Saturday, September 3, 2011

More than we bargained for

I just want to be perfectly clear - I am NOT anti-choice. Proponents of abortion rights would like to label those who fight against abortion as anti-choice, but that’s just not true for me. I can’t speak for everyone else, but I am not. Neither is God as a matter of fact. We have been given choice by our Creator to choose our path in life - to follow Him or not to follow Him. And just like life, we face the consequences of those choices. We legally have the ability to have an abortion in this country, so women truly have that choice to remain pregnant or not to. Even if abortion wasn’t legal, women would still have a choice. One choice would be illegal, but they would still have it. Our society believes that having that choice is liberating and they find out too late that it isn’t. It says in Joshua 24:15, But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." God tells us to choose. Choose the way of life or the way of death. You could argue that the choice to have an abortion is the choice to have a life, but it is really the choice of death. It may seem like the choice to live the life you want, but choosing abortion not only means choosing the death of another human being, it could mean choosing death for yourself.
We think that it is the woman’s right to make the choice whether to continue a pregnancy or not, but it is really her choice to let her baby live or take the baby’s life. If we gave that choice to all human beings at any stage, this would not be a safe world to live in. If my neighbor could choose whether I live or die and I had no say in the matter, I would definitely try to be extra nice and accommodating to that person! But everywhere else in society, making the choice for another person represents a violation of the other person’s rights. Making a choice to have sex with another person without their consent is rape. Making the choice to take someone else’s property without their consent is theft. Making a choice to punch our children without their consent is abuse. Making a choice to take the life of another person without their consent is murder. We rationalize with ourselves that an embryo or fetus or developing baby is not really a baby or we take the focus off the child just referring to the pregnancy making it personally the woman’s issue and it becomes okay to make the choice to take the life of another.
Choosing abortion is also a choice for possible complications or even death for the mother. Statistics show that between 20 and 60 per cent of post-abortive woman suffer some degree of Post-Traumatic stress Disorder, some more severe than others. If a woman manages to get past that, there are other complications and risks she can’t talk herself out of. It is the 5th leading cause of maternal death in the US resulting from hemorrhage, embolism, undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy and infection. Studies in Finland showed that post-abortive women had a 4x more likely chance of dying in the following year than women who carried their pregnancies to term and women who carried pregnancies to term were half as likely to die in the following year as women who were not pregnant at all. Pregnancy and child-bearing makes women stronger! Go figure! Post-abortive women have a 50% increased chance of developing breast cancer by the age of 45. For teens, terminating their first pregnancy after 8 weeks, increases the chance of developing breast cancer 800%! And after subsequent abortions, the risk continues to rise. This is because breast tissue goes through significant hormonal changes during pregnancy and when that is halted abruptly as in an abortion, it causes changes in breast tissue that can lead to cancer. Trauma to the cervix and scar tissue from scraping of the uterus during an abortion can lead to an increased risk of cervical cancer, incompetent cervix, and ectopic pregnancy. Ectopic pregnancies have increased by 300% since abortion was made legal and a woman who has had an abortion faces a 500% increased risk of ectopic pregnancy due to scar tissue blocking the opening of the fallopian tubes. Pelvic Inflammatory Disease occurs in 30% of post-abortive cases within 4 weeks of having an abortion and if left untreated can lead to permanent infertility. Trauma to the lining of the uterus and the cervix can lead to placenta previa (a condition where the placenta is partially or completely over the cervix which leads profuse bleeding at birth) and incompetent placentas resulting in malformations and severe complications of future children as well as miscarriages, premature births, and fetal death by 300 to 500%. 48% of women experienced abortion-related complications in later pregnancies and that was as high as 66% for teens. This was projected over the population and it was estimated that these consequences of abortion resulted in the loss of around 100,000 ‘wanted’ pregnancies each year. These complications resulting from abortion were the primary cause of increased incidence of handicaps among children and account for over 3000 cases of cerebral palsy each year from premature deliveries. Premature deliveries are increased by 127% following an abortion. Women who have had an abortion also face a 58% increased risk of dying during later pregnancies.
Sources:
Again, I am not ‘anti-choice.’ I just believe in informed choice. When I take a trip, I do research and choose the best option based on the information. Going on a trip is not a life altering event. Abortion is. Why would someone go into that choice without all the information? I also believe that women deserve better. Places that are proponents of abortion claim that they are looking out for women’s health and are pro-women. Given the above information, does it look like abortion should be part of women’s health? Or that it is good for women in general? How can someone say they are pro-woman if they are offering something to women that will bring them harm and possibly death?
This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ Deut 30:19-20
By the way, I did some research on permanent, long term repercussions of pregnancy and the most common were simply physical changes to the body as a result of the pregnancy and very rarely were there any other permanent physical ailments from pregnancy and cancer never made the list.
Choose life. For babies, FOR WOMEN.

 
 
http://www.birthlife.org/Universal/nacer_archivos/mundo.html and http://www.straight-talk.net/abortion/consequences.shtml

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