is that
the pregnancy is unwanted not unexpected. See the difference? Ok moving on.
Next, these "clinics" and the politicians that support
them simply pander to the general public making the procedure out to be nothing
more than a birth control method. One of the many ladies I sat in that Planned
Parenthood with that morning was a thirty something year old married lady with
4 kids and that one was her third abortion in 2 years. That was one of the
stories that makes me absolutely nauseous now and also helped my 17 year old
mind justify my option. I thought, well if there are adult mothers out there
doing this it can't be all bad. I mean I just made a mistake once, it could be
worse. Let me just return to my previous point to drive that one home. If you
have sex you should expect to get pregnant, period. At thirty something this
woman had no more brains in her head than a 17 year old kid.
One local abortion
clinic (not Planned Parenthood by the way) states on their homepage:
"Abortion Clinics Arizona offers abortion services to help you plan your
parenthood. We offer painless, affordable abortion services in a state of the
art medical outpatient treatment center. We believe that women have a right to
choose when they will have children. We are here to help patients through a
safe abortion procedure with the dignity and respect they deserve.
Abortion Clinics Arizona offers all birth control methods at
affordable prices with convenient hours for exams."
This paints a very pretty picture amidst the chaos that of an
unwanted pregnancy. Can we just dissect this for a moment?
This clinic helps "you plan your parenthood." If they
were in the business of "planning" they would have that last sentence
at the top don't you think?
They "offer painless, affordable abortion services." It
seems to me that they are referring to the immediate physical pain. That's all
well and good, but what, I would like to know, do they offer for the years of
emotional pain in making a decision like that needs? It's only been 15+ years
for me and there are days I am just a tortured by the realization of what I did
as I was hours after doing it.
They "believe that women have the right to choose when they
have children." Again if they were so keen on providing women with a
choice as to when they would like to have children their mission wouldn't be
catering to clientele that already feels like they are backed into a corner.
Education is power. Prevention is key. How do you prevent pregnancy? DON'T HAVE
SEX!
They are there "to help patients through a safe abortion
procedure with the dignity and respect they deserve." How safe does
manually dilating a women's cervix to insert a vacuum and extracting a baby,
regardless of how small, sound? They claim that this procedure has little
effect on future reproductive health, but they can't guarantee it (read the
fine print if you have a question about that). They claim that hemorrhaging,
cervical or uterine damages or other procedure related trauma are rare, but
they happen (again read the fine print). And dignity and respect? What dignity
and respect does that poor baby get once ripped from the womb? You get a fun
prescription of Valium and antibiotics as parting gifts and the extracted baby
doesn't get flowers or a second thought. They get dumped in a bio hazard bin if
they are lucky. This poor little child who did nothing to deserve their fate is
discarded like trash or sold to companies who wish to profit from its
misfortune. By the way, this particular clinic that I am referring to offers
abortions from 6-20 weeks gestation. To put it in perspective that means
they perform abortions on babies that are the size of a pea to the size of a
small cantaloupe. Now the recommended dilation required for abortion procedures
is approximately 2-4cm to allow for instrument insertion, so logically how do
you think a baby that is 6.5 inches long gets out? Where is the dignity or
respect there?
At this moment I would like to jump back just a tad. They
mentioned before "painless." I was one of the "lucky" ones
because I had my abortion very early on in the pregnancy. The internal trauma
that I endured was relatively less than that of other girls who were further
along. Though doped out of my mind on a cocktail of meds I do remember the
chilling screams of one girl who was quite a bit further along and suffering.
The combination of having to be dilated a bit more to accommodate the
additional instruments and the internal trauma of having a larger baby removed
(not to mention the mental fun) left her writhing in pain. I remember there was
a nurse trying to quiet her because she was screaming so loudly that the people
in the waiting room could hear her. I will never get that out of my head.
I doubt I have to go over that last line again, but to drive the
point home. If they were a clinic that truly wanted to help women plan when
they have kids the emphasis of their mission statement would be on pregnancy
prevention, not termination.
The development of a baby begins immediately. It is ridiculous to me that the lobbyists and supporters of abortion blatantly ignore the sound science that they cling so heavily to proving that the life of that child begins at conception. Let’s just look at some of the developmental milestones that occur in those first few months of pregnancy. At the very moment of conception cells are splitting, multiplying and beginning to form life. At 5 weeks there is a measurable heartbeat. The brain begins to form at 6 weeks. By 8 weeks (2 months) the baby has independent movements. The organs and physical structures are formed and ready to grow by 10 weeks. At 12 weeks (3 months) the baby has reflexes and can move fingers and toes. By 13 weeks a very unique fingerprint is developed. Bones are hardened at 17 weeks. 19 weeks marks when a baby can see lights, hear sounds and taste flavors. At 20 weeks (5 months) the mother is officially halfway through a normal pregnancy. 20 weeks is also the general cutoff for abortions performed in an outpatient type situation. Young mothers and those who just are unaware probably do not even realize how very fast the growth of a baby happens. Every day that goes by means that baby boy or girl grown as an unimaginable rate. Terminating a pregnancy at any stage obviously halts that growth and takes a life.
There are medical explanations that support the fact that abortion is taking away life. Many people have argued that aborting a baby is not so dissimilar from having your appendix or kidney taken out. Some see a baby as nothing more than an organ that can be removed and disposed of. This idea baffles me because truth be told, from the very moment of conception, the embryo is genetically different than the mother. The baby, in the first moments of life, are given a distinctly different set of DNA from the mother and the father. Additionally, the heart is formed by the 18th day from conception and it begins beating by week 5. Historically, the absence of a heartbeat has been the leading criteria that defined death. If a person was to no longer have a heartbeat they were presumed dead. How is it then that the same is not a criteria for recognizing life? If a recognizable heartbeat defined viable life nearly all abortions would be illegal because most women don’t even know they are pregnant by that point. More recently a more intricate criteria for death has been the absence of brain wave activity. For a baby in the womb brain waves have been recognizable by 40 to 43 days (approximately 5 to 6 weeks). This method of defining life, though a bit more complex, still could outlaw a large majority of abortions in the US.
The largest case regarding the legality of abortion was very obviously Roe vs. Wade. This case resulted in state laws that protected unborn children being overturned across the county. Since the decision of this case in 1973 nearly 30 million abortions have been performed. That is approximately the population of Canada. Yearly that averages out to be almost 700,000 which is nearly to population of Washington DC. The Roe vs. Wade case separated personhood from humanity. Basically this meant that the judges agreed that the developing child was human, but was not seen as being a person. This is important because from a legal standpoint only persons are given the protection of the 14th Amendment. To provide a little history for you the 14th Amendment was created to protect any person from being denied the right to life, liberty or property without due process of law. This means that before a person can be condemned to death they must have committed a crime, been tried for that crime and found guilty by trial. The burden of proof in law is on the prosecution. The benefit of doubt is with the defense. This is also known as a presumption of innocence. The defendant is assumed to be innocent unless proven guilty.
Now I also mentioned that I felt that there was Biblical backing to support the fact that abortions are wrong. To follow on the legal reasons the phrase “innocent blood” is mentioned 20 times in the Bible in relation to children. God also commanded that “Thou shalt not murder.” (Exodus 20:13). The words used here are of great importance. God did not say thou shalt not kill, he said murder. Obviously there is death and bloodshed in the Bible some condoned by God because the people were found to be “not innocent.” When someone is “not innocent” they are killed, when someone is “innocent” of a crime and put to death they are murdered. Again seeing as an unborn child could not have committed a crime or been found to be “not innocent” putting them to death would be murder and violates the 10 Commandments. Based on Biblical reference personhood most definitely does begin at conception. In Jeremiah 1:4-5 God says “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” God created each and every one of us and gave us purpose. In Psalms 139:13 David recognized that God created him saying “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.” David also saw that children were created with a purpose and given to a family as a reward and said "Truly children are a gift from the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward." When abortionists reason that taking life is less evil than the difficulties that will accompany life, they are making themselves wiser than God who teaches us that his grace is capable of stupendous feats of love through the suffering of those who live.
My personal journey has taught me a lot. I have formed opinions and done my homework since to make sense of my terrible decision and help people not make a similar mistake. I can honestly recall most of the 8 hours I spent in the clinic that day. I remember the people, some of the conversations, and being asked why I was crying but not even knowing that I was. I remember seeing my baby’s heartbeat (which I wasn’t supposed to see). I remember the procedure room and how dark it was and how every talked very quietly. I remember the kindness of the nurse telling me that it was almost over. I remember a lot of the time in the recovery room, but mostly the other girls’ screams. All of it makes me feel dirty even today. Today I feel strong enough to tell my story and share my experience and opinions. I am always one to share what I have learned and this is no different. Even doctors have turned 180 from the idea that abortion is ok. The below link is the experience of one such doctor (the video does share graphic ideas and images so watch at your risk):
If you have anything to share I would love to hear it. Sound off
in the comments here or on Facebook and let’s get this conversation started. We
need to not be silent anymore about taboo topics. These are now the topics that
politicians, lobbyists and reporters are using to their advantage and very
little truth is told. We can change that.
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