I am an unmarried, conservative male.
I have always been supportive of the life of the unborn. However, in the
past my opinion was, "Well, the country is evenly divided on this issue. Although
I am personally against abortion, there are others who don't agree with
me. I won't force the issue unless there is a consensus against abortion.
I will thus support the democratic process." However, I have gradually
realized that the abortions (murders of the unborn) are continuing at the
rate of
FOUR THOUSAND
ABORTIONS PER DAY in the USA
(ONE HUNDRED TWENTY THOUSAND PER DAY worldwide).
Meanwhile, some people are actually
campaigning to increase access to abortions. I have finally realized
that, "Abortion is terrible, and must be stopped. Part of the democratic
process is the free discussion of ideas. Others are expressing their opinions,
and some of them are against mine. I should express my opinions, too. I
will thus support the democratic process."
The format of this response is as follows: I have
included every word of Planned Parenthood's original opinion. Planned Parenthood
makes it's statement, then I refute it one paragraph at a time. In order
to guarantee that my response is well separated from Planned Parenthood's
original statement, I will color all of my responses blue. Also, all of Planned Parenthood's
statements begin with a bullet. (Note: The following discussion is focused on the United States of America. Abortion should be fought in every country, but the circumstances of each country are different, and some of the below points may not apply to every country on Earth.)
- Abortion is never an easy decision, but women have been making that
choice for thousands of years, for many good reasons. Whenever a society
has sought to outlaw abortions, it has only driven them into back alleys
where they became dangerous, expensive, and humiliating. Amazingly, this
was the case in the United States until 1973, when abortion was legalized
nationwide. Thousands of American women died.
Abortion is a hard decision for many
good reasons. Whenever a society has condoned abortions, they are greater
in number than when abortions are proscribed. Abortion kills babies which
could otherwise live a long life. Killing these babies is definitely dangerous
to them, and much worse than humiliating. Amazingly, because of legalization
of abortion in 1973, about 1.5 Million babies (One Million Five Hundred
Thousand, or 1,500,000) of American babies are being murdered in legal
abortions every year. (Sources: The World Almanac and Book of Facts
and the Information Please Almanac.)
- Thousands more were maimed. For this reason and others, women and men
fought for and achieved women's legal right to make their own decisions
about abortion.
By your own admission, for every 1 (one)
woman that died or was maimed when abortions were illegal, thousands
of babies are being murdered. For this reason and others, women and men
are fighting for the right of babies to live.
- However, there are people in our society who still won't accept this.
Some argue that even victims of rape or incest should be forced to bear
the child. And now, having failed to convince the public or the lawmakers,
certain of these people have become violent extremists, engaging in a campaign
of intimidation and terror aimed at women seeking abortions and health
professionals who work at family planning clinics.
Surveys of women aborting their babies
indicate that 1% of them are doing so because of rape or incest. (Source:
Forrest, J.D. & Torres, A. "Why Do Women Have Abortions?" Family Planning
Perspectives). Pro-life supporters have convinced the public and lawmakers
that abortion, in general, is horrible. Congress has repeatedly passed
anti-abortion bills, only to have them vetoed by a pro-abortion, Liberal
President. Recently there is increasing possibility that Congress will
get the 2/3 (two thirds) vote necessary to override the Presidential veto.
The main cause of Federal legalization of abortion was the Supreme Court
of 1973, not the public or the lawmakers. Failing to sufficiently convince
the public or lawmakers, pro-abortion (also known as pro-choice) supporters
have instituted an insidious campaign of misinformation, emotionalism,
and Political Correctness aimed to make abortion seem acceptable. (By the
way, although I do not support campaigns of intimidation and terror, I
am forced to wonder how this compares to the pain of babies literally being
torn apart without even anesthesia.)
- Some say these acts will stop abortions, but that is ridiculous. When
the smoke clears, the same urgent reasons will exist for safe, legal abortions
as have always existed. No nation committed to individual liberty could
seriously consider returning to the days of back-alley abortions; to the
revolting specter of a government forcing women to bear children against
their will. Still, amid such attacks, it is worthwhile to repeat a few
of the reasons why our society trusts each woman to make the abortion decision
herself.
The act which will stop abortion is
the act of making the decision to be more careful regarding sexual activity
and to be responsible for the consequences of sexual activity, including
the consequence of an unwanted pregnancy. The same urgent reasons have
always existed for being careful regarding sex. (These are reasons such
as disease, emotional entanglements, and, of course, pregnancy.) No nation
committed to individual liberty could seriously consider the wholesale
murder of helpless babies with little concern for the concern for the well
being of the babies. Women aren't forced to bear children, they choose
to bear children by the act of having sexual intercourse. (Note that surveys
indicate that rape or incest account for only 1% of legal abortions.) Saying
that the government forces women to bear children against their will is
like saying that the government forces people to become fat after they
decide to eat too much and not exercise enough. Bearing children is the
natural result of sexual intercourse under favorable conditions, it is
not forced upon women by the United States government. I am forced to wonder:
If a woman has a history of bad decisions which cause her an unwanted pregnancy,
why should our society trust her to take the welfare of the child into
account and trust her "to make the abortion decision herself"? Still, though
it is clear that women have made choices that put them in the position
of being pregnant, it is worthwhile to repeat a few reasons why abortion
is an abhorrent murder of a baby.
- 1. Laws against abortion kill women.
To prohibit abortions does not stop them. When women feel it is absolutely
necessary, they will choose to have abortions, even in secret, without
medical care, in dangerous circumstances. In the two decades before abortion
was legal in the U.S., it's been estimated that nearly a million women
per year sought out illegal abortions. Thousands died. Tens of thousands
were mutilated. All were forced to behave as if they were criminals.
1. Laws supporting abortion kill
babies.
To prohibit abortions vastly decreases
them. Abortion are "absolutely necessary" in only two cases: the mother's
health or the baby's health. Abortions based on the mother's health account
for 3% of abortions. Abortions based on the baby's health account for 3%
of abortions. Total: 6%. (Source: Forrest, J.D. & Torres, A. "Why Do
Women Have Abortions?" Family Planning Perspectives) Women don't feel that
abortion is "absolutely necessary." Women feel selfishly inconvenienced
by pregnancy. To repeat, because abortion was made legal in the U.S., about
1.5 Million (1,500,000) babies are murdered every year in the U.S. by abortion.
Every baby of the aborted 1.5 Million dies. Cold blooded murder is criminal,
and should be treated as murder. (Killing a baby is sometimes, though rarely,
medically necessary. This is not murder, and should be legal, just as killing
someone in self defense is legal.)
- 2. Legal abortions protect women's health.
Legal abortion not only protects women's lives, it also protects their
health. For tens of thousands of women with heart disease, kidney disease,
severe hypertension, sickle-cell anemia and severe diabetes, and other
illnesses that can be life-threatening, the availability of legal abortion
has helped avert serious medical complications that could have resulted
from childbirth. Before legal abortion, such women's choices were limited
to dangerous illegal abortion or dangerous childbirth.
2. Legal abortions protect women's
health.
Protecting women's lives preventing
serious medical complications are valuable, and should be legal. Your own
figures indicate that tens of thousands of women have health reasons for
aborting babies. Your own figures indicate that millions of women abort
their babies. This indicates a very rough estimate of 1% of abortions that
are done because of the mother's health.
- 3. A woman is more than a fetus.
There's an argument these days that a fetus is a "person" that is "indistinguishable
from the rest of us" and that it deserves rights equal to women's. On this
question there is a tremendous spectrum of religious, philosophical, scientific,
and medical opinion. It's been argued for centuries. Fortunately, our society
has recognized that each woman must be able to make this decision, based
on her own conscience. To impose a law defining a fetus as a "person,"
granting it rights equal to or superior to a woman's - a thinking, feeling,
conscious human being -- is arrogant and absurd. It only serves to diminish
women.
3. A fetus is more than a piece
of tissue.
Yes, there has been argument over this
issue for centuries.
- Regarding Science and Medicine: Currently, all
valid science and medicine is 100% clear that a fetus is a person. Practically,
100% of a person's genetic makeup is determined at the moment of conception.
Science and medicine define being a person (human) by genetic means. According
to science and medicine, a fetus is a distinct organism.
- Regarding Religion: Religion, on the other hand,
is not as clearly defined as medicine and science, because religion introduces
the soul into the situation. However, no religious leader would say that
a fetus does not have a soul and that because of this a fetus
may be capriciously aborted. Religious opinion is slowly beginning to accept
science and medicine. Any religious leader with a strong practical grounding
in scientific knowledge will have to admit that every embryo has a soul.
However, regardless of when a person gains a soul, religious opinion does
not show any support at all for abortion. In fact, religion is one of the
strongest opponents of abortion.
- Regarding Philosophy: Philosophical opinion does
show some variety regarding when a baby becomes a person. This is due solely
to the fact that most philosophy is of ancient origin. Regardless of whether
a philosopher believes ancient philosophies (which were developed before
the discovery of cells, heredity, and DNA), the philosopher would not support
capricious abortions.
- Conclusion: Neither science, nor medicine, nor
religion, nor philosophy supports capricious abortions. In fact, there
is a narrow band of belief in science, medicine, religion, and philosophy
that life is valuable, should be supported, and should not be killed when
the killing is reasonably avoided. In fact, those who believe strongly
in science, in medicine, in religion, or in philosophy are some of the
strongest opponents of abortion.
- Regarding Choice: Currently, some small groups
run large campaigns to convince people that women have a "right to choose"
to abort their babies. This is absurd. The choice comes in when the women
decide to have risky sex. When people make choices, they must accept certain
ramifications of these choices. Sometimes, people don't want to accept
the ramifications of their choices, and try to find an unethical means
to avoid taking responsibility for their actions. (By the way, how can
any woman with a conscience abort her baby?)
- Regarding Rights: No one is saying that babies
should have "rights equal to or superior to a woman's". That would
be absurd. Pro-life proponents are simply saying that babies have a right
to life. That is all. A right to life. If anyone can tell me
how a baby having a right to life in any way makes its "rights equal to
or superior to a woman's", I would greatly appreciate being informed
about this!
- Regarding Development: You imply that a fetus
is not "a thinking, feeling, conscious human being." Current, valid science
indicates that a fetus is not a senseless mass of tissue, as some people
have believed in the past. According to Planned Parenthood, a fetus
is "the organism that develops from the embryo at the end of eight weeks
of pregnancy and receives nourishment through the placenta; the fetus continues
to develop until the pregnancy ends." According to Merriam-Webster's
Collegiate® Dictionary, Tenth Edition, an organism is "an individual
constituted to carry on the activities of life by means of organs separate
in function but mutually dependent : a living being". In other words, Planned
Parenthood admits that a fetus is an individual, and a living being! According
to Dr. Ruth's Encyclopedia of Sex, "The beginning of the fetal period [is]
arbitrarily designated by most embryologists to occur eight weeks after
fertilization. At this time, the embryo is nearly one and one-half inches
long. Few, if any, major new structures are formed thereafter; development
during the fetal period of gestation consists of the maturation of structures
formed during the embryonic period." In other words, the basic structure
of the baby has already been formed! Planned Parenthood admits this.
Now, remember, this is still within the first "trimester"! The baby has
a small brain. The baby can feel pain. The baby can feel vibrations. The
baby has vague vision and hearing. The baby has reactions which indicate
a simple intelligence. Who knows whether a baby is conscious at this point? Admittedly, the baby is
undeveloped enough at this point that its sensations and thoughts are not similar to adults'. However,
the baby is a thinking, feeling human being, though admittedly undeveloped.
- Regarding Diminishment: For women to have the
legal right to freely take the lives of their babies, whether on
a whim, for their own selfish reasons, or for their own selfish comfort,
"is arrogant and absurd".
- 4. Being a mother is just one option for women.
Many hard battles have been fought to win political and economic equality
for women. These gains will not be worth much if reproductive choice is
denied. To be able to choose a safe, legal abortion makes many other options
possible. Otherwise an accident or a rape can end a woman's economic and
personal freedom.
4. Being a mother is the most important purpose of women.
- Regarding Women's Freedom: Many are calling the
1990's the "Me Decade." One aspect of this is some women who consider only
their own needs and desires, and disregard the needs and desires of others.
This is most obvious when women are willing to kill their own babies (either
born or unborn) to fulfill their own selfish desires. Every possible reason
for abortion (other than serious health issues for the mother or baby)
is a selfish one. Everyone, including men, women, and babies (born
and unborn) should have the right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of
Happiness.
- Regarding Mothering: No task is as crucial
as that of parenting. Being a mother is the most important purpose of a woman.
Being a father is the most important purpose of a man. Mothering (and Fathering)
means having children and
caring for them, often sacrificing one's own desires in order to provide
the needs and wants of the children. This is the true definition of "parent."
Without sacrifice, love is meaningless.
- Regarding Choices: Women in Industrialized
countries have many choices.
- Regarding Equality: The "political and economic
equality for" men and women is not worth much if men and women do not share
the responsibilities of parenting.
In Conclusion: Wouldn't it make better sense
to consider the option of adoption, rather than the option of abortion?
Waiting lists are never ending for adoptable newborns. Instead of losing
his or her life, the baby instead gets a chance to have a good life with
a married couple who highly desire a child to love, raise, and, in other
words, parent.
- 5. Outlawing abortion is discriminatory.
Anti-abortion laws discriminate against low-income women, who are driven
to dangerous self-induced or back-alley abortions. That is all they can
afford. But the rich can travel wherever necessary to obtain a safe abortion.
5. Legal abortion is discriminatory.
- Low income women have much support and many options. Often, the families of the mothers are willing to assist the mother. Many government programs are also designed to help low income women throughout all phases of bearing and raising children. Finally, adoption is an excellent choice for those women who don't have the financial strength to bear parenting. All expenses are paid, and more, for women who are willing to adopt out their newborn babies.
- Legal abortion discriminates against babies.
Any law which allows the callous, cold blooded killing of a life must be
considered as discriminatory (at the very least!). Even the cold blooded
killing of animals is proscribed by law, yet some campaign for less restrictions
on killing unborn babies!
- Legal abortion discriminates against fathers.
- 6. Compulsory pregnancy laws are incompatible with
a free society.
If there is any matter which is personal and private, then pregnancy
is it. There can [be] no more extreme invasion of privacy than requiring
a woman to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term. If government is permitted
to compel a woman to bear a child, where will government stop? The concept
is morally repugnant. It violates traditional American ideas of individual
rights and freedoms.
6. Legalized abortion is incompatible
with a free society.
How anyone can talk about "compulsory pregnancy laws" with a straight face is beyond me. Women who abort their babies were not compelled to become pregnant. Unless they are forced to engage in unprotected intercourse, they have many opportunities to avoid pregnancy.
- 7. Outlaw abortion, and more children will bear children.
Forty percent of 14-year-old girls will become pregnant before they
turn 20. This could happen to your daughter or someone else close to you.
Here are the critical questions: Should the penalty for lack of knowledge
or even for a moment's carelessness be enforced pregnancy and childrearing?
Or dangerous illegal abortion? Should we consign a teenager to a life sentence
of joblessness, hopelessness, and dependency?
7. Keep abortion legal, and more children will abort their children.
The so called "penalty" should be enforced maintenance of any pregnancy which does not involve serious health risks to the mother or baby. "Enforced childrearing" is not condoned by anyone, and it is ridiculous to
seriously consider "enforced childrearing".
- 8. "Every child a wanted child."
If women are forced to carry unwanted pregnancies to term, the result
is unwanted children. Everyone knows they are among society's most tragic
cases, often uncared-for, unloved, brutalized, and abandoned. When they
grow up, these children are often seriously disadvantaged, and sometimes
inclined toward brutal behavior to others. This is not good for children,
for families, or for the country. Children need love and families who want
and will care for them.
8. Every child is a wanted child.
Regarding the United States of America: People strongly desiring children are on lengthy waiting lists for the chance to adopt infants. In fact, adoptive parents pay tens of thousands of dollars in order to adopt, as well as submitting to various screening procedures. Adopted babies are treated almost as well as the biological children of married parents: they are not brutalized and abandoned. In general, the children which are seriously disadvantaged are those children who are fortunate enough to not have been aborted, but are unfortunate enough to be raised by the mother alone, without the father's assistance. In these cases, adoption is a better solution, too.
- 9. Choice is good for families.
Even when precautions are taken, accidents can and do happen. For some
families, this is not a problem. But for others, such an event can be catastrophic.
An unintended pregnancy can increase tensions, disrupt stability, and push
people below the line of economic survival. Family planning is the answer.
All options must be open.
9. Choice is good for families.
Choice is good for families. A choice which is sometimes not given enough consideration is adoption. A choice which is often used unnecessarily is abortion. Family planning means contraceptive measures, awareness of the potential responsibilities of parenting, and, if necessary, adopting out the baby. Family planning does not mean that abortion is "the answer" to "unintended pregnancy". Rather, family planning is avoiding an unintended pregnancy and dealing with it if it happens. All options should be used. However, abortion should not be considered to be an option unless there are serious health risks to the mother or her unborn child.
- At the most basic level, the abortion issue is not really about abortion.
It is about the value of women in society. Should women make their own
decisions about family, career, and how to live their lives? Or should
government do that for them? Do women have the option of deciding when
or whether to have children? Or is that a government decision?
Women should be able to make decisions about how to live their lives. Women do make decisions about how to live their lives. Women should have the option of deciding when or whether to have children. They do this by making choices regarding when to have sexual intercourse and what contraceptive methods to use. The government has no power to make these decisions, and it doesn't. Abortion is not a choice about women's value, family, career, how to live their lives, or when or whether to have children. Abortion is a choice between allowing an unborn baby to live or killing it.
- The anti-abortion leaders really have a larger purpose. They oppose
most ideas and programs which can help women achieve equality and freedom.
They also oppose programs which protect the health and well-being of women
and their children.
I support any "ideas and programs which can help women achieve equality and freedom" or "protect the health and well-being of women and their children." I don't know these "anti-abortion leaders".
- Anti-abortion leaders claim to act "in defense of life." If so, why
have they worked to destroy programs which serve life, including prenatal
care and nutrition programs for dependent pregnant women? Is this respect
for life?
Who are these "Anti-abortion leaders"? They sound like a real threat to society. Let me know who they are and what they are doing, and I will fight against them and their campaigns to "destroy programs which serve life." If they truly are as you portray them, they aren't my leaders, since I don't follow their opinions. I fully support life in all of its forms, especially human life. Anyone who supports life in general must also support the life of the unborn.
- Anti-abortion leaders also say they are trying to save children, but
they have fought against health and nutrition programs for children once
they are born. The anti-abortion groups seem to believe life begins at
conception, but it ends at birth. Is this respect for life?
Once again, let me know who they are, and I will work against them. Who in his right mind could fight against health and nutrition programs for children?
- Then there are programs which diminish the number of unwanted pregnancies
before they occur: family planning counseling, sex education, and contraception
for those who wish it. Anti-abortion leaders oppose those too. And clinics
providing such services have been bombed. Is this respect for life?
I fully support "family planning counseling, sex education, and contraception". I support any programs which diminish the number of unwanted pregnancies before they occur. Your mythical "Anti-abortion leaders" do not have any influence on the members of the pro-life group. The only pro-life group I can think of in the United States which opposes sex education and contraception is the religious pro-life. However, no religious pro-life group that I know of opposes family counseling or contraception based in rhythm methods.
- Such stances reveal the ultimate cynicism of the compulsory pregnancy
movement. "Life" is not what they're fighting for. What they want is a
return to the days when a woman had few choices in controlling her future.
They think that the abortion option gives too much freedom. That even contraception
is too liberating. That women cannot be trusted to make their own decisions.
You speak of "the compulsory pregnancy movement". Who are the members of this movement? Is this another mythical group? Compulsory pregnancy would seem to include forced impregnation. I must admit, any group which supports forced impregnation must indeed take freedoms away from women. Such groups should be stopped by any means possible. I and my fellow pro-life people, on the other hand, fully support women's freedoms, including the freedom of making the essential choices of when to have sexual intercourse and what contraceptives to use. These choices are essential in preventing pregnancy.
- Americans today don't accept that. Women can now select their own paths
in society, including when and whether to have children. Family planning,
contraception, and, if need be, legal abortion are critical to sustaining
women's freedom. There is no going back.
Women should select their own paths in society, including when and whether to have children. Family planning and contraception are critical aids to sustaining many freedoms of both men and women. I hope that someday the United States of America will once again make abortion illegal. This will also give the right to life to the unborn and will allow them to have freedoms of their own when they are born.
- If you agree with this, you can help. Circulate this statement among
your friends, and support our work by contacting Planned Parenthood in
your area. Thank you.
If you agree that human life has value, including the lives of the unborn, then speak out when the time comes! Don't keep quiet while millions of babies are murdered in cold blood. Speak out! Bookmark this page. Show it to others. Better yet, if you have a Web site, put a link to this page on your Web site! Spread the word! Thank you.
Portions Copyright © 1998 by Mr Israel Steinmetz. These portions released into the Public Domain.
