"We Are Pro-Life"
Few issues have polarized American society more than that of elective abortion and the rights of a woman to make this "choice". On one side, there are those who feel a woman should be able to choose what she wants to do with her body, even when it involves a pregnancy. The opposing argument takes the stance that the unborn fetus is a human life and therefore, cannot be tampered with once established, regardless. And then there are those who take the middle ground where the argument is for life except in cases of rape and incest or maybe even for a teen mother who "made a mistake". Clearly, these are difficult issues and beg for there to be some type of definitive answer to this most important dilemma.
When putting forth a statement on this subject, the focus must be such that anyone reading this can fully understand the facts, the science and most importantly the truth about the unborn baby, the devastating procedure known as elective abortion and why it is a scurge on humanity.
The Lie #1: Before ultrasound technology, there was a legitimate chasm in our understanding of the unborn fetus. While there was certainly evidence that an unborn baby did indeed fully form some time prior to delivery, there was a relative uncertainty as to when. This lack of understanding was used by those favoring abortion to help justify their position. It is this mindset that ultimately led abortion providers and their ancillary staff to depict a pregnancy at the time of the procedure to be nothing more than a "blob" of tissue. This fraudulant representation has not only duped millions of women, it has persisted to this day and has been purposely used on pregnancies as advanced as 15-16 weeks gestation.
The Truth #1: Ultrasound technology has been around for more than thirty years and has been able to clearly identify a fully formed fetus at a gestational age that was far earlier than previously thought. And with the advent of Hysteroscopic camera technology, our understanding has advanced even further. In fact, there is a formal cardiac structure pumping blood as early as five and a half weeks gestation. And the unborn Human Being is fully differentiated (arms, legs, fingers, toes, brain, heart, kidneys, liver, reproductive organs, etc.) by ten weeks gestation. This is only SIX WEEKS after a woman's missed period. The middle picture at the right is from around this time. Is this not a human being? And further, does a human need to be fully formed in order to be considered off limits? We all start as a single cell that multiplies into a "ball" of cells which (through the miracle of embryologic development) becomes a small person. Once fully formed at ten weeks, the remainder of the pregnancy is for maturation of all systems in order to survive outside the womb by 40 weeks gestation. With the majority of abortions occurring between 8 and 12 weeks gestation, clearly we are not dealing with a "blob" but a tiny little baby.
The Lie and Truth #2: Another of the arguments offered by the "choice" faction is that the baby is not fully human (and therefore expendable) because of its inability to survive outside its mother's womb. And the word fetus is often emphasized in order to make it sound less human. This just may be the most intellectually dishonest position on this subject. Of course a fetus will not survive on its own before it has been given the chance to mature to the point of self-sufficiency. This is why the process takes several months. Would you take a cake out of the oven that was half baked and throw it away simply because it was not enough of a cake at that moment to serve to your guests? Of course not. You would leave it in until it was finished. This is common sense. Right? So why do we as a society do it to our babies before they have had the functional chance at life? Furthermore, show me a full-term baby that could survive without its mother. Should we then justify exterminating a newborn for this same "inability to survive without its mother" argument? Again, of course not.
Perhaps the second most ridiculous offering from the pro-abortion movement is the assertion that a fetus, (and even a newborn) is not a person yet with a conscience and an understanding of "self" and therefore can be terminated. Does anything further need to be said about this? For anyone with a child, one of the most magical aspects of a baby is seeing them discover themselves and the world around them. We all go through this process but according to those who want to convince you otherwise, all unborn babies are fair game given this appalling contention.
The Lie and Truth #3: It's the woman's body so she can do anything she wants with it even if it means aborting an unwanted pregnancy. While this argument seems to be one of the strongest in favor of "choice" since we all have authority over our bodies, it simply cannot be used to end the life of an otherwise healthy developing human being. The difficulty with this aspect of pro-life positioning is that despite the fact that it takes two to make a baby, it is the woman who has to carry it and therefore is the one who has to bear the brunt of the issue. While this may be unpleasant given whatever circumstance surrounding the unwanted pregnancy, we are still dealing with a human life that for all intents and purposes is going to become a full term baby and go on to live once born. Every living human being MUST go through these very steps in order to exist.
At what point does a human life become valuable enough to protect it? Certainly all living people are "protected" to some degree from intentional harm, punishable through the laws of the land. Human life is even important enough to send someone to jail even when the loss of life is accidental. And when a child is involved with such a tragedy, we as a people are moved even further over the devasting deficit it represents to not only the families but society as a whole. But somehow, a little baby still inside it's mother is expendable simply because of location. This is the double standard that has existed within this debate from the beginning. But those pushing abortion want to make you think that somehow the fetus is just not real enough to put forth the same protections as that very same life were it to only get through the birth process. Are we to be that gullible to believe such nonsense?
The Lie and Truth #4: There are all sorts of politicians out there who speak on the issue of abortion as if they have a master's degree on the subject, yet their ignorance is astounding. Take the partial birth abortion debate. The argument for this barbaric procedure is that in order to save the mother's life, the baby needs to be aborted. I have been involved with Obstetrical medicine for sixteen years and have never seen a circumstance whereby a baby had to be killed beyond 25 weeks gestation in order to save the mom. Never. If the mother's life is in that much jeopardy, you simply deliver the baby and hope for the best outcome. So for politicians and even doctors to espouse such a deception makes one wonder what evil agenda is at hand. While a full term gestation is 40 weeks, medical advances have enabled babies as early as 26 weeks to realize a 75-80+% chance of morbidity free survivial. That is survival without any long term consequence of prematurity. Therefore, for a doctor to ever participate in such an event is pure evil without any legitimate scientific or medical argument to the contrary.
The Lie and Truth #5: When a woman has an abortion, she is often counseled by those at the clinic. Along with the "blob" of tissue rhetoric, they are often made to think that once the procedure is over, they can simply go on with their lives, happy to know that their little "problem" has been taken care of. What they do not tell these poor unsuspecting women is that the psychological toll it has on them can affect them for the rest of their lives. Numerous studies have looked at this very phenomenon. Woman have described the emotional torment they have felt once the reality of what they did sinks in. This is a very sad element to this entire problem that unfortunately leaves most women fending for themselves in having to get over it. Many never do.
Further, abortion, while considered a quick and "easy" procedure, is anything but. The dilation of the uterine cervix and suctioning out of the entire pregnancy unit is not only grotesque, it is one of the most potentially hazardous in all of gynecology. During pregnancy, the uterus becomes softer and more fragile such that if the procedure is not done with extreme care, serious injury can result in the mother. Other commonly known complications include hemorrhage, infection that can affect future fertility and even death. And the further the pregnancy has developed, the more the danger to the mother in destroying it.
Recent research has also implicated abortion with a significant increased risk of breast cancer. The thought is that at the time of a termination, there are tremendous hormonal changes in the mother that are in response to being pregnant. These hormones, of course, are going to also have a stimulatory effect on breast tissue as well. When an abortion is carried out, there is a sudden cessation of pregnancy hormone production with the evacuation of the placental tissue. This in turn is thought to have a detrimental affect on the breast given the abrupt interruption of increased cellular activity. While this point can be debated all day long, such an event at the cellular level cannot be good. This varies from a woman who has had a miscarriage in that there exists a more natural diminution of hormones in the latter.
Unwanted pregnancy is no doubt a situation that can lead to all kinds of turmoil in the minds of women who think it is the worst thing to happen to them. Often it involves teenagers who see their pregnancy as a one way ticket to family dis-ownership. However, were one to look at those who have decided against abortion when it might otherwise seem the "socially-correct" thing to do, there can be no doubt as to the outright blessing these babies turn out to be for all involved. While there is no guarantee that the baby won't be born into an awful environment, this is definitely the case with many intended pregnancies. So social standing cannot be an argument in favor of abortion. And with so many families willing to take in any unwanted newborn, there are plenty of resources to accommodate the survivors.
The bottom line here is the matter of life. We are all blessed to have been given it. Who are we to determine who gets that chance just because of bad timing or whatever other inconvenience. Interesting how those pushing abortion were themselves fortunate enough to be given life by a mother who felt compelled to go to term. Life is life regardless of how it came about. This even goes for rape, incest or any other esoteric circumstance. Do you think that any unborn baby would agree with the assertion that since he/she was the product of rape that now they must die? How ludicrous. Of course no one wants to see such things happen but again, we are talking about a human life that could have easily been any one of us.
The last point that must be made about this issue is that of a spiritual nature. Whether one wants to believe it or not, God is real and there can be no debate that such an act as abortion is a condemning sin. This is not to say that women who have had an abortion are condemned. This can only apply when there is a hardened heart to the matter. Most patients who have had an abortion have been misled to think that they are not doing anything really that wrong. So long as they realize their error and repent, our loving God will more than forgive them. It is those providing the service of abortion who are condemning themselves since they more than know what they are doing is not only "a lie" but pure evil and moreover, technically murder one. Yet they justify themselves as providers of a "necessary" service to women. These same doctors also call themselves Obstetricians, which confers a degree of allegiance to the unborn baby as well. Hypocrisy never seems to enter the debate despite its ever presence.
This section is not intended to be the solution to the abortion debate. However, truth is what sets us all free. It did for "Jane Roe" of the famous Roe vs Wade court decision which led to the legalization of abortion in the United States. She is now one of the strongest proponents of the pro-life movement who realized how devastating abortion truly is on the individual and society alike. And with millions of pregnancy terminations occuring every year in the U.S. alone, if one life is spared by a scared pregnant woman knowing the reality of human life in the womb, then God will be most pleased not to mention the baby. Throughout the past ten years at the Good Life Centre for Women, numerous unwanted pregnancies have come in the door. While not everyone had a heart to hear the truth, those who did have proven that life is indeed God given with some of the most beautiful babies transforming the lives of those who made the right "choice".
-Dr. Caputo |
