Abortion Prolife View Essay

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Abortion, the termination of pregnancy before the fetus is capable of independent life, can either be spontaneous or induced. It is called "the knowing destruction of the life of an unborn child." (Mass General Laws Chapter 112 Section 12K) When abortion occurs spontaneously, it is called a miscarriage. However, when the loss of a fetus is caused intentionally, it is regarded as a moral issue. Abortion destroys the lives of helpless, innocent children and is illegal in many countries. An estimate of 1.2 million are performed each year. In retrospect, an estimate 38,010,378 innocent children were aborted since 1973 when the process was legalized.

Abortion is a simple and safe procedure if it is done by trained medical workers during the first trimester. There are four different techniques utilized during the first twelve weeks of pregnancy. Suction aspiration, also known as vacuum curettage, is the most common surgical means of abortion. This is when a powerful suction tube with a sharp cutting edge is inserted into the womb through the dilated cervix. The suction dismembers the body of the developing baby, tearing the placenta from the wall of the uterus, and sucking blood, amniotic fluids, placental tissue, and fetal parts into a bottle. Although it is one of the safer methods, there are still frequent complications such as infection and tearing of the uterus, causing hemorrhaging.

Dilatation and Curettage (D&C) is another surgical process involving the insertion of a loop shaped steel knife to cut the baby’s body into pieces. The placenta is then scraped off the uterine wall. There is a higher risk of infection with D&C and greater blood loss than with Suction aspiration.

RU 486 and Methotrexate are two similar types of chemical abortion. RU 486 is a pill that can be taken orally only during the five to nine week period. Three trips must be made to the abortion clinic. In the first, the RU 486 pill is administered after a physical examination. During the 2nd, 36 - 48 hours later, the woman is given a dose of artificial prostaglandins initiating uterine contractions. This causes the embryonic baby to be expelled from the uterus. The third visit, about two weeks later, can determine whether the abortion has been completed or if further surgery is necessary. Methotrexate is administered by intramuscular injection. It attacks growing cells of the trophoblast, which functions as the life support system for the baby. This injection causes the immediate disintegration of sheltering environment in which the embryo lives. Without food or fluids, the living, helpless fetus dies. This dangerous method is rarely used because of its unpredictable side affects.

The second trimester includes the thirteenth to twenty-eighth week. Dilatation and Evacuation (D&E), similar to D&C, uses forceps with sharp metal jaws to grasp the parts of the baby and tear them away from the body. The baby’s skull is often hardened to bone and must sometimes be crushed or compressed. The only side affect is profuse bleeding, and impossible cervical laceration.

The rest of the procedures can be done during either the second or third trimester (the twenty-ninth to fortieth week). The first method is Salt Poisoning, otherwise known as saline amniocentesis. A needle is inserted into the abdomen of the mother. Her amniotic fluid is replaced with a solution of concentrated salt. Upon swallowing the salt, the baby is instantly poisoned. This can also cause painful burning of the baby’s skin and deterioration. The baby will die after about an hour. The mother delivers the dead baby after a period of 33 - 35 hours. Some common side affects are seizures, coma, and even death.

Prostaglandins are naturally produced chemical compounds which normally aid in the birthing process. However, the injection of artificial prostaglandins at too early a stage induce violent labor followed by premature birth. Often, various forms of toxins, are inserted to insure dead delivery.

Partial Birth Abortion, also known as Dilation and Extraction (D&E), is used to abort women who are 20 - 32 weeks pregnant. The abortionist grabs the unborn baby’s legs with a pair of forceps, pulling the entire baby, excluding the head, into the birth canal. Scissors are jammed and then opened into the baby’s skull, and the brain is suctioned out with a catheter. The dead baby is then removed from the uterus.

Hysterotomy is a method generally used when others have failed. Incisions are made into the abdomen and uterus, and the baby is removed. Babies are sometimes born alive during this procedure. This method offers the highest risk to the health of the mother because of the potential of rupturing.

Some immediate abortion risks include infection leading to sterility or death, excessive bleeding, high fever, a perforated uterus leading to sterility, shock and death. Abortion also increases the risk of breast cancer, cervical cancer, tubal pregnancy, miscarriage, premature birth, and sterility.

The Catholic Church teaches that all humans have a right to live, from the moment of conception until the natural ordained moment of death. According to these teachings, a person is living when as young as an embryo until the last second of life before death. Any of the above stated forms of abortion are morally wrong because they murder a fetus which is living, moving, and breathing. With abortion, we give ourselves dominion over a large part of God’s plan. Our destiny, our fate, and our entire race are intensely affected when we take the decision into our own hands. Playing God by intervening in human life transforms us into murderers. We do not have the capacity to choose life or death for a defenseless fetus.

Pope John Paul II teaches that "life is always good", a conclusion derived from the handiwork of God in creating man "in the image and likeness of God." (Gen. I;26) Thus the human being a limited but true mirror of God’s glory, has a sublime dignity and his life is held to be inviolable. When the Commandments were handed down to Moses, they were ordained to be true by God. One of those central values was "thou shall not kill". Abortion is a direct violation of the fifth Commandment.

Even in hard cases such as rape and incest, Catholics believe there...

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Unknown. Over 38 Million Abortions in U.S. since 1973. [Online] Available: http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/aboramt.html You should cite this paper as follows:

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