Abortion, the Shame of Our Time

By: A Middle American Concerned about Values.

As you may have guessed I am “pro-life”. (as compared to pro-death) I am also pro-choice but the choice should be made before the decision requires killing another person. I am a woman and had the choices available to women in this time and place. If I did not want children I could choose abstinence, birth control, or as a last resort giving up the unwanted child for adoption. Choices to be made and consequences to be taken on. Those choices should never include killing.

There are so many arguments rationalizing this killing. When does life start? This is absurd. If the “little clump of cells” were not alive they would not be dividing. I will not discuss “ensoulment” as this is not about religion and there would be no possible way to read God’s mind as to when that might occur in any case. Our laws regarding abortion are absurd as well. Its OK to do it at this stage but not later. Unless there are different circumstances that make it OK . You can do it this way but not that. This time but not that. If you do it in the wrong way for the time at hand and the child that was supposed to die is born alive do you go ahead and kill it outside the womb? If so, how? In fact, in my experience in the medical profession, this child, once outside the womb now has rights he did not have 2 minutes earlier and will now be subject to all we have to offer in the way of life saving techniques. If he is saved he will more than likely suffer extensive disabilities for all of his life. I am not a crazy fanatic, I have actually seen and cared for these unfortunates. Babies that survived the procedure. One was born alive after saline amniocentesis. In this procedure a needle is inserted into the uterus and some of the amniotic fluid is removed and replaced with sterile saline. It is supposed to kill and almost always does. The little one I cared for was born quickly after this procedure and was alive. His skin was blistered and coming off all over his body. He had to be treated somewhat like a burn victim. He lived several weeks during which he suffered through more medical procedures than most of us have to endure in a full lifetime. He may have been the person that was destined to find the cure for cancer. We will never know.

I call this, “sliding scale morality”. In some cases it is OK to kill up to 24 weeks gestation but in others its 32 or 36 weeks. 20 to24 week babies that are born prematurely can and frequently do live. They feel pain, they cry, they kick and wave their arms about. Their blood pressure and heart rate go up. Do not believe, ever, that they do not feel pain.

With a great sadness I write this; I think (rather, I know) Roe v Wade should be repealed but I do not think it will be any time soon.. Abortion is a big money business. Many doctors are not very dedicated to explaining what they are about to do to the babies or to the mothers. Most doctors will not regulate themselves. If we are going to allow this disgusting and immoral practice it must be regulated by law. It must be mandatory that it be done very early, perhaps before 12 weeks. Three months should be adequate for this “choice” to be made. And there should be some reason other than inconvenience.

This is also “sliding scale morality” and is equally disgusting as our existing laws but it could be a start in the right direction. Remember, nothing is static. If the scale does not move in the right direction it will be moved in the wrong. Perhaps its OK to abort any baby at any stage for any reason. (this is almost where we are now) Well then, why not make it OK to kill the baby after birth if it has a problem, or maybe looks funny, or if the mother just changes her mind. What is the difference, really? The child has not yet reached the age of reason after all. And there could be some money to be made doing this procedure. OK then maybe the 2 or 3 or 5 year old has become a real drag on his family, or ill behaved or inconvenient. After all, the last I heard the age of reason was 7. Of course a lot of people over 7 might qualify for legal murder. The mentally deficient adults, the elderly, the very ill. And who decides. Beware of sliding scale morality! YOU may be the inconvenience to someone.

Women have the right to choose when to have children and they have a responsibility to make that choice before they become pregnant. Abortion is not a new idea and neither are women’s rights.

Consider this quote: Elizabeth Cady Stanton, 19th century feminist commenting on abortion said, "When we consider that women are treated as property, it is degrading to women that we should treat our children as property to be disposed of as we see fit."

One last thought as it always is the response to any anti abortion statement. How about cases of rape or incest? I ask another question. Does one crime justify another? Has the victim of any crime been treated fairly? Is life always fair? No, no and no. The mother AND the baby are victims of a crime. Punish the criminal and help the victims, both of them.