"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you." Jeremiah1:5
Truly you have formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mothers womb. I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made; wonderful are your works. Psalm 139:13,14
"Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person- among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life." (Catholic catechism, 2270)
The Contents of This Blog Post:
Please scroll below to read each of the sections contained within this site.
..I. The Partial Birth Abortion, The Problem of Abortion
..II. The Choice of Life
..III. The Agenda Of Planned Parenthood
..IV. Supreme Court Abortion Decisions
Our society has become a society of death, where it has become easy to obtain an abortion, and difficult to have a baby. Instead of lobbying for government supported abortions, we must lobby for government supported aid to help pregnant women in need.....TABLE>
Since the decision of Roe v. Wade in 1973, which legalized abortion on demand, over 35 million unborn children have been aborted in this country.1.5 million children are aborted in the US each year and 43% of abortions are repeat abortions. (For a listing of Supreme Court cases concerning abortion, please scroll down to the appropriate section.)
..Abortion must never be a matter of choice.The beginning of human life is not solely a religious, moral or philosophical issue; it is a scientific and biological one. From that time of conception, the developing child within the womb is a living developing individual with a uniquely human genetic makeup...
..The right of every single human being must never be left to choice. Whether "wanted" or "unwanted", rich or poor, black, white, asian or hispanic, no person within the womb, or outside the womb can be deprived of life. ..
On April 10, 1996, President Bill Clinton vetoed a proposed congressional bill that sought to ban a procedure known as the partial birth abortion. A partial birth abortion is a procedure in which a viable, living baby during the last months of a mother's pregnancy, is partially delivered. In order to achieve the abortion, the child must be murdered so that it will not be born alive; prior to the completion of the delivery. This is because the child, as a living and viable being, would in many cases, survive outside the mother's womb. After the delivery of the baby's body; hands, feet, legs, and arms, the doctor stops the delivery. The doctor then uses a scissors, or other sharp tool through the back of the baby's head which at this point, is still in the mother's womb in order to induce death. Through the incision, a suction tube is inserted into the baby's head in order to remove the baby's brain to ensure the baby's death. Essentially, the reason the baby's head is not delivered is for the purposes of avoiding the illegal, criminal act of infanticide. In addition to this, 80% *of these late month abortions are "purely elective", meaning that they are for birth control, rather than for health reasons.
According to an article by Reuters' news service, Ron Fitzsimmons, the executive director of the national Coalition of Abortion Providers, admitted to lying during a television appearance where he spoke in defense of late term abortions. After his appearance on television, he admitted that most late term abortions are in fact performed on healthy women who are carying healthy fetuses.
This statistic is from Robert H. Bork's book, Slouching Towards Gomorra.
Many Americans are unaware of what the partial birth abortion really is. There is not a great distinction between this procedure, and the procedure of infanticide. In fact supporters of the pro-life movement and the pro-choice movement would agree that infanticide is definatly wrong. There is no question that infanticide is murder. Nevertheless, what is the difference between a procedure which murders a baby one month before birth, from a procedure which seeks to murder a baby one month after birth.? A women's womb should not become a place of death, but of life. Just as the right to murder a human being outside the womb should never be legalized, neither should the right to end life in the womb be.
Approximately 4,500 babies are aborted a day. (EWTN) In the U.S. there were 1.53 million abortions performed in 1992. The state of New York alone had the highest rate of abortions at 46.2 abortions for every 1,000 women of reproductive age. Nationally, the rate of abortion is about 25.9 women per 1,000. (Planned Parenthood) Approximately 43% of all these abortions were repeat abortions.Most abortions are not performed out of medical neccesity, for the sake of the mother's life, but for the sake of either the mother's convenience or that of those individuals close to her, such as a husband, partner, or relative. Nor are most abortions performed because of rape.(Less than 1.5% abortions are for rape/interest) . 7% are to protect the mother's health or life. The remainder of abortions are basically for birth control which may include any number of social, convenience and economic reasons. . To save the life of an unborn child may require sacrifice, and it may not be easy or convenient, but life should not be a matter of choice...
These specific statistics, mentioned by Robert H. Bork in his book, Slouching Towards Gomorra, (c. 1996 By Harper Collins) illustrate that most abortions are purely for convenience. Please note that these numbers overlap because women have cited multiple reasons for having an abortion.
The first category of statistics concerns women who have abortions for the sake of convenience. Such women may be motivated by fear, embarrassment or shame. Nevertheless, whatever the reason, these reasons essentially are for convenience, either for that of the mother or somebody close to the mother. 76% abortions are performed because of the mother's concern about how a child will affect her life, 68% are performed for financial reasons, 51% are are because the mother is concerned about her relation ship with her partner/ husband, 23% because of pressure from partner/ husband, 7% because of pressure by the woman's parents, and 31% over a woman's fear that others will know she is pregnant or had sexual relations.
Finally,13% abortions are for reasons concerning the anticipation of possible health problem of the unborn child, and 7% of all abortions are performed for the sake of the mother's health. 1% are for rape or incest. As seen by this second category, abortions for reasons other than convenience are relatively small in proportion to the total number of abortions. Nevertheless even reasons such as these do not necessarily justify abortion either. (Please scroll below for a detailed discussion ..ions performed for rape and incest.)
Many women grieve after having an abortion. They mourn for the loss of their child, and often they regret their choice of having an abortion. Such information concerning the pain, and grief experienced by women is suppressed from women when they seek information ..ion. Pro-life testimony in public media such as in T.V., radio, newspapers, schools and women's health clinics is often suppressed and censored by the government, and the pro-choice establishment. Society tells women that the choice to be able to have an abortion is empowering. In fact, the choice to have an abortion is seen as a victory for women just as the right to vote (women's suffrage). While many pro choice advocates do not claim that they are promoting abortion, but merely the right for a woman to choose. But what is the outcome of this "freedom"? Does the legal right to have an abortion free women? The regrettable result is that many women have abortions because they feel they have no other choice. When a woman is faced with difficult financial, or personal circumstances, society prefers to offer women the easier option of abortion rather than the to seek alternatives. This certainly is not freedom.
..Individuals who support abortion are not evil. These women do not go into an abortion clinic saying to themselves, "I want to murder my baby." Often these women go to have abortions under grevious circumstances: they may feel fear or sorrow, yet they feel that they have no other option. They do not see the unborn child as a person or human being. Society does not see the unborn as a person. Personhood is defined by power and powerful individuals; by this definition, a powerless unborn being is not seen as being a person. Therefore, with this definition of what a person is and is not, abortion does not seem wrong. But, the dignity of human life does not begin at birth. It begins at the very moment that the child is conceived.
"The moment a law deprives a category of human beings of the protection which civil legislation ought to accord them, the state is denying the equality of all before the law." (Catechism, 2273)
All human beings have rights which must be protected and preserved by society and the law. Just as woman has a right to protect her own body, an unborn child in her womb must also have the same right to protect his or her body. The unborn child is not a blob of tissue, a wart, cyst or mole. He or she is a human being, though dependent upon the mother's womb for nine months a life, he or she is a distinct person, nonetheless; whose unique genetic code from the moment of conception, is already determined to give forth a heart, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, skin, and mind. Being dependent on others should not deprive a helpless human being of fundamental rights.
The choice of life....
The thought of carrying a rapist's child sounds like a horrendous injustice for a woman who has already suffered greatly. In fact, for a woman to cary a child of rape/incest is highly stigmatised in society. Yet, in the cases of evil and violent crimes such as rape and incest the victim who has become pregnant experiences more pain and anguish as a result of the trauma of rape than from the unwanted pregnancy, according to the studies of social scientists and experts. As evil and tragic as incest and incestuous pregnancies are, their harmful effects often depend largely upon reaction of others. While most of these women are traumatized over the violent crime itself, rather than the pregnancy, these women are consciously or subconsciously pressured critisised by society, or "well intentioned" family and loved ones, to have an abortion. Further pain , and suffering is experienced when these victims feel forced into obtaining abortions. Feelings such as remorse and pain at aborting the child should not be overlooked. The unborn child herself, is not guilty of the crime committed by the criminal rapist, and therefore should not be permitted to pay for the crime. While the baby herself may be vilified as the child of a criminal, the child is also that of the victim. While the mother may not be able to keep the child, there are others willing to adopt and love the child. And this is a decision that the victim may feel at peace with. Out of suffering and pain, the sacrifice, an act of supreme love for an innocent human being was made...
"I conceived my first child when I was 16. It was the result of a date rape. I had a miscarriage* at 8 weeks and I have to say that I suffered more from the loss of that life than Iever did from the rape...Even though I was young and I don't think I was ready to raise a child there are many people out there who are unable to have children and would have been more than happy to adopt my child." (a 21 year old young woman- December 12, 1996.) * A miscarriage is not an abortion. This example is used to illustrate that the pain of the loss of an unborn child is far worse than the pain of rape.
Every individual has a responsibility to respect and to defend life. The tragedy of abortion affects society as a whole; the mother, the unborn, men, women and children. Whether you are Christian, Jewish, Buddhist or atheist; all have a duty to protect the dignity of human life. Unborn children are just as human as children after birth. What difference is there between a child one day before birth, and one day after? As a human being, all children, including the unborn children, have a constitutional right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The choice of life may be difficult, not easy, but to grant the life of a child is the best choice of all. To deprive a human being of life should not be a matter of choice.
The argument that would dictate that only children that are wanted by their parent(s) should be allowed to be born is a dangerous argument capable of great evil. A human being's right to life should never be dependent upon someone else wanting him or her. To base the worth, and value of a human life upon the criteria of whether a person is wanted by someone else should never be allowed. A person's right to live does not depend on some body else wanting him or her. The pro-choice argument used by its advocates for abortion is no different from Hitler who proclaimed that "life unworthy of life" was unwanted and therefore to be "terminated". Likewise, the rhetoric of Planned Parenthood, to make"every child a wanted child" is no more a justification for murder as is Hitler's.
The Agenda of Planned Parenthood
There exists enough evidence to prove that Planned Parenthood's main agenda is not to help women but to sell abortions to women. Women are not individuals who need help, but potential customers by which money can be made.
Planned Parenthoood has made many outrageous claims in order to push its product, abortion. Just as any other corporation, it must sell its product via advertising and the media. Planned Parenthood has even gone so far as to make the claim that for women who have had abortions it is a "learning" experience. In fact it has also stated that after having an abortion, such women are more mature, and even more self confident. They also cite that women feel relief after having an abortion, and that depression following an abortion is less common than the depression a women experiences after having a baby. The disclaimer provided by Planned Parenthood is this: if you do feel depressed after an abortion, it is either because you did not have an abortion for the "right" reasons, or that you have a mental condition and should seek a doctor.
According to Planned Parenthood having an abortion early in pregnancy is less health threatening than giving birth to a baby. This certainly seems as if they are advocating or trying to convince a women to have an abortion rather than have a baby. Self confidence, maturity, less health risk, relief ; these are words of persuasion used by Planned Parenthood's abortion industry in order to convince women that abortion, rather than giving life to a child is the choice to make. After all, what money would Planned Parenthood make if women chose to have babies rather than abortions. It is clearly in the interest for Planned Parenthood to convince women to have an abortion rather than to convince women to have a child. It is evident that Planned Parenthood will make any claim neccessary to make abortions seem more appealing. Decide for your self by checking out their home page on the internet!
Many argue that if abortions were made illegal, the number of backyard or illegal abortions would increase. Often choice advocated tell horror stories of the results back yard abortions before the days of legal abortions. It is a misconception, though, to believe that legal abortions are safe abortions. Abortion clinics are among the most unregulated health care industries.It is a million dollar industry. According to the testimony many former abortionists, and abortion providers, many women who receive legal abortions are "mutilated", made sterile or injured. Yet, even supposing if the argument that a legal abortion is safer than an illegal abortion is true, is that a reason to make abortion legal? Is it right to make abortion legal if only for the reason that women will procure abortions anyway? The argument for legalizing drugs, and domestic violence can be made on the same grounds. It is a fallacy to believe that that abortion laws save women from the hazards of backyard abortions, but that they do not pressure women who do not want abortion to be pressured into having an abortion. The argument that pro-choice individuals use to support legal abortions, though it may be made out of concern for women, does not aid women.
Discussion Forum
1.)..These are the words of a young woman after having an abortion: "I had an abortion [in] July...It was the biggest mistake of my life. I hurt every day, knowing that I caused the death of my baby... I am only 17 years old, but I do realize the mistake I made. I do wish more than ever that I could change the past [but] I cant...But I do want to help other people... I want them to know the pain they will feel after all is said and done... I am hurting so much, my whole life is falling apart, I am physically ill from the emotional wear on my body." 11/4/96
2.)The words of a young man, (member of Voices For Choice): "I would like to know for myself what your idea is for a new alternative to abortion. I know for a fact [it] has to be a new idea since the...main alternatives out there... adoption and having the child are completely ridiculous." 11/15/96
This individual refered to the choice of life: adoption and having a baby as "completely ridiculous". He claims to be an advocate of choice, yet he is not even for choice. To him, the only choice is abortion, not life.
3.)..A letter from a young woman: "I am unable to have children so therefore I think it gives me a deep respect and understanding of life and the beauty of reproduction and just how awesome it is! It's a gift from God that I haven't [taken for] granted and it makes me so sad when so many people take that gift for granted... many people have abortions for convenience- life just isn't fair I guess. Its not fair to all those unborn babies or to me who would be more than happy to take care of them someday (I'm only 18). Someday I will receive a child, there will be one who needs me, and I will be glad to know that he/she is in my arms instead of being killed." 11/21/96
4.)A letter from a young man: "PLEASE explain to me, why in the name of Jesus Christ or any other God would a Pro-lifer murder in cold blood an abortion doctor. How can the Pro-life movement defend these people? I find it interesting that you are against the killing of a life that is 5-7 weeks old but kill a life that is 30+ years old. How interesting..." 11/30/96
Reply to the above letter: I must stress that the pro life position does not advocate the murder of abortion doctors. Either this is a statement based on a sincere confusion that the pro life position advocates murder or an attempt by pro- choicers to defame and undermine and perpetuate ignorance of the pro life position. It is murder to kill an abortion doctor- and a grave evil, of which no one has the right to do. I as well as others who support the position of life, do not condone or advocate the murder of an abortion doctor and believe that such individuals who murder an abortion doctor are guilty of murder, and likewise should be punished..
5. A letter from a Pro-choice woman: "I am pro-choice, I have had 2 abortions and I grieve everyday for them... The only place that treated me like a human being was Planned Parenthood....How dare you tear down an organization that helps women...I think you need to step out into the REAL world befoe you start spewing your hate". 4/8/97
First of all it is ironic that this women praises Planned Parent Hood for treating her like an "human being". If she values being treated as a human being should not all persons born and unborn be treated as human beings also? Certainly the unborn are not treated as human beings. One must have compassion towards all- compassion should never be selective! Also even she herself admits to her grief, yet at the same time she praises planned parenthood. Nevertheless as many women find out after it is too late, Planned Parenthood is only there for you to get your business- it is after all like a multi million dollar coorporation. This woman, as well as other women who have had abortions suffer greatly. Does it sound as if Planned Parenthood is out for women? Why not offer aid in alternatives to abortion- such as housing, food and adoptive services rather than abortions?
..LIFE.. Choice of Options: A woman has many choices available for both her and her baby besides abortion. If she wishes to raise her child, there are many programs that are willing and able to provide a woman with counseling, housing, medical care, job training, food,clothing and other needed services to help her make a good life for herself and her child. If a woman feels that she cannot provide for her baby, adoption can be a good choice for both mother and child. Many justify abortion, neglecting the option of adoption. Life is worth sacrifice. The life of a human being should not be sacrificed as a means of solving the problems of others, be it the mother, the father, her family/loved ones, or for society.
"The moment a law deprives a category of human beings of the protection which civil legislation ought to accord them, the state is denying the equality of all before the law." (Catechism, 2273)
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My soul also you knew full well; nor was my frame unknown to you when I was made in secret.
I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made; wonderful are your works. Psalm 139:14,15
Supreme Court Cases
I. Roe V. Wade: January 22, 1973
The key decision which marked the beginning of legalized abortion in this Nation. With a 7-to-2 majority, the Supreme Court gave women an unrestricted right to obtain an abortion on demand from a physician during the first three months of pregnancy. Abortion during the third trimester of pregnancy would be controlled in the interest of preserving the mother's life or health, who at this point, would be carrying a viable child. Since this decision, over 35 million legal abortions have been performed in the U.S.
II. Webster v. Reproductive Health Services: July 3, 1989
This case required physicians to determine if the embryo is viable prior to performing an abortion of a women who has passed twenty or more weeks of the pregnancy. In addition to this, the decision of this case forbade public employees from performing/assisting abortions, and the use of public facilities for abortions.
III. Rust v. Sullivan: May 23, 1991
This case declared that abortion must be distinguished from family planning, and that federal funds, although they may be used for family planning, must not be used for abortions. The fact that the government has made abortion a legal right does not mean that the federal government/ taxpayer must fund it.
IV. Planned Parenthood v. Casey: June 29, 1992
This decision declared that women who are seeking abortions must receive information in regards to risks, fetal development, and abortion alternatives. In addition to this, a women must wait at least 24 hours, after receiving all of this information, prior to obtaining an abortion. Also, medical offices must file and contain detailed, yet confidential reports about each abortion performed. Plus, a child under the age of 18, must have parental consent before receiving an abortion, nevertheless, a married women need not even consent her husband prior to obtaining an abortion.
In such cases, the supreme court has taken up the role of playing God. While many will claim that God does not exist, such individuals certainly would never advocate the ending of a life. Nor would anyone ever think to be an advocate for the right for one to have the choice to end the life of a human being. The unborn child is indeed a human being. His or her life must be protected. We too were once unborn children who lived in wombs. We had the opportunity to continue with our natural lives, so why shouldn't others. Those who support abortion or even the choice to have an abortion should think to themselves about what if you or your loved ones had been aborted in our mother's womb. Not all of us were born under the easiest or best circumstances, nor may we have the easiest lives, but we do have life, and with life comes opportunity to love and be loved, and also for compassion even if it does take sacrifice.
. It is true that women who receive abortions do so, often because they feel they have no other choice. It is not enough to support pro-life without offering these women a viable alternative. Our society is a society of death, where it has become easy to obtain an abortion, and difficult to have a baby.
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Instead of lobbying for government supported abortions, we must lobby for government supported aid to help pregnant women in need. Society tells us that abortion is the easiest solution for many pregnant women. Many well meaning individuals fight for a women's right to choose. But, abortion ends a life. All life is worthy of life, and no one has the right to take it away. We must ask ourselves if abortion really does make what is wrong right? Does abortion really help women, is it a solution? Sadly, the effects of having the right to abortion results is women who are destroyed, and the death of unborn children. The right to have an abortion does not liberate women, rather it destroys and imprisons women.
**..*..*..**
..What is really depicted as a choice or a right is no longer a choice when so many women have an abortion because of the very reason that they feel they have no other choice. ..No matter what the rationale is or the reason, abortion ends a human life, depriving a human person of his or her right to life. ..The right of every single human being must never be left to choice. Whether "wanted" or "unwanted", rich or poor, black, white, asian or hispanic, no person within the womb, or outside the womb can be deprived of life. ..
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