January 21, 2008

Megan Bunch
Homeschool High School Senior
1/10/08

A Right to Choose... or Murder?
the raw facts of abortion

Every year 46 million abortions are performed worldwide, 1.3 million of
which take place in the United States.  That’s 3500 babies aborted every
day in the U.S. alone.

Never, in our modern day world, excluding the REIGN of
Adolf Hitler, has it been legal or seen as morally right to determine
the existence of a living being by his/her social usefulness, physical
perfection, or the  INCONVENIENCE  they may
personally cause another individual.  This natural right to life possessed by every
human being, and given public witness to by the very words of our
declaration, is now being denied to the unborn children of America and
throughout the world.  The legality of abortion in America began in
California and Colorado in 1967 and was legalized nationally in 1973 by
the Supreme Court through the Roe v. Wade court ruling.
Abortion, the so called “rightful choice” of woman, is often justified
by birth defects, risk to the mother’s life, rape, and even overpopulation.
 Recent statistics show that the population in the U.S. is actually
declining, with a birth every eight seconds and a death every eleven
seconds (www.cencus.org   CENSUS).  As for birth defects, we cannot
take it into our hands to end the life of one who is suffering or
burdensome.  Such treatment is for animals, not human beings.  Pregnancy
from rape is very rare, but when it does occur, most feel that it is her
right to abort the child.  But why should one violent act be the result
of another?  Will the trauma of killing her child better the situation?
One of the strongest arguments of abortionists is that a woman should be
able to have an abortion if the pregnancy is a risk to her health or life.
The greatest gift a mother can give her child is life.  If a mother saw
her child in danger wouldn’t it be natural instinct for her to lay down
her life for her child?
Pro-choicers argue that abortion is not an act of cruelty and that it is
not murder considering that the baby is not yet born. Many who hold this
view do not know the gruesome facts.  The truth is, that the pain of
abortion is very real to the unborn fetus.  According to Dr. J.C. Willke
three things must be present in order to sense pain;
(1) a sensory nerve to feel the pain and send a message to
(2) the thalamus, a part of the base of the brain, and
(3) motor nerves that send a message to that area.” All three of these are
fully developed by eight weeks.  In 1984 President Ronald Reagan said:
“When the lives of the unborn are snuffed out, they often feel pain,
pain that is long and agonizing.”
To further bring the truths of abortion to light we will take a look at
the various types of abortion methods which are currently being used in
our country:
RU-486- This is the method used in the early stages of pregnancy. RU-486
is a drug that a woman takes which blocks food, fluid, and oxygen from
reaching the baby.  After dying from lack of vital needs, a second drug
is then taken which causes the tiny baby to be expelled.
Suction-Aspiration- During this method a hollow plastic suction tube is
inserted into the mother by the abortionist. The suction causes the baby’s
body to be torn into pieces and then sucked into a bottle.
Dilation and Curettage- A loop shaped steel knife is inserted into the
mother and the baby is cut into pieces and scraped out into a basin.
Dilation and Evacuation- This method is used after the third month of
pregnancy and is one of the ugliest. A plier-like tool is inserted by
the abortionist who uses it to grab hold of the baby’s body, tearing
different parts of it off using a twisting motion until only the head is
left. The skull is then crushed and pulled out. The nurse must reassemble
the body parts to make sure they were all removed.
Prostaglandin Abortion- Used in mid and late stages of the pregnancy,
this method induces labor using Prostaglandin hormone. If the baby is
old enough and does not die from the trauma, a feticide is injected into the baby’s heart. The dead baby is then delivered.
Dilation and Extraction- The abortionist uses forceps to position the
baby feet first and head down in the womb. The baby’s body is then
pulled out except for the head. The doctor then punctures the base of the baby’s
skull with blunt tipped surgical scissors and spreads the tips apart to
enlarge the wound. A suction catheter is inserted into the baby’s skull
and the brain is sucked out causing the skull to collapse. This method
is used anywhere from four to nine months of development.

Keep in mind that during these procedures the baby can feel everything
that it is undergoing, just as you and I could.  If these facts are not
enough to make you cringe then keep reading.
Countless stories are told by first hand witnesses of abortions gone
wrong. In one case, after the doctor failed to terminate a fetus while
performing an abortion, the baby was born alive and the nurses were
forced to let it suffocate on the cold, metal examination table. In
another instance, after being lied to about the mental condition of her
baby by her “supervisors”, a 24 year old woman died during her abortion
from an infection spreading throughout her body because the doctors
failed to treat her immediately. Dr. B. Nathanson, a former abortionist,
narrates a 10 minute ultrasound tape of a suction abortion titled, “The
Silent Scream”.  This video shows the unborn baby repeatedly dodging the
suction tool and then clearly opening its mouth wide when it is finally
caught and its body is dismembered. In this video the now pro-life
doctor who performed the abortion gives testimony to it. 
An ultrasound video,  shows an unborn baby from an open womb, grasping a surgeon's finger during surgery.  These are just a few examples of the life
that exists within the unborn baby.
Besides the sheer cruelty and dangers of the actual procedure, there are
many health risks a woman may face following her abortion. These include
bladder and bowel injury, increased risk of breast cancer,
tubal pregnancy, a high increase in the risk of miscarriages, failed
abortion, hepatitis, infection, post-abortion syndrome, sterility,
severe rapid bleeding, etc. According to PhD. David Reardon, mental health
providers have begun treating an increasing number of  women
suffering mental and emotional problems due to their abortions. Like all
evils, abortion has it’s consequences. Consequences that are brutal to
both mother and child.
We can give excuses and we can say different methods are more humane,
but in the end the result  is the same- a dead baby.  A baby who never had a
say in what happened. Never had a chance to live the life he was meant
to live.  We must take a stand for the 3,500 babies whose lives are
terminated everyday because their mothers feel they have the right to
choose.  We must give a voice to the voiceless and help those who cannot
help themselves.