Abortion 3 Essay, Research Paper
Every year in Canada, over 100 000 murders never reach the
courtroom.1 They never reach the courtroom because they are completely
legal. Abortion continues to grow across the world, hurting and killing
children, as well as their mothers. Abortion is i
mmoral, harmful, and actions must be taken to stop it.
When a woman aborts, she is not only killing her child but is also
harming herself. Legal abortion is the fifth leading cause of maternal
death.2 Ten percent of women undergoing abortion suffer immediate
complications, and one fifth of those are consid
ered life threatening.3 Teenage aborters are at an even higher risk.4
These serious conditions include infection, embolisms, convulsions,
hemorrhage, and endotoxic poisoning.5 By having an abortion, a woman
doubles her chances of getting breast or cerv
ical cancer. Every consequent abortion increases these chances.6 Physical
damage, however, is merely the beginning. Aborted mothers will also
suffer many psychological effects as well. These include nightmares,
hysterical outbreaks, feelings of immens
e guilt, and fear of punishment from God.7 In fact, aborted women visit
doctors for psychosocial reasons 180% more than other women.8 Abortion may
seem like a quick fix at the time, but there can be many and harsh
consequenc! es.
Yet even if a mother is willing to accept the consequences, she is
taking away a human life. Purely biologically speaking, it is undeniable
that a fetus is a human, and an individual. at the moment of conception,
the fetus has a DNA that is different f
rom his or her mother. By three weeks, the baby’s heart is pumping its
own circulatory system with a blood type different from its mother.9
Doctors measure the end of life by brain death. It is then reasonable to
say that the beginning of life should b
e at least measured by the beginning of brain life. By six weeks, an
unborn baby’s brain waves can be recorded by an electroencephalogram
(EEG).10 Between six and seven weeks, the unborn baby will respond to
external stimuli, such as touching his or her
face.11 While many people believe that a fetus is merely a mass of flesh,
and is not nearly as complex as a human, this is completely untrue. By
eight weeks, all of the body systems are present, and by eleven weeks,
still i! n the first trimester, all of those body systems are
functional.12 In fact, the body of an unborn baby is more complex than
ours. He or she has extra parts, such as an amniotic sac, his or her own
space bubble, and the umbilical cord, the baby’s lifeli
ne, as well as the placenta, the unborn baby’s root system.13 All of these
systems developed from the baby’s original cell, not the mother. so when
a mother has an abortion, she is killing a living, breathing,
heart-pumping, thinking human being.
And when that human being is being killed, it is absolute torture.
An unborn baby will begin to feel pain as early as eight weeks. At this
time, activity in the thalamus, where the pain centre is located, can be
read.14 Unborn babies have even been re
corded holding their hands over their ears when loud music was played.15
When abortions are carried out, no precautions are taken to prevent the
unborn baby from feeling this pain. There are three main ways that
abortions are performed, depending on the
age of the unborn baby. If the baby is under thirteen weeks of age, a
method known as Suction Curettage is used. First, a suction tube with a
knife-like edge is inserted into the womb. Then the baby is literally
drawn and quartered as the spine, the l
egs, the arms, and all other parts are sliced off and sucked through the
tube. Lastly, the head is crushed with forceps, so it too can be sucked
up into the tube.16 If the baby is over thirteen weeks of age, the
“Salting Out! ” method is used. A strong, sterile saltwater solution is
injected into the amniotic sac. The baby swallows and breathes this
solution, poisoning him or her as well as burning away the upper layers of
the skin. Death usually comes in one to two hours f
rom salt poisoning, dehydration, hemorrhages of the brain and other
organs, as well as convulsions.17 The third method is used if the baby is
in its last three months. It involves injecting prostaglandin into the
unborn baby. He or she then has a heart
attack. Prostaglandin also induces labour, and often the baby is born
still alive. If this happens, he or she is generally left to die.18 All
of these methods are extremely cruel and excruciatingly painful.
These crimes against humanity must be abolished. Abortion hurts
everybody: the child, the mother, and often even the father. If human
life itself cannot be valued, then what kind of values can society have?
ENDNOTES 1. Alanna Mitchell, Gobe and Mail, September 26, 1996
2. David C. Reardon, Ph. D. A List of Major Physical Sequelae Related to Abortion, [Online] Available http://www.prolife.org/afterabortion/physica.html, 1997
3. Reardon, A List of Major Physical Sequelae Related to Abortion
4. Reardon, A List of Major Physical Sequelae Related to Abortion
5. Reardon, A List of Major Physical Sequelae Related to Abortion
6. Reardon, A List of Major Physical Sequelae Related to Abortion
7. David C. Reardon, Ph D. Psychological Reactions Reported After Abortion, [Online] Avalable http://www.prolife.org/afterabortion/Survey2.htm, 1995
8. Reardon, A List of Major Physical Sequelae Related to Abortion
9. Jack and Barbara Willke, Abortion: Questions & Answers, [Online] Available http://www.ohiolife.org/qa, 1990
10. Willke
11. Willke
12. Willke
13. Willke
14. Alliance for Life, Abortion: A Painful Death?, [Pamphlet] pg 4
15. Alliance, pg 4
16. Alliance, pg 6
17. Alliance, pg 6
18. Alliance, pg 7
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Alliance for Life. Abortion: A Painful Death?. [Pamphlet]
Reardon, David C., Ph. D. A List of Major Physical Sequelae Related to Abortion. [Online] Available http://www.prolife.org/afterabortion/physica.htm, 1997
Reardon, David C., Ph. D. Psychological Reactions Reported After Abortions. [Online] Available http://www.prolife.org/afterabortion/Survey2.htm, 1995
Willke, Jack and Barbara. Abortion: Questions & Answers. [Online] Available http://www.ohiolife.org/qa/, 1990