Sunday, May 05, 2013

Abortion; a response

I have always been pro-life. And abortion has always caused me much sadness, and to some extent anger too. Yet the whole concept of abortion was always somewhat hazy and unclear to me. I did  not know how or what took place in an abortion clinic. And as I believe it is naive and foolish to even in engage in a debate or argument about a topic of which you know little I decided to dig a little deeper and gain some insight into the subject.
So last week I watched some of the abortion procedure videos on Youtube. And let me tell you they were horrific! I can't even begin to describe the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, and the tears that pricked at my eyes. The sight of tiny mangled bodies is both indescribably sad and traumatic.
But abortion itself has so many different aspects and everyone looks at it differently depending upon their experiences and indeed their emotions.
Personally I have no direct dealings with it. I hold to my belief that a child in the womb is as much of a person as I am or the woman carrying said child. However there has been such a huge push to convince the population that while still in the womb, babies have no human rights, or even, are human. This tiny human being, who is so very vulnerable and helpless is denied life and instead given over to death in such a horrendously painful.
People proffer a plethora of objections and arguments as to why abortion is acceptable, and try to reason why it is okay for people in certain situations. Just this last week, I was forced to consider my views, and work out my response to a multitude of these objections and arguments.

Abortion is used to remedy accidental pregnancies.  This surely has to be one of the very worst reasons to kill a child? When there are so many other ways to prevent an unwanted pregnancy, how can anyone possibly have an 'unwanted pregnancy'?

Another of the weaker arguments is that the pregnancy will kill the Mother. But these cases are so rare they would have to be judged separately, and with so many advances in modern medicine a solution that allowed both Mother and child to live could probably be reached.

The argument for abortion that I find the most enraging is the financial argument. The idea that because you cannot afford to have a baby, you kill it. I am sure that there are some cases where this is very true, however, is death truly better than a life below the poverty line? Especially in first world countries where the term 'poverty' is very liberally used. Personally I have grown up below and still do live below the poverty line which was set by the British government. However I do not feel deprived. I have lived a full life, and I am healthy. don't let the government tell you that you are financially incapable when children are starving in Africa. And if you truly cannot afford a child, why is adoption such a distasteful option?

There are so many couples that would love to adopt babies, for various reasons, the biggest one being that they cannot have their own. I have met many people who have adopted, or would like to adopt, or plan to adopt. Even here at college many of my own friends in their late teens and early twenties are hoping to adopt at least one child. So to say that no one wants to adopt or that giving up a child for adoption is cruel and heartless is just not true.
How is it less cruel and heartless to rip limb from limb and crush the skull of a fetus with life coursing through his veins in the second trimester of pregnancy. How could you allow something so vulnerable and helpless to be so painfully removed? No-body deserves that. Babies in the womb respond to sound, so surely they feel pain also? It would be considered a horrific crime to kill anyone by pulling them apart limb from limb, yet because a fetus cannot stand up for itself and depends upon someone else for life it is considered socially acceptable to kill it.And in fact belong ripped limb from limb was used as capital punishment for high treason in the Korean kingdom and in some parts of China.

The biggest controversial issue that surrounds abortion is that of post rape abortion. This is a very tender and sensitive area. Rape is a serious crime and the victim has to live with that for the rest of their lives. It is easy to see why abortion would appear to be the easiest and wisest option to go for. Especially when the victim is a young and girl. Yet, does one evil deed permit the second? Surely it  is possible to carry out the pregnancy to full term, have a C-section, and the baby whisked away for a couple who cannot have a child of their own. The biological Mother would never have to see the child, and the child would be raised in a home where it was loved and longed for?
There are stories of rape victims who became pregnant and chose not just to complete the pregnancy but kept the baby and raised it. One such girl I heard of  was the result of gang rape. She has no idea who her Father is, or even what ethnicity he is. Yet she thrived and was a scholarship student at Cambridge University. Sometimes good things can come from what seems so bleak and hopeless.

Women who have an unplanned pregnancy for whatever reason should not be ignorant of the horrific decision they have to make. To deny them that knowledge is not "pro choice" - it is to deny them an honest choice. So many younger girls go into abortion clinics and they have no idea what takes place. The medical profession likes to gloss things over and make everything seem okay. Women are so often taken advantage of, they are often forced by family, or boyfriends to have an abortion without understanding how the child is removed from the womb; this is not choice, this is being hemmed into a corner, this is no-choice. Unless you know all the options on hand and the magnitude of your decision you have no real choice. Don't be afraid to look for other alternatives.








1 comment:

  1. Could not agree more with this post! I used to be pro-choice but after some circumstances that have happened in my life I have not switched to pro-life. It saddens me when irresponsible people use this as a form of birth control. Killing an innocent life is not a form of birth control. Lord, I could go on and on and on.

    Following you from the May Blogging Challenge!

    I blog here and design here.

    Angie

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