Notes

Ok, heads I live, tails, I die. 50% chance. That’s what most children from unwanted pregnancies face. A fifty percent chance to be born. What’s the other choice? Death by abortion. For years, America and the world has been split in two by the controversial topic of abortion. In 1973, the United States Supreme Court allowed the killing of innocent children to become legal. Children like me, who were unwanted. Children who might not have been born.

In 1973, with the Roe v. Wade decision, the United States turned its back on the unborn child. Abortions are performed across the United States in many different clinics. On average, every woman has one abortion in her life. There are at least 46 million legal abortions performed in the world every year. 46 million abortions a year. That’s 46 million children who will never see the light of day. 46 million children who will never run and play or have friends or know what life is. 44 million abortions have been performed in in this country alone since abortion was made legal. More babies die from abortions than from natural accidents. In just one day, there will be over four thousand abortions in the United States alone. The United States Constitution states that “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” are available to all citizens. Are unborn children not citizens because they’re still in the womb? Are they not human beings like us? They’re in the womb so they can grow in a safe and protective environment, not because they’re not human. At the moment of conception, a brand-new, never to be created again, genetic code is formed. Twenty-two days after conception, the heart is fully functional and begins beating. At four to six weeks, the baby can feel pain and its vocal chords are complete. When the baby is seventeen weeks old, it can dream while sleeping. Three weeks after that, the baby can recognize its mother’s voice. From month five to month six, the baby learns to breathe and when it reaches seven to nine months, it can relate to its mother’s moods and can use four out of five of its senses. If the fetus is not alive, how can it be growing? In order to grow, the object in question must be alive. If the child is not a baby, why then, does it suck its thumb?

When abortion first became available to the public, many people supported it because they were falsely told that abortions were only performed in extreme cases, when the mother and baby’s health were in danger or because of rape or incest. The truth, which people later found out, is only one percent of all abortions are performed because of rape or incest and only six percent because of health reasons. Ninety-three percent of all abortions are for personal reasons. African-American women are three times more likely to have an abortion, while Hispanic women are two times more likely to have abortions than Caucasian women. One reason for these statistics is socio-economical factors, such as lack of education and low-income levels.

Abortion is wrong for many reasons. The major one is the fact that every time an abortion is performed, another child, another human, who could change the future and make the world a better place, is killed. Abortion has a negative effect on society as a whole. When we allow the killing of unborn children, we become desensitized and it can eventually lead to the euthanasia of terminally ill people, the elderly, the mentally handicapped and finally, and most importantly, the unwanted. Society should be responsible for protecting all life, not destroying it.

The most controversial form of abortion is the partial birth abortion. A partial birth abortion occurs in the second or third trimester. The abortionist, guided by the ultrasound, grabs the baby’s leg with forceps. The baby’s leg is pulled out into the birth canal until the whole body except the head is delivered. Then, the abortionist jams scissors into the baby’s skull. The scissors are then opened to enlarge the hole. The abortionist then will pull the scissors out and insert a suction catheter. The child’s brains are sucked out and the body, which had been kicking and twitching, goes limp and then the dead baby is removed.

Post abortion syndrome, or PAS occurs very frequently after an abortion. Some pro-choice studies will tell you that there is no such thing and it can not be proven, but the mistake they make about their studies is that they ask the woman only a few weeks or even just one year after the abortion when the woman is still relieved that her “problem” is taken care of. Women asked five to ten years after their abortion, however, have a different story. They have reported depression, emptiness and suicidal thoughts. Most women with PAS feel regret because they either find out they are sterile, have become really close to a baby in their family or had other children.

There are other options to abortion. They are, of course, abstinence, but if you can not refrain from sex and you do get pregnant, you have the option of adoption. Although many people chose the horrible choice of abortion, many do chose to give life to their child. They chose to give their child up for adoption. Children like me can grow up in a loving home knowing that even though their mother or father may not have wanted them, someone else does. With adoption, their chances of survival are better than if they’re left stranded on the streets.

Abortion is a very touchy subject for me, especially because I had a 50/50 chance of survival. Take a look at the people sitting next to you. There is a chance that they would not be sitting there. Your mothers made a decision to keep you and for that, you should be thankful. Let us remember the ones who were not so lucky. When the time comes and you or your wife is pregnant, I hope you’ll remember this and choose life, not death by abortion.

Thank You.