Background:
In Canada, there are over 100,000 abortions each year. The number has increased more than 5 times since 1970. In the US, there are over 1 million abortions each year. In both countries, the rate is about 1 abortion every 4 livebirths.
Some countries (e.g. China and USSR) use abortion as a means of birth control. The estimated abortion rate in USSR is more than 3 abortions per livebirth. The total number of abortions in the world is estimated to be over 50 million a year. Of these, China has about 10 million. In the last quarter century, the world has killed one billion preborn children.
· In the US, the US Supreme Court ruled in 1973 in the famous case Roe v. Wade that a woman’s right to privacy includes a right to abortion.
· In Canada, legal abortion has been allowed since 1968 if it is approved by doctors.
· Pro-life people stress the value and sanctity of each preborn’s life over the freedom of the mother. They include most of the conservatives, Roman Catholics, and evangelical Protestants.
· “Pro-choice” people emphasize each woman’s right to reproductive choice. They include most of the liberals, atheists, and secular humanists.
o “Pro-choice” people (more accurately “anti-life”) were not really upholding choice. They try to isolate, marginalize and silence pro-life people by labelling them as extremist (using words like bigot, ideologue, radical, fundamentalist, ultraconservative, intolerant, anti-progress, narrow-minded).
· With the advance in microbiology, an honest scientist will confirm that life begins at conception.
o immediately after conception: unique and genetically similar with the parents
o 4 weeks after conception: formation of organs and starting of heart beats
o 6 weeks after conception: movement of body and limbs
o 8 weeks after conception: presence of brain waves, response to stimuli, can feel pain, all organs present, with 1 billion cells. Thus after 8 weeks, the baby is fully an individual.
· Most abortions are performed between 9 to 12 weeks. Premature babies are viable at 22-24 weeks.
· Abortionists argue that only a “person” has the right to life but a preborn child is only a “potential” person (not an “actual” person). They argue that a preborn child only becomes a person at birth.
· In the dictionary, the definition of a person is “a human being,” meaning all human life.
· But abortionists add more qualifications, including independence, self-consciousness, rationality, etc. These are all arbitrary criteria with no scientific support.
· The Pascal’s wager can be applied to the case of abortion. If you are not sure whether the preborn baby is a human being, to avoid abortion is the only wise decision. Otherwise, you risk murdering.
· There are deaths as a result of doctor-administered abortion procedure.
· There is risk of damage to the uterus and the cervix.
· The risk of breast cancer is higher: 25 out of 31 worldwide case-control and cohort studies show increased risk of more than twice for women with an abortion, even higher with more abortions.
· There is permanent psychological damage, particularly “post-abortion syndrome” of depression, guilt, anger, regret, suicidal feelings. It can continue up to 7 or 8 years.
· Abortions usually ignoring father’s rights to the decision.
· Abortions often cause broken relations and divorce.
· The decision to abort is often found to be unwise.
· Finally, a reminder of reality: you would not exist if your parents are not pro-life.
· Slightly more than half of the people think that abortion should be available.
· Most people support some restrictions in abortion such as not using public funds.
· There is now a trend toward less support for abortion. Only 30% support abortion-on-demand.
o But with improved modern medical techniques, such situation is unlikely to occur.
· Christians can seek help from Crisis Pregnancy Centre or Birthright which provides financial help, accommodation, and adoption services (if the mother does not want the child after birth).
· Infanticide is mothers killing their unwanted babies after birth. Partial birth abortion is a cruel and horrifying procedure and is equivalent to infanticide. These are both murders.
· Operation Rescue tries to block abortion clinics (without violence) and try to convince mothers not to go through abortions. Pro-life people can participate if they are willing to pay the price.
· Violent actions such as bombing abortion clinics or murdering abortion doctors are immoral.