Abortion: Just The Facts

Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo, resulting in or caused by its death. It can occur spontaneously. The abortions are usually termed miscarriages. While the term abortion most commonly refers to the induced or forced abortion of a human pregnancy by medical means. Induced abortion can be traced to ancient times. There is evidence to suggest that, historically, pregnancies were terminated through a number of methods, including the administration of abortifacient herbs, the use of sharpened implements, the application of abdominal pressure, and other techniques. The Hippocratic Oath, the chief statement of medical ethics for Hippocratic physicians in Ancient Greece, forbade doctors from helping to procure an abortion by pessary. In the 20th century the Soviet Union (1919) and Nazi Germany (1935) legalized certain or all forms of abortion. The Mexico City policy, also known as the "Global Gag Rule" required any non-governmental organization receiving US Government funding to refrain from performing or promoting abortion services in other countries. This had a significant effect on the health policies of many nations across the globe. The Mexico City Policy was instituted under President Reagan, suspended under President Clinton, reinstated by President George W. Bush, and suspended again by President Barack Obama on January 24, 2009. In other words, both Reagan and Bush were both Pro Life and Clinton and Barack were Pro choice. Pro Choice Argument: Science is uncertain when life begins, therefore it must be a religious question. Pro Life Answer: ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA -"A new individual is created when the elements of a potent sperm merge with those of a fertile ovum, or egg." Pro Choice Argument: The unborn is an embryo or fetus and not a baby. Abortion is terminating a pregnancy and is not actually killing a child. Pro Life Answer: Prochoice people insist that the unborn is an "embryo." By definition, embryo means any living creature at an early stage of development. Further, they say it's not a baby; it's a "fetus." Fetus is a Latin word meaning young one or little child. Pro Choice Argument: Abortion providers are respected medical professionals working in the woman's best interest. Pro Life Answer: A former abortion clinic counselor said, "I was totally uninformed of available alternatives to abortion. I never recommended adoption or keeping the baby. I received no training in factual matters. It was my job was just to keep women happy and make sure they went through with an abortion." Pro Choice Argument: Abortion is a safe medical procedure, even safer than full term pregnancy and childbirth. Pro Life Answer: Researchers state, "Morbidity and mortality rates of legal abortion are several times higher than that for carrying a pregnancy to term. The immediate complication rate is no less than 10%, while long range complication rates show no less than 17%." Pro Choice Argument: Abortion is an easy and painless procedure. Pro Life Answer: The various abortion procedures are often both difficult and painful for women. One abortion procedure called the D & C involves the scraping of the uterus, which typically involves some bleeding and other side effects that some women often find quite painful. Pro Choice Argument: Unwanted children usually end up being battered and abused children later on in life. Pro Life Answer: A fairly recent study showed that 91% of the battered children surveyed were planned pregnancies and 90% were legitimate, according to Dr. Edward Lenoski, Professor of Pediatrics at U.S.C. Pro Choice Argument: Child abuse has decreased since legalized abortion. Pro Life Answer: Since abortion's legalization in 1973, child abuse has increased fifteen hundred percent according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Pro Choice Argument: To Legally prevents a woman from having an abortion is an invasion of her privacy. Pro Life Answer: Our laws allow police to enter the privacy of people's homes to stop them from battering and abusing their children. Now the same force of law guarantees the "privacy and rights" of parents to dismember, poison, or even kill their babies before birth. Pro Choice Argument: Abortion relieves women of stress and responsibility and thereby enhances their psychological well-being. Pro Life Answer: Post-abortion therapy and support groups with members numbering over 30,000 testify to the reality of abortion's potentially harmful psychological effects. Women's World,

September 1991, reports a study of women who have had abortions in which 45% said they had thoughts of suicide following their abortion. Pro Choice Argument: What about a woman who's life is threatened by pregnancy or childbirth? Pro Life Answer: While he was United States Surgeon General, Dr. C. Everett Koop stated publicly that in his thirty-eight years as a pediatric surgeon, he was never aware of a single situation in which a pre-born child's life had to be taken in order to save the life of the mother.