|
Abortion-
Why this is wrong. As told by a pathologist.
- Take the most obvious type of abortion that can be considered "wrong" or
murder. The "partial birth abortion' procedure is taking the life of an infant
that would be completely viable if born at that instant. There is absolutely no way
to justify that horrific 'procedure' that then cuts the back of the head that was
partially delivered and the brains were scrambled using stainless steel instruments, and
evacuated with a suction. This is clearly murder. This is clearly unlike the
usual practice of medicine. Does the baby have a 'choice'? Even Hillary
Clinton talks about 'children's rights'. This fully formed baby needs no respirator
and could go home shortly after birth. We have no right to fuss about Milosevic's
immorality (as bad as that is) when we allow this to occur in the United States.
Bill Clinton cannot lead us into a moral battle and do well to save people.
- What about earlier gestational age fetuses and even embryos? As a pathologist, I
have seen many spontaneous abortion, 'products of conception'. At even less than 12
weeks gestation, the fetus is incredibly complex and human. It is nowhere near our
'developed' state but it is clearly different from other types of "tissue".
The DNA is clearly, from the moment of conception, completely unique from everyone
else on earth. It has taken us thousands of years to obtain the capability of
in-vitro fertilization. God performs this miracle thousands of times daily.
- What about the mother's 'choice'? The argument that she has the right to choose
what happens to her own body is markedly flawed. The same ones who want to give a
woman the right for an abortion would condemn women for smoking and fight what was her
'choice', clearly affecting her own body. In abortion, the baby is clearly separate
in content and being than the mother. It is only riding with the mother for a few
months. As Christians, we should protect the helpless, including the unborn
individual as it grows. Why doesn't anyone expose that the reason for an abortion is
simply selfishness? The mother's 'choice' is simply what inconvenience she wants to
escape.
- We take way too much credit, credit that God deserves. We think that we created
the life. Just a minute. One act of sex, a few minutes in length, 'made' a
life? NO! First, God gave us bodies capable of procreating with incredibly
complex and accurate hormonal balance and physiologic changes that allow this to work.
It is unbelievable, when you choose to think about it, that our bodies are capable
of the processes that allow life to renew. How many infertile couples have learned
how difficult it is to simply conceive and to develop. The point is simple.
Without God 'making' the baby, it would not occur. A few minutes of sex and some
time growing in a uterus is not 'making' a baby. If I want to make
a car, it requires hours of careful action and thought to accomplish this. A baby is
much more complex. We cannot make all needed DNA, we cannot take the needed DNA and
form life under the most controlled situations. We still have not made any kind of
life, even the most simple one-cell kind. We can do some pretty incredible stuff but
we cannot make life. God does this routinely. Give Him the credit.
- I believe the reason people call for abortion to be legal is, simply put, selfishness.
The abortion occurs as the mother (maybe under other's pressure) does not want the
baby. Others do not want to feel the guilt of not picking up the pieces to help an
unwanted baby. They selfishly want to spend their money on themselves and their
wants rather than to sacrifice some for unwanted or unsupported babies. The mother
puts her own wants above the baby's needs. In this day of birth control, she forgot
to 'choose' abstinence or birth control and for some reason God gave her a life.
Why? Ask Him.
- Here is are some examples. There are many. Ethyl Waters was a product of a
rape and she turned out to positively affect many people's lives. My wife and I
thought our own family was complete a few years ago with our 2 boys. Suddenly, after
an 8 year gap, at nearly 40 years of age, my wife became pregnant again. This was
extremely difficult on our lives. We would not ever consider an abortion but we
absolutely had no interest in going through the difficulties we well knew raising another
child. God had a better idea. Despite the trauma, our daughter has been
clearly a gift from God. The ideas of another child were unwelcome. On her
birth and with developing a relationship with her, she is probably the best gift God could
have given to our family. This is true of any child born. They can all be
loved and they deserve that, even if it is by strangers.
- The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies
In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776
"...We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among
these are Life,
Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."
- What God has created, who are we to destroy?
- Currently in medicine, we have advanced our technology and
understanding to be able to care for and nourish very early premature infants, even into
the second trimester. People easily agree they have rights but across town another, same
gestational age infant is snatched from the mother's body in a horrific
manner. Where should we draw the line? The only answer that can be
medically supported is before conception.
- It isn't just another 'procedure' in medicine. Having helped
and performed many 'procedures', there is virtually nothing as disgusting as the suction
causing ripping and destruction of formed placental and fetal tissue that occurs with an
abortion, not to mention the pain imposed on the fetus being torn apart. This is not
meant to be sensational, although it is. This is to make the point that medical
'procedures' are to fix a problem and nearly all are neat and clean with this
exception. When physicians remove a uterus, for example, they do their best to
remove it intact. Not so with an abortion. The goal is simple
evacuation. Doctors are sworn to stand up for life and to minimize suffering for all
patients. Those who perform abortions have violated the Hippocratic oath. They
forget that the fetus is a patient too.
- I must admit I did not always feel this way. I was trained
as this was basically 'tissue' through college and it was not much of an issue for me in
medical school, until we had a patient come in from an abortion clinic's botched
'procedure' to our GYN service to stop a hemorrhage. Even then I was not sure that
abortions were wrong. I believed that an unwanted child was better dead than
unwanted, leading a difficult life. How elitist!! Who am I to say if
someone's life is worthwhile or not? Recently some conjoined twins, joined at
the head, were interviewed by ABC. They lead incredibly difficult lives yet they
enjoy life in a powerful way!
| On ABC’s Primetime Live (March 11, 1998) there was an
interesting report regarding the difficult decisions accompanying the birth and lives of
conjoined twins. They highlighted some female twins that are 35 years old, conjoined
at the head. One has spina bifida and is in a cart while the other twin wheels her
around. Undoubtedly a difficult life. "Experts" would
have (or did) tell their mother to have a "therapeutic abortion".
They might have been separated successfully – for one of the twins, likely killing
the other twin. As disturbing as it was to see them struggle, obviously NOT
living anything like a ‘normal’ life, my convictions were strengthened watching
these wonderful ladies. Here is a quote: Dr. Nancy Smitherman
(interviewing): It shocks some that Laurie and Reba can be happy, that they can see
meaning in their lives.
Laurie Chappelle: This is---this was, God’s purpose.
Nancy Smitherman: And what is God’s purpose?
Laurie Chappelle: I don’t know.
I mean, I guess to just show people that no matter which way you are, you can live a
fulfilling life, and that, you know, people should not judge on what you look like, and
they should judge on your character and what’s in your heart.
Well, now you have heard from real experts. They are bringing glory to God.
Praise the LORD! He chose to make them in that manner and he knows better
than we. |
- Often, we cannot judge appropriately for our own lives, much less
others' lives. Kevorkian is absolutely wrong. Only God knows best when to take
a life, often when we do not understand why.
- Seeing these truths, seeing examples of my own error in judgement as to what is the best
way to handle 'unwanted' or what I felt was unhappy, difficult, lives helped
me to fall back to the obvious conclusion. God makes life, we have no business
shortening what God had started, without His approval.
If you are seeking RealAudio or further information on this critical issue that is
logical and quite convincing (truthful), try going to Alan Keyes' radio web site http://www.alankeyes.com
Travis Kidd, Jr., M.D.
see also saving babies for solutions
Copyright © 1999,2000, Dio, Inc.
|
|
