My Essay on Abortion

When I was in high school, and abortion was still a relatively newly public topic (Roe vs. Wade was in 1973 and only 15 years later I was in high school), we had to write an essay on something we felt strongly about. When I was just a little younger, I remember learning what abortion is and being shocked-- stunned, that anyone would want to end the life of a baby, regardless of the circumstances. To learn that this was perfectly legal, that the baby was being called only a "fetus" and "tissue" did nothing to assuage my horror. So, when I wrote my essay, my junior year, I wrote about what I consider to be an evil in our society: abortion.


I wrote with passion and anger and fiercely stated that I consider it murder, and both the doctor involved and the willing mother were responsible for it. My opinion then was very black and white. Killing babies is evil, wicked and should be punishable by the death penalty. 

I remember my teacher noting on the paper "No mercy? What about in cases of incest or rape?" I never had to answer her. And, truthfully, I was so vehemently against abortion that I did not care about the cause. 

Not much has changed. I'm still passionately against abortion, regardless of the circumstances. Even if I were impregnated by rape, I can't imagine slaughtering an unborn baby being justified in my mind. It's still a child-- a life. I found a very interesting and insightful article about this topic right here. I wanted to know what percentage of abortions were actually chosen because of incest or rape. It looks like very, very few. I found another source that claimed less than 1% for each. Chew on that, folks. Most babies are killed simply because the girl or woman who is pregnant had unprotected sex and then didn't want to deal with the resulting baby. 

Lately, abortion has been big on talk radio as multiple (well, two so far) abortion doctors are being investigated and charged with murder, because they were killing babies who were accidentally born alive. (The fact that the major media outlets are avoiding the topic is disturbing...)

Um... what, exactly is the difference between a baby being dismembered, stabbed and killed within its mother's womb and a baby being dismembered, stabbed and killed on the table having just exited its mother's womb? People should be very, very upset about this.

But the root problem isn't the timing of the killing. The problem is the legality of the killing. Because of Roe vs. Wade, 40 years ago it was declared open season on unborn babies in our country.

Arguments in defense of legalized abortion center on a few major points:

1. Rape/incest/unwanted pregnancies should be able to be terminated if a woman wants to-- it's her body. Unless your talking about the body of an unborn baby girl. She has no rights.
2. Cleanliness and safety for the woman should be legally provided. If abortion isn't legal, it will still happen, and it will be messy, dangerous and even deadly. To the mother. Um... yeah.
3. It isn't a baby until it's at least 24-28 weeks along. Or on the table. It's "tissue" or "fetus" or "cells". Yeah. Right. How many pregnant women say, "Today at my ultrasound, we saw our fetus and heard its heartbeat!" Or "We're going to name this bundle of cells Jack!" 

I'm probably missing some of their favorite arguments, but that's the gist of what I've heard my whole life. The biggest of these, the first, is that it's a women's rights issue. In response, I vehemently say that 99% OF THESE WOMEN ALREADY EXERCISED THEIR RIGHT TO CHOOSE BY CHOOSING UNPROTECTED SEX!!!!  They CHOSE to risk pregnancy. Abortion isn't about "choosing"! It's about a get-out-of-jail-free card! It's about not dealing with the consequences of a bad choice!! For the majority of women who abort their babies, it is simply about not wanting to deal with and take responsibility for the choice to have unprotected sex. Spin it any way you want, that's the truth.

I heard an interview on the radio with a woman who worked for one of the abortion clinics now under scrutiny, and she said often the mother would ask her "did the baby feel anything" and she wanted to say "of course! What do you think? You came in here to kill your baby, what did you think would happen?" or some such-- I paraphrase-- but she felt it was her professional duty to tell her that no, the baby didn't feel anything. WHAAA??? 

Why not be completely honest about what is being done? Ridiculous. I think women seeking an abortion should first have to watch footage of past abortions-- little legs and arms being torn off and extracted, or necks being cut or whatever horrible actions are taken to kill babies. I think they should be fully informed!!

In defense of life, in defense of defenseless babies, I will always be pro-life. If you are considering abortion, please, please, first consider adoption. That baby has a right to LIFE. And there are so many couples out there that are aching to be parents and can't have a baby themselves. Life is the answer. Love is the answer.
I guess things in my heart haven't changed much since high school. And having given birth to 4 babies, my feelings might actually be stronger now.