Things I Don't Understand About Abortion

October 4, 2009 marked Respect for Life Sunday for the Catholic Church. Although I am not Catholic, I am a Christian. And as a Christian I believe I am to respect all life. ALL life includes unborn babies.

So it was on this particular day, Respect for Life Sunday, that my husband and I were watching an old episode of ER. The episode was called May Day and was the last episode of Season 6. A college-aged pregnant woman decided that at the 32nd week of her pregnancy she did not want to have the baby. She tried to stab herself in the stomach to kill the baby but she was not successful. The ultra sound showed a healthy baby with a strong heartbeat. But there was something else - her placenta was beginning to abrupt. They told her if she did not have a c-section the baby would die.

She told the doctors she did not want to be cut open. They tried to explain to her that if she didn't have the surgery her baby would die. Again, she refused. There was nothing the doctors could do to save the baby. They simply stood by and watched as the baby's heart rate began to drop. They ended up having to deliver a dead baby.

Something I don't understand is this - it was OK for the woman to allow her baby to die as long as it was inside her womb. But if that same woman had the baby and then decided she didn't want it and she killed the baby that would be murder. She would then be looked upon by society as a horrible mother and everyone would be asking the question, "how could a mother do such a thing to her own baby?"

I don't get it. What's the difference if she decides to kill the baby inside or outside of her womb? Unfortunately, in this country, it is called choice, not murder. And really, what else should we expect in this "it's all about me" culture.

Like the above scenario, there are many things I do not understand about abortion. I don't understand the mentality that pro-choice people have. They say, it's a woman's body and she can do whatever she wants with it. But when we see a woman harming herself whether by anorexia, cutting, attempted suicide or other forms of self-inflicted abuse, we do not understand why she is doing that to herself. Those around her try to get her help and those in the healthcare system do what they can to help her. Is it not her choice to do these things to herself? Why don't we just let her? Her choice to do this to herself becomes irrelevant. Sometimes the woman can't be helped in which case she might end up dying. And then all of those people who tried to help her, mourn her loss and think about what a senseless loss it was.

Why don't we as family, as healthcare workers, as society, feel that way when a woman is pregnant and she chooses to abort her baby? Why does choice become so relevant, especially when the choice to abort her baby is not a healthy one.

Another thing I don't understand is that many clinics do not tell her about the possible implications this abortion could have on her life. When someone goes in for surgery the patient is always told about the risks of the procedure. Sometimes these risks include experiencing depression. If an abortion is a type of surgery then why are they not informed of the risks beforehand? (Thankfully, there have been laws passed in some states where the woman must be informed and an ultrasound is required).

Then we have the ongoing debate about when life begins. No matter how much scientific research supports the fact that life begins at conception, there will always be pro-choice lawmakers and healthcare workers telling us that in the early stages, the baby is really just a glob of cells or pregnancy tissue. The only reason they try to keep this lie alive is to diffuse the scientific evidence that at:

• Four days: The sex of the zygote can be determined by using a microscope
• One week: The zygote begins to contain all major body structures
• Three weeks: Fetal circulation begins
• Five weeks: All basic body systems including the brain and nervous system are developing which enables the fetus to feel pain
• Eight weeks: The zygote becomes a fetus
• Twelve weeks: The fetus begins to grow tooth buds, nail beds, and genitals
• Thirteen-Sixteen weeks: The arms and legs are completely formed and the skeletal system shows up on x-ray
• Twenty weeks: The baby has eyebrows, sucks its thumb and holds its own umbilical cord
• Twenty three weeks: some micro-preemies have been known to live outside the mother's womb with the survival rate of micro-preemies increasing every year

 Something pro-choicers and left-wing liberals try to blame the pro-lifers for is that we cause violence. When Dr. Tiller, the late-term abortion doctor from Kansas who was gunned down and killed in church, the pro-life community was blamed.

There are extremists in every group. This includes pro-life extremists who for reasons I cannot understand think it's OK to kill someone who is killing others. We are not supposed to repay evil with evil. This act was unacceptable to the majority of the pro-life community. But I don't think that by protesting in front of abortion clinics we are causing people to go out and kill the abortionist. Pro-life people have a right to stand up for what they believe is moral and what is truth. There are extremists, but we do not condone them.

I must confess that I have not always been pro-life. Due to the heart condition I was born with, my cardiologists warned me about becoming pregnant. I felt that abortion had to be legal in order to protect women like me who if they got pregnant it would become life-threatening. It was in my later years of high school that I formed this opinion. Even though I grew up in the church and claimed to be a Christian I still held the mentality that if I ever did get pregnant I could just have an abortion. I know this was a totally irresponsible way of thinking and unfortunately that mentality persists throughout our culture today.

So what made me change my mind that abortion was wrong? Simple. Jesus got a hold of my heart and I became a firm believer in the Word of God. The Word that says we are made in the image of God, that He knit each of us together in our mother's womb and that HE is the giver of LIFE.

 It grieves my heart that there have been nearly 50 million babies aborted since Roe v Wade. It grieves me that there are those who find the act of abortion totally acceptable. Unfortunately, I am not optimistic about Roe v Wade being overturned, especially in light our current President's beliefs and the increase in disrespect for life. However, just as my heart was changed, I believe God can change the hearts of others. He is no respecter of persons. Also, I do believe that laws such as a woman having to see her baby via ultrasound and parental consent laws are a very good thing.

Please know that if you are reading this and have had an abortion, I do not judge or condemn you. I simply feel sad for you for what you have gone through. I pray you will find healing.