I wasn't talking to a WOMAN; that is a man pontificating what women do and do not feel.
I know... I know what you were saying... We are on the same team... sorry if I did not make it clear that I knew what you were saying...
I realize it is heresay on this site ... but men do not understand this issue.
Well, to start out with...the situation is very complex. On one side, we have those who say abortion is murder and should be treated as such, and those who pursue an abortion - no matter the circumstance - have no right to do so, as they would infringe on the inalienable right to life of the child.
On the other side, we have those who say abortion should be an option to women who are raped, as the trauma is extreme. Giving birth to the child would only compound to it. An understandable position.
However, I have to say that it's a position I cannot agree with.
Yes, I am a female. Yes, I will probably be thought of as 'insensitive' to a raped woman. However, I will say that I know what abortion is. When I first learned about abortion at the age of 13 - and what is done - I cried. After all, who could do such a thing to a CHILD? It's incomprehensible; over 45,000,000 children have been aborted - no, MURDERED - since Roe v. Wade. So many people snuffed out before they even had the chance to live outside of the womb.
From the moment of conception, it has been scientifically proven that life begins at conception; although the fetus (such an ugly word; it deprives the humanity from the child, so I shall call the child just that)...pardon, CHILD...is dependant upon the mother for survival, he (or she) has her own DNA. Her own genetics. There has never been another human being like that child before, and there never will be again. EVERYONE is unique, as no two people are alike. That's the beauty of it all.
As for rape and incest as reasons for abortion, those are such a small amount of total abortions to begin with. Unfortunately, I'm sure a good deal of people believe that the percentage is much higher than it actually is.
The only - and I repeat, ONLY - exception would be if the child's birth would take away the life of the mother. Then we have a case of where the mother's right to life is being intruded upon by the child's right to life. Who lives in that case will most likely be the mother.
For rape victims who end up impregnated, I can understand their desire to not want the child of the rapist. However, as has been said before in this thread, the sins of the fathers should not result in the death of an innocent child. Our inalienable rights are 'Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness'. The pursuit of it. I sincerely doubt that killing the child of the rapist will result in the mother being happy in the long run. Life is difficult; there will ALWAYS be pain. However, as humans, we should always strive to the right thing. It may not always be easy - these days, the right thing is often difficult - but that's not the point, now is it? And just a quick question 'eeevil conservative'...you say you're a rape victim, correct? Did the pain of the rape vanish when you held your baby in your arms for the first time?
In any case, back to 'life of the mother'...
Even before Roe v. Wade, the deaths from illegal abortions had declined to less than 200 annually. Why? Because of penicillin, antibiotics, improvements in medical technology...not because it was legalized, but because the medical technology reduced the risk. Roe v. Wade was a horrendous decision (abortion is something that should be left for the states to decide anyway). In all actuality, the risk of death from an abortion is - today - greater than it would be to simply give birth. Startling? Maybe...but the risk of death from an abortion is infinitely greater to the child than birth, for obvious reasons. Humor aside...
I often hear some people say that the child becomes human only after the first trimester (or somewhere close to that). I have to say this argument is very illogical. Much like to acorn/oak tree analogy. A child is not an adult human much like an acorn is not an adult oak tree...but an unborn child is a human much like an acorn is an oak.
Think about the development process of the baby. At one week, the child implants himself or herself into the nutrient line of the womb.
At day 10, the child sends out a chemical that stops the mother's menstrual period. This same chemical will later cause the breasts to enlarge for nursing, softens the pelvic bones for labor, and sets the date of birth.
The child's heart begins beating between day 18-25. Within the first month, the unborn baby's heart is beating. Usually, by day 21, it is pumping blood through the unborn child's closed circulatory system, with blood that is entirely seperate from the mother's.
By day 40, electrical brain waves are detected.
The umbilical cord, the placenta, and amniotic sac are all made from the original cell, the zygote.
Four weeks after conception, the eyes, ears, and respiratory system begin to form.
Motion itself occurs six to eight weeks after conception.
I often hear some pro-abortionists describe an unborn baby as just a 'mass of cells' (barring the fact that technically adults are also a mass of cells, but regardless). I see an unborn child yearning for a chance to live outside the womb.
I will say that a child does not come into being until the sperm and the egg cell merge. The sperm may be part of the equation, but it in itself is not another baby. It has one purpose: to merge with an egg cell. If it doesn't, it dies. Same with an egg cell; if it doesn't merge with a sperm, it dies as well. The two are part of the original being from which they came.
HOWEVER, when the two merge (there are two different ways to look at conception: some say its when the sperm penetrates the egg, and others say its when the pronuclei of the two fuse together 12-14 hours later. In either case, this new human life is complete by the first cell stage), they create something entirely different. They create a human being that has never before existed and never will again; a unique child. A human with its own unique DNA, its own unique body. It has yet to grow completely, but the genetic information is there.
Think of this way: the zygote is not like the blueprints of a house. If you throw away the blueprints of a house, the house is still incomplete. Rather, the zygote IS a house albeit miniaturized. Once the egg and sperm merge, nothing else is added from this time until the man or woman dies. Nothing but nutrition and oxygen. This new human life is programmed from within, going onward in a self-controlled, continuous process of growth, development, and replacement of his or her own dying cells.
Oops. I seem to rumbling off the actual topic at hand...
I will say that although I'm happy the anti-abortion law was passed, it seems politically unfeasible to expect this law to remain in place (at least, not until another conservative justic is appointed to the Supreme Court). However, it may take a case concerning this law a couple of years to reach the SCOTUS. By then, we may be in luck.
And finally...my opinion on abortion largely stems from the fact that there's been too many of them.
| country | year range of reported data | total reported abortions | estimated total for underreporting, illegal, and abroad | estimated additional abortions to end of 2004 | most recent annual abortion figure | estimated total abortions through October 2005 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albania | 1975-1999 | 489,000 | 55,000 | 113,000 | 23,000 | 676,000 |
| Armenia | 1992-2002 | 238,000 | 19,000 | 9,400 | 265,000 | |
| Australia | 1970-2005 | 1,725,000 | 311,000 | 0 | 73,000 | 2,097,000 |
| Austria | 1960-2000 | 592,000 | 9,500 | 2,400 | 603,000 | |
| Azerbaijan | 1992-2002 | 280,000 | 33,000 | 17,000 | 327,000 | |
| Barbados | 1992-1995 | 1,100 | 1,100 | 4,000 | 450 | 6,600 |
| Belarus | 1992-2002 | 1,695,000 | 304,000 | 101,000 | 2,084,000 | |
| Belgium | 1992-2001 | 147,000 | 44,000 | 15,000 | 204,000 | |
| Belize | 1985-1996 | 8,600 | 7,200 | 21,000 | 2,600 | 39,000 |
| Bermuda | 1983-1984 | 180 | 1,800 | 92 | 2,100 | |
| Botswana | 1980-1984 | 66 | 19 | 340 | 17 | 440 |
| Bulgaria | 1953-2002 | 5,420,000 | 102,000 | 51,000 | 5,587,000 | |
| Canada | 1969-2002 | 2,526,000 | 210,000 | 105,000 | 2,824,000 | |
| Channel Islands | 1987-2004 | 4,700 | 320 | 0 | 21 | 5,100 |
| Chile | 1986-1991 | 280 | 870 | 67 | 1,200 | |
| ROC Taiwan | 1996-1999 | 422,000 | 61,000 | 211,000 | 42,000 | 730,000 |
| PR China | 1971-2001 | 266,772,000 | 8,170,000 | 19,020,000 | 6,340,000 | 299,246,000 |
| Cocos Islands | 1978 | 2 | 52 | 2 | 55 | |
| Croatia | 1992-2002 | 154,000 | 12,000 | 6,200 | 171,000 | |
| Cuba | 1968-2000 | 3,442,000 | 2,617,000 | 305,000 | 76,000 | 6,428,000 |
| Czech Republic | 1993-2002 | 449,000 | 62,000 | 31,000 | 537,000 | |
| Czechoslovakia | 1953-1992 | 3,645,000 | 0 | 0 | 3,645,000 | |
| Denmark | 1939-2003 | 770,000 | 16,000 | 16,000 | 799,000 | |
| Dominican Republic | 1995-1998 | 93,000 | 186,000 | 31,000 | 306,000 | |
| East Germany | 1948-1989 | 1,728,000 | 514,000 | 0 | 0 | 2,242,000 |
| Estonia | 1992-2004 | 217,000 | 0 | 10,000 | 225,000 | |
| Faeroe Islands | 1966-1975 | 260 | 750 | 26 | 1,000 | |
| Finland | 1951-2003 | 578,000 | 11,000 | 11,000 | 598,000 | |
| France | 1970-2002 | 5,467,000 | 256,000 | 411,000 | 206,000 | 6,306,000 |
| French Guiana | 1984 | 390 | 7,800 | 390 | 8,500 | |
| Georgia | 1992-2002 | 325,000 | 28,000 | 14,000 | 364,000 | |
| FR Germany | 1950-2003 | 2,814,000 | 184,000 | 128,000 | 128,000 | 3,233,000 |
| Greece | 1971-1996 | 97,000 | 160 | 100,000 | 13,000 | 208,000 |
| Greenland | 1967-2002 | 22,000 | 200 | 1,600 | 820 | 24,000 |
| Guadeloupe | 1977-1998 | 9,900 | 37,000 | 29,000 | 4,800 | 80,000 |
| Hong Kong | 1973-2001 | 341,000 | 104,000 | 61,000 | 20,000 | 523,000 |
| Hungary | 1949-2002 | 5,435,000 | 112,000 | 56,000 | 5,594,000 | |
| Iceland | 1960-2002 | 21,000 | 1,900 | 930 | 24,000 | |
| India | 1972-2001 | 14,076,000 | 2,169,000 | 723,000 | 16,848,000 | |
| Ireland | 1968-2004 | 0 | 134,000 | 0 | 6,200 | 139,000 |
| Isle of Man | 1991-2004 | 2,200 | 0 | 150 | 2,300 | |
| Israel | 1979-2003 | 434,000 | 31,000 | 20,000 | 20,000 | 502,000 |
| Italy | 1978-2003 | 4,376,000 | 133,000 | 133,000 | 4,620,000 | |
| Japan | 1949-2003 | 36,212,000 | 39,766,000 | 320,000 | 320,000 | 76,564,000 |
| Kazakhstan | 1992-2002 | 2,163,000 | 249,000 | 125,000 | 2,516,000 | |
| South Korea | 1961-1996 | 4,391,000 | 9,631,000 | 1,840,000 | 230,000 | 16,053,000 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 1992-2001 | 344,000 | 70,000 | 23,000 | 434,000 | |
| Latvia | 1992-2004 | 284,000 | 0 | 14,000 | 296,000 | |
| Lithuania | 1992-2002 | 285,000 | 25,000 | 12,000 | 320,000 | |
| Macedonia | 1992-2000 | 129,000 | 46,000 | 11,000 | 184,000 | |
| Martinique | 1981-1999 | 15,000 | 25,000 | 14,000 | 2,900 | 57,000 |
| Mexico | 1994-2000 | 44,000 | 16,000 | 13,000 | 3,300 | 76,000 |
| Moldova | 1992-2002 | 454,000 | 31,000 | 16,000 | 498,000 | |
| Mongolia | 1984-1997 | 244,000 | 90,000 | 13,000 | 345,000 | |
| Netherlands | 1970-2002 | 660,000 | 59,000 | 29,000 | 743,000 | |
| New Caledonia | 1997-1998 | 3,000 | 8,800 | 1,500 | 13,000 | |
| New Zealand | 1965-2003 | 298,000 | 12,000 | 19,000 | 19,000 | 345,000 |
| Norway | 1954-2004 | 527,000 | 26,000 | 0 | 14,000 | 565,000 |
| Panama | 1972-2000 | 160 | 220 | 44 | 11 | 430 |
| Panama Canal Zone | 1970-1978 | 400 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 400 |
| Poland | 1955-2003 | 4,622,000 | 170 | 170 | 4,622,000 | |
| Portugal | 1984-2002 | 3,600 | 3,100 | 780 | 560 | 7,900 |
| Puerto Rico | 1992 | 19,000 | 230,000 | 19,000 | 266,000 | |
| Reunion | 1979-1988 | 37,000 | 4,300 | 69,000 | 4,300 | 114,000 |
| Romania | 1958-2003 | 19,728,000 | 1,489,000 | 227,000 | 227,000 | 21,633,000 |
| Russia | 1992-2004 | 32,083,000 | 0 | 1,600,000 | 33,417,000 | |
| Saint Helena | 1985-1990 | 61 | 70 | 5 | 140 | |
| Seychelles | 1986-1990 | 160 | 230 | 2,000 | 150 | 2,600 |
| Singapore | 1970-2002 | 487,000 | 13,000 | 25,000 | 13,000 | 537,000 |
| Slovakia | 1993-2002 | 253,000 | 35,000 | 17,000 | 302,000 | |
| Slovenia | 1992-2002 | 109,000 | 15,000 | 7,300 | 130,000 | |
| South Africa | 1997-2005 | 470,000 | 0 | 83,000 | 519,000 | |
| Spain | 1941-2003 | 920,000 | 787,000 | 80,000 | 80,000 | 1,853,000 |
| Suriname | 1994 | 260 | 2,600 | 260 | 3,100 | |
| Sweden | 1939-2003 | 1,209,000 | 34,000 | 34,000 | 1,272,000 | |
| Switzerland | 1966-2002 | 195,000 | 40,000 | 24,000 | 12,000 | 268,000 |
| Tajikistan | 1990-2000 | 327,000 | 94,000 | 114,000 | 28,000 | 559,000 |
| Tunisia | 1966-1996 | 347,000 | 148,000 | 152,000 | 19,000 | 663,000 |
| Turkey | 1993 | 351,000 | 3,864,000 | 351,000 | 4,508,000 | |
| Turkmenistan | 1995-2000 | 63,000 | 128,000 | 128,000 | 32,000 | 345,000 |
| Turks and Caicos | 1996 | 42 | 340 | 42 | 410 | |
| U.S.S.R. | 1957-1991 | 244,417,000 | 64,781,000 | 0 | 0 | 309,198,000 |
| Ukraine | 1992-2000 | 6,071,000 | 1,737,000 | 434,000 | 8,170,000 | |
| United Kingdom | 1961-2004 | 6,380,000 | 0 | 0 | 208,000 | 6,553,000 |
| United States | 1923-2005 | 44,037,000 | 717,000 | 1,209,000 | 1,293,000 | 47,041,000 |
| Uzbekistan | 1994-2000 | 469,000 | 140,000 | 220,000 | 55,000 | 875,000 |
| Venezuela | 1968 | 3,100 | 111,000 | 3,100 | 117,000 | |
| Vietnam | 1976-2002 | 17,720,000 | 4,694,000 | 2,000,000 | 1,000,000 | 25,248,000 |
| Yugoslavia | 1959-1998 | 5,496,000 | 3,647,000 | 352,000 | 59,000 | 9,545,000 |
| Zambia | 1976-1983 | 1,400 | 4,100 | 25,000 | 1,200 | 32,000 |
| subtotals | 756,695,000 | 138,675,000 | 37,333,000 | 14,704,000 | 944,935,000 | |
* indicates abortions abroad only
Note: estimated underreporting includes estimates for missing years in reported year range, abortions abroad, and registered illegal abortions. Totals may not add due to rounding.
TOTAL, 1920 - 2005: 757,000,000 reported abortions, estimated 945,000,000 total abortions
Estimated current global monthly average: 1,225,000 abortions
xxxx
Nearly a billion people in less than a century. ALL of them killed before they even had a chance to live out their lives. Look at my tagline.
In essence...it boils down to the fact that too many lives have been lost. A line in the sand needs to be drawn. It needs to be said that we have gone this far...and we can go no further. That's all there is to it.
As for Bush's opinion on the law, I understand his position and appreciate that he's consistent. I just disagree about the rape/incest part (but agree with life of the mother). I know that a raped woman would want to try and forget about the pain from the rape by terminating the child in her womb...but I think that would be a mistake of the highest order.
After all, why can't we love them both?