|
Every year in Canada, over 100 000 murders never reach the
courtroom.1 They never reach the courtroom because they are completely
legal. Abortion continues to grow across the world, hurting and killing
children, as well as their mothers. Abortion is immoral, harmful, and
actions must be taken to stop it.
When a woman aborts, she is not only killing her child but is also
harming herself. Legal abortion is the fifth leading cause of maternal
death.2 Ten percent of women undergoing abortion suffer immediate
complications, and one fifth of those are consid ered life
threatening.3 Teenage aborters are at an even higher risk.4 These
serious conditions include infection, embolisms, convulsions,
hemorrhage, and endotoxic poisoning.5 By having an abortion, a woman
doubles her chances of getting breast or cerv ical cancer. Every
consequent abortion increases these chances.6 Physical damage, however,
is merely the beginning. Aborted mothers will also suffer many
psychological effects as well. These include nightmares, hysterical
outbreaks, feelings of immens e guilt, and fear of punishment from
God.7 In fact, aborted women visit doctors for psychosocial reasons
180% more than other women.8 Abortion may seem like a quick fix at the
time, but there can be many and harsh consequenc! Es.
Yet even if a mother is willing to accept the consequences, she is
taking away a human life. Purely biologically speaking, it is
undeniable that a fetus is a human, and an individual. At the moment of
conception, the fetus has a DNA that is different f rom his or her
mother. By three weeks, the baby's heart is pumping its own circulatory
system with a blood type different from its mother.9 Doctors measure
the end of life by brain death. It is then reasonable to say that the
beginning of life should b e at least measured by the beginning of
brain life. By six weeks, an unborn baby's brain waves can be recorded
by an electroencephalogram (EEG).10 Between six and seven weeks, the
unborn baby will respond to external stimuli, such as touching his or
her face.11 While many people believe that a fetus is merely a mass of
flesh, and is not nearly as complex as a human, this is completely
untrue. By eight weeks, all of the body systems are present, and by
eleven weeks, still i! N the first trimester, all of those body systems
are functional.12 In fact, the body of an unborn baby is more complex
than ours. He or she has extra parts, such as an amniotic sac, his or
her own space bubble, and the umbilical cord, the baby's lifeli ne, as
well as the placenta, the unborn baby's root system.13 All of these
systems developed from the baby's original cell, not the mother. So
when a mother has an abortion, she is killing a living, breathing,
heart-pumping, thinking human being.
And when that human being is being killed, it is absolute torture.
An unborn baby will begin to feel pain as early as eight weeks. At this
time, activity in the thalamus, where the pain centre is located, can
be read.14 Unborn babies have even been re corded holding their hands
over their ears when loud music was played.15 When abortions are
carried out, no precautions are taken to prevent the unborn baby from
feeling this pain. There are three main ways that abortions are
performed, depending on the age of the unborn baby. If the baby is
under thirteen weeks of age, a method known as Suction Curettage is
used. First, a suction tube with a knife-like edge is inserted into the
womb. Then the baby is literally drawn and quartered as the spine, the
l egs, the arms, and all other parts are sliced off and sucked through
the tube. Lastly, the head is crushed with forceps, so it too can be
sucked up into the tube.16 If the baby is over thirteen weeks of age,
the "Salting Out! " Method is used. A strong, sterile saltwater
solution is injected into the amniotic sac. The baby swallows and
breathes this solution, poisoning him or her as well as burning away
the upper layers of the skin. Death usually comes in one to two hours f
rom salt poisoning, dehydration, hemorrhages of the brain and other
organs, as well as convulsions.17 The third method is used if the baby
is in its last three months. It involves injecting prostaglandin into
the unborn baby. He or she then has a heart attack. Prostaglandin also
induces labour, and often the baby is born still alive. If this
happens, he or she is generally left to die.18 All of these methods are
extremely cruel and excruciatingly painful.
These crimes against humanity must be abolished. Abortion hurts
everybody: the child, the mother, and often even the father. If human
life itself cannot be valued, then what kind of values can society
have?
ENDNOTES
1. Alanna Mitchell, Gobe and Mail, September 26, 1996
2.
David C. Reardon, Ph. D. A List of Major Physical Sequelae Related to
Abortion, [Online] Available http://www.prolife.org/afterabortion/physica.html,
1997
3. Reardon, A List of Major Physical Sequelae Related to Abortion
4. Reardon, A List of Major Physical Sequelae Related to Abortion
5.
Reardon, A List of Major Physical Sequelae Related to Abortion
6.
Reardon, A List of Major Physical Sequelae Related to Abortion
7. David
C. Reardon, Ph D. Psychological Reactions Reported After Abortion,
[Online] Avalable http://www.prolife.org/afterabortion/survey2.htm,
1995
8. Reardon, A List of Major Physical Sequelae Related to Abortion
9. Jack and Barbara Willke, Abortion: Questions & Answers, [Online]
Available http://www.ohiolife.org/qa,
1990
10. Willke
11. Willke
12. Willke
13. Willke
14. Alliance for Life,
Abortion: A Painful Death?, [Pamphlet] pg 4
15. Alliance, pg 4
16.
Alliance, pg 6
17. Alliance, pg 6
18. Alliance, pg 7
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Alliance for Life. Abortion: A Painful Death?. [Pamphlet]
Reardon,
David C., Ph. D. A List of Major Physical Sequelae Related to Abortion.
[Online] Available http://www.prolife.org/afterabortion/physica.htm, 1997
Reardon, David C., Ph. D. Psychological Reactions Reported After Abortions. [Online] Available http://www.prolife.org/afterabortion/survey2.htm, 1995
Willke, Jack and Barbara. Abortion: Questions & Answers. [Online] Available http://www.ohiolife.org/qa/, 1990
|
|
|
(0 vote)