Abortion

Dear President of the United States of America, Picture this. A woman gives birth to a sweet, beautiful, innocent baby who smiles at the world. The little baby has no knowledge of all the wrongs in our world, of the terrible things and horrible events. But then, in walks a murderer. The killer comes in and takes this baby’s life from them, ends a wonderful thing before it can even get close to the best part. As if this wasn’t already horrible enough, on top of all of this, dream up one more horrible, gruesome detail: the murderer is the baby’s own mother. This is basically what happens every time a mother has an abortion. The mother’s decision to terminate her pregnancy does not just affect her; it kills her baby! Our country is clearly in the middle of some problems, but I feel that the most pressing issue is abortion. Over 55 million babies have been aborted since 19731, the passing of the law Roe v.s. Wade that legalized abortion in the U.S. Many people see nothing wrong with this, nothing immoral about ending a pregnancy before birth, but these people are unaware of the consequences of abortions. We need to stop abortions because it is murder of innocent babies, and there is no humane way possible to justify that. Many people crave to see the facts behind issues, the science. Well, there’s loads of evidence to support the claim that every abortion is a murder. Scientists have discovered that when conceived, an embryo’s DNA is the same as it will be for the rest of their life. That DNA determines your eye color, hair color, gender, etc. They have also determined that the fetus gets a heartbeat at just three weeks after conceived.2 The fetus has all the makings to be a person, all the characteristics of being alive. The fetus has a heartbeat, an identity, the ability to grow, and many other characteristics of life. But, many people say, a fetus isn’t alive because they depend on their mother’s body to survive. While it’s true that the fetus depends on their mother, it is incorrect that that means the unborn baby isn’t alive. A born baby couldn’t survive without their mother or some other parental figure helping and supporting them, and everyone considers a baby a person. Could a baby get food on it’s own? Could a baby get a glass of water? No, but a baby is a person, and so is a fetus. Another thing to consider is the fetal homicide laws. If a pregnant woman is murdered, the charges are greater than that for someone who isn’t pregnant. Using these laws, like the Preborn Victims of Violence Act3, abortions should be considered murder. The laws state that anyone who “causes the death of , or bodily injury to,who is in utero at the time the conduct takes place, is guilty of a separate offense under this section.” It goes on to say the punishment is the same as it would be if you committed those acts of violence towards the mother. The act claims the unborn baby is alive because it describes how the murderer “causes the death of” the unborn baby. You can’t kill something that’s not alive. It counts the murder the murder of two people, the mother and the fetus. So isn’t having an abortion executing the fetus? Shouldn’t that be charged as murder? Now, abortion most definitely isn’t a black and white issue. Pro choice supporters argue that many abortions take place because of hard issues, like the rape of the mother causing an unwanted pregnancy or the mother’s or baby’s life being at stake. While these so called “hard cases” are definitely terrible realities, they don’t occur as often as projected. Only 7% of all abortions are caused by these complications.4 93% are caused by irresponsible decisions of the parents, and these decisions do not warrant a death of an innocent baby. Also, even if you can’t support the baby on your own, there are many options out there that are much better than terminating the pregnancy. You can adopt the baby out, find counseling, get help, and many more options. Not being able to take care of the baby yourself is no excuse for murder. So it’s a well-known fact: abortions happen. A lot. Almost 10 times as many babies were aborted since 1973 as Jews were killed in the holocaust, which is considered probably the single greatest massacre in the world. Unborn babies are alive, and our society as a whole needs to discover this truth if we have a chance of stopping this dark time where executing a sweet baby is okay, is acceptable, is supported. Yes, America has a lot of areas to improve in, but abortion must be addressed immediately as we can’t ignore or put off saving these lives. Regards, Lyssa Frank Student at CeVMS