Abortion - what is it?

->>> DID YOU KNOW...

In reality, the only indication for abortion is the decision of the mother that she does not want the baby.

Abortion is not a medical problem. It is a social problem. Doctors have been asked to become social executioners in order to bring about a better society – a far cry from the high calling to the healing art of medicine. But have we produced a better society?

Abortion is seen as a solution to the problems of child abuse, wife-bashing, family rejection, unemployment, inadequate housing and poverty. Instead, child abuse has increased dramatically – estimates range between 40% and 300%. According to researchers, an estimated 4 out of every 10 children are either emotionally or physically abused, even though we have prevented the birth of about 2 ½ million unwanted children in Australia since 1970. On average, one unborn Australian child dies by abortion every 6 minutes.

When doctors are willing to become social executioners for millions of babies, we must question what motives are used in justifying their actions. An estimated 80,000 abortions are performed annually in Australia: 4% for medical reasons, the remainder for socio-economic reasons, including ‘convenience', ‘cost of bringing up the child', and ‘career or studies.' The government finances around 80,000 abortions through direct Medicare payments of over $6 million.

->>> HOW DID WE GET INTO THIS SITUATION?

What wars and sickness have failed to do, society and the medical profession are managing to achieve.

Abortion rhetoric paints the preborn as a parasite, a lump, a ‘glob of tissue'. In fact, it is the woman's child, as much like her as any child she will ever have, sharing her appearance, talents and family tree. In abortion, she offers her own child as a sacrifice for the right to avoid change in her life, and it is a sacrifice that will haunt her.

She can lose her health. In addition to the women who experience a punctured womb or are killed on abortion tables, there are more subtly damaging effects. The opening of the uterus, the cervix, is designed to happen gradually over several days at the end of pregnancy. In many abortions the cervix is wrenched open in a matter of minutes. The delicate muscle fibres can be damaged – a damage that may go unnoticed until she is far into a later, wanted pregnancy, and then they give way in a miscarriage. By some estimates, the aborted woman's chance of later miscarriages doubles.

The last loss is of her peace of mind. Planned Parenthood have recently conceded that as many as 90% of aborted women may experience trauma after abortion.

The question remains, does a woman want an abortion? Like an animal caught in a trap trying to gnaw off its own leg, a woman who seeks abortion is trying to escape a desperate situation by an act of self-violence and self-loss.

For all these losses, women gain nothing but the right to run in place. If women are an oppressed group, they are the only such group to require surgery in order to be equal.

If we were to imagine a society that supported and respected women, we would have to begin with preventing unplanned pregnancies. Contraceptives fail, and half of all aborting women admit they weren't using them anyway. Thus, preventing unplanned pregnancies will involve a return to sexual responsibility.

Sexuality is not an uncontrollable urge. It is a drive strong enough to ensure the continuity of the species, but it is not stronger than our intellect. Unlike animals we have been created with brains, commonsense and reasoning powers. Unless we are unlucky enough to be in a position where a violent male overpowers us, we have the power to think situations through and make appropriate decisions to protect ourselves and our lifestyles.

Our decision-making ability gives us the power to choose whether we will leave ourselves open to becoming pregnant, unlike the hapless female rabbit who is dominated by instinct and has no power to make effective life decisions for herself.