Guide to Informed Choices
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It [abortion] will likely find its way to the Supreme Court in the coming years as the next and terrifyingly, perhaps final, test of Roe. 1273
—Rebecca Traister, Abortion Under Attack: Women on the Challenges Facing Choice
Abortion numbers down fter abortion was legalized in 1973 the number of abortions increased, peaking at 1.61 million abortions in 1990. Since that time abortions have steadily declined; and the latest data available shows 1.21 million abortions for 2005 (still above the first year of legalization which was somewhere around 900,000.) 1274
Abortion numbers are down.
Confessions from pro-choice literature ―The rate of abortion in the United States is at its lowest level since 1974.‖ 1275
— Guttmacher Institute report, 2008
Supreme Court Rulings The law of abortion, now more than ever, rests on nothing more than arbitrary judicial will. 1276
—Michael Uhlmann, First Things
n April 18 2007, the Supreme Court made a groundbreaking decision, banning an abortion procedure for the first time since 1973. The banned procedure is D&X, more commonly known as partial-birth abortion. According to MSNBC news, surveys showed that more than 60% of people were already in favor of a ban. That a majority of people were in favor of the ban appears likely from the tiny group of protestors against the ban. Just 15 protestors turned up in Salt Lake City, a city which has 1.2 million. Planned Parenthood had
said ―hundreds of thousands‖ of Americans opposed the bill, and yet at press time, a mere 300 people had signed their opposition to the ban. MSNBC also noted that most Americans favor further restrictions on abortion. It will now be up to the states to confirm this ban.
Pro-Choice study finds ‗surprising‘ results es, women are more interested spending time with the family they do have than keeping abortion A O
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rights legal. So says the ―surprising‖ results from the pro-choice Center for the Advancement of Women
(CAW). The results of their two-year study, in which 3,300 American women were surveyed, revealed some bad news for the pro-choice movement (kudos to them for still printing it). Under the sub-heading ―surprising new priorities‖ the study writes, ―Abortion was not considered a high priority. Only 41% of women
surveyed identified keeping abortion legal as a top priority. Of greater importance to women is the ability to take time off to care for family (74%), reducing drug and alcohol addiction (72%), reducing sexual harassment (71%)…,‖ etc. Their results continue: ―In addition, the study confirmed an increase in the number of women supporting severe restrictions on abortion. Fifty-one percent (51%) support abortion only in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the woman, or not at all.‖ 1277
pro-choicers. Like I said, times are changing.
Polls say Americans want more restrictions hen the polls show that a majority of Americans think abortions should be allowed only in certain circumstances that usually means in cases of rape, incest, and to save a woman‘s life. These cases make up a tiny fraction of all abortions. For example, according to a 2005 study by the pro-choice Guttmacher Institute:
1% of respondents cited rape as a contributing reason in choosing abortion
less than 0.5% cited incest as a factor
12% cited health problems as a factor (these included ―morning sickness,‖ depression and old age) 1278
That means, 86.5% of abortions do not fit in the ―certain circumstances‖ category according to the women themselves! The number gets even smaller when women were asked what was the primary reason they chose abortion. Only 4% cited physical health concerns and under 0.5% said rape was the reason. Incest was not even mentioned. 1279 That means most Americans believe that more than 95% of other abortions are performed primarily for the wrong reasons.
Did you know? Women are more pro-life than men! 1280
This shouldn‘t come as a surprise, seeing as women are the ones bearing children. We know firsthand what it means to give life. This should also make us stop to think — are men more pro-choice because it‘s politically correct, or are they actually in it for themselves? W
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Young people have a voice and they‘re using it he amazing part is, it‘s the young people of today, not the old folks, who
are spearheading this movement to end abortion. Here are some things you folks are doing:
In 2007 the CBC held a competition on Facebook to see what would be the most popular wish for the country, which they would announce on the news a month later. People across the country posted their wishes and anyone supporting them could add their vote. The number one wish with 9,212 votes was a wish started by a young Canadian guy called Dave Gilbert. His wish? To abolish abortion in Canada. Later on the news he said, ―I think the significance of this is that it shows Canadians and politicians that, you know, we do want to talk about this. It‘s not a closed issue…‖ 1281
Marches for Life Every year young people get out and march across the land and each year the marches keep growing. What are they marching for? Marching for peace in the womb. Marching for life, for the the most precious freedom of all. It‘s a symbolic way to say, we care and we‘re standing up for those who don‘t have a voice. Most of the marchers are actually young people — now that‘s exciting! This year in 2010 the organizers estimated attendance at well over 300,000 people. 1282
Polls and young people A 2003 Gallup Poll of 517 teens found that 72% believe that abortion is morally wrong. This is astounding! Seven out of ten young people believe that abortion is wrong. It will be interesting watching these young people grow up and seeing how they influence the politics of abortion in this country. The poll also found that only 19% thought abortion should be legal in any circumstance; 32% thought it should be illegal and 47% thought it should only be legal in certain circumstances, which we are not told what they are, whether they are the life of the mother or what. 1283 In
other words, a majority of 79% of young people believe there should be restrictions on abortion.
Students for Life of America Students for a Life are active on many college campuses, educating fellow students and forming pro-life groups across the nation. They have been especially successful with
undercover exposés
T
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including taping:
a clinic employee admitting a late abortion would involve a child born alive (infanticide)
a clinic employee encouraging a young girl to lie about her age (rape)
and hauled off despite their first Amendment rights
For more details on how to get active and involved, check out our resources section at the end of the book.
Reason #92 ―Abortion is not the popular choice today‖ Reason #93 Abortion may not be medically necessary
Might we save both? If the mother‘s actual life were threatened, a conscientious doctor would try to save both. 1284
— Dr. Willke and Mrs. J.C. Willke, Abortion
his is the ultimate reason to keep abortion legal, and truthfully, my current perspective is that if it came down to it, the mother‘s life should come first. However, I would like to question if abortion is really medically necessary in many of these instances. While she may be sick or even dying (God-forbid) abortion is not the universal panacea we think it is. Pregnancy is a natural bodily function and stopping that body function, might not actually help anything. Sure, you might say, it will take some pressure off her heart or whatever, and it might, if it‘s a late pregnancy when her body is working hard to help the baby. Then, on the other hand, the abortion may weaken her by opening up the possibility of infection when she is already weakened. T
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The emotional stress and trauma of such an abortion may have an unwanted effect on her nervous system and/or immune system (which is tied in to the emotions). The other possibility is that her condition may be too late to really help anyhow. Let‘s be clear: today there are more ways we can help save both lives. We have new drugs, new natural therapies and new ideas — such as an early birth — that may help in these situations. Let‘s look now at some specific problems that are said to require an abortion.
Girl with risky pregnancy gives her opinion: ―I definitely agree that in cases where the mother
requires emergency attention and the life of the child may be lost, she should still be given the care she needs. But what about cases where doctors recommend abortions in CASE of an emergency or the health of the mother?‖
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The Case of an Ectopic Pregnancy n an ectopic pregnancy the embryo grows outside of the womb — usually in the small fallopian tubes which adjoin the uterus. There is typically a 0% survival rate for the embryo, although there are a few rare exceptions (see further down). The problem with an ectopic pregnancy is that the fallopian tubes are intended as a tunnel — not a permanent home — for the fertilized egg. They are not big enough or strong enough to support a baby. The tubes can rupture as the embryo grows, and this rupturing could cause fatal internal bleeding for the mother. When the tubes rupture the embryo would die — or in an exceptionally rare case, the embryo reattaches somewhere else. In many cases the body recognizes something is wrong and a tubal pregnancy is
naturally expelled through a miscarriage. 1286 In fact, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians, ―at least 14 studies have documented that 68-77% of ectopic pregnancies resolve without intervention.‖ 1287 The dilemma is not knowing which women will have problems. When I started this research I was convinced abortion in this situation was always absolutely necessary. 1288
What I found out is that in some cases, such as with an early pregnancy when the woman is displaying low levels of the hCG hormone, some doctors manage the case by close observation, knowing that some women will simply reabsorb the ectopic pregnancy and the body will fix the problem by itself. 1289
Monitoring is necessary because I
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they don‘t know who will have problems and who won‘t. Close monitoring (with hefty doses of prayer) would be my personal choice now that I have the information; however, this is considered such a life-threatening condition that pro-life groups support the removal of an ectopic pregnancy. Perhaps one day we will be able to transplant an ectopic pregnancy directly to the womb where it is meant to be. For now, though, if there is a real risk that the woman‘s life will be lost, then I believe it is a sad though important action to take the embryo out. Besides, what good would it do if both of you died? For how abortions can increase your risk of ectopic pregnancy in the future turn to
Reason #30: Abortion carries risks .
Exceptions to the rule In an
unheard-of event,
Meera Thangarajah, a 34-year-old mother was in a hospital delivering her second child. When the doctors went to deliver the baby via caesarean they found the baby growing not in her womb but in one of her ovaries! Her ovary was stretched tissue-paper thin from the pregnancy but, incredibly, it had not ruptured and the baby was healthy. 1290
Then there was the case of little Millie- An who grew in the space inside her mother‘s abdomen. The fertilized egg had come out of the fallopian tubes and, instead of moving to the uterus, had fallen into the wrong space and grown! Persistent little seed! The placenta attached to the outside of mom‘s bowel, which was able to pass on the oxygen and nutrients Millie-An needed. Doctors only discovered the situation during labor when the baby wasn‘t coming. 1291
In another case the baby implanted in the lining of the bowel. Thankfully the baby was fine and grew just right. The biggest problem was detaching the placenta from the bowel. It was a total shock to surgeons performing the supposed C- section.
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For another surgeon performing an emergency C-section, it was a surprise to find the baby not where it was supposed to be but attached to the outside of the uterus. Thankfully, this ectopic pregnancy also ended successfully for mom and baby. 1293
Another recent story went like this. ―‗What's that?' he asked, pointing to what looked like a large air bubble at the top left of the screen in front of us. 'Oh, my God,' the hospital consultant gasped. 'That's your womb… and I don't think your baby's in it.'‖
1294 The fertilized egg had got lost and implanted on the mother‘s bowel, thus explaining her stomach pains whenever the baby moved. After an early delivery via surgery, both were fortunate to have made it through. 1295
In still a rarer case, a woman gave birth
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to triplets — two of grew them in the womb and the other grew in her abdomen! It appears the fertilized egg got stuck in the fallopian tubes and that as he grew the tubes ruptured (with no apparent problem for mom) and the embryo attached itself to the (wrong) side of the uterus! Mom thought she was giving birth to twins and only discovered 10 days before birth that she was having triplets — and that one was growing in the wrong place. A high-risk caesarean delivered the babies early and they are now doing well. Like many surgeries such as this the placenta was left intact to shrink on its own — and decrease the risk of maternal hemorrhage. 1296
Cancer Today it is possible for almost any patient to be brought through pregnancy alive, unless she suffers from a fatal illness, such as cancer or leukemia. And if so, abortion would be unlikely to prolong, much less save life. 1297
choice Guttmacher Institute
ancer is
something that
is considered by many to be a situation where an abortion is absolutely necessary and there may be a case where it is. Hypothetically, in the rare case that a woman
becomes pregnant while undergoing treatment for cancer of the uterus, one
of those
treatments recommended might be removal of the uterus. If that became necessary after other treatments failed, and if it were not possible to prolong the pregnancy till a viable birth, then the baby‘s premature death should be mourned as a loss of life — it is not nothing. It‘s not that the baby was intentionally aborted — it‘s that his life was lost while trying to save his mother‘s life. This would be a really tricky situation. I think I‘d be praying for a miracle, but I can‘t say what I‘d do. I did read of one woman in this situation, and her prayer resulted in the pregnancy ending naturally so she could continue treatment. However, having said that, in many cases an abortion may actually make things worse. In fact, it made it much worse for one woman. That woman was Allegra Roseberry, a 41-year-old with terminal liver cancer. While in the hospital to start cancer treatment, she discovered the startling news that she was 23 weeks pregnant. This came as a total surprise, especially since she had needed the help of fertility drugs 20 years earlier when she conceived her only son. In a case like this, it may be feasible to schedule an early induced delivery, thus giving the mother time to undergo radiation treatments, if she wishes. But no option other than abortion was given to Allegra. Allegra died from that C
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abortion. She died from sepsis, which is a whole body infection. The irony of it all is that specialists said she couldn‘t continue the pregnancy because it would weaken her health. Unfortunately, Allegra was not offered a consultation with a high risk obstetrician. Instead, specialists urged an abortion so that she could try an experimental cancer treatment. 1298
techniques are being developed to help both mother and child. Just recently the ABC news reported on how chemotherapy is being given to mothers later in pregnancy and does not appear to cause birth defects, ―A specific ‗regimen‘ of chemotherapy used for pregnant cancer patients has enabled the births of dozens of healthy babies.‖ 1299
pregnant women with cancer, www.pregnantwithcancer.org . Their
website is worth checking out if you are looking for hope that you can fight cancer and still deliver a healthy baby. A quote from one of the survivor stories reads: ―His Yüklə 4,63 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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