Trevor Thomas on abortion.

Abortion Debate Heats Up

How sad, but not surprising, it was to see The Times perpetuate many of the myths about abortion in its March 12 editorial. Let’s introduce some facts into the debate and see where that might lead us.

The Times argues that overturning Roe would return us to the days of illegal back alley abortions that “left many women dead or near death.” In 1972, the year before the Roe v. Wade decision, the Centers for Disease Control reported that 39 women in the U.S. died from illegal or self-induced abortions. Granted, this number is probably lower than the actual number, and the death of any mother and her child is tragic, but it is far from the thousands of women dying that many pro abortionists would like people to believe. Isn’t it ironic that abortion supporters will use the potential death of women to argue for a procedure that has killed millions of women?!

Legalized abortion reduces crime, or so The Times would have us believe. The Times refers to the book Freakonomics, by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, to support their assertion. A Wall Street Journal article about four months ago revealed some serious shortcomings in the book’s chapter on abortion and crime. The Journal reports that Christopher Foote, a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, and Christopher Goetz, a research assistant, say the research behind the “abortion reduced crime” conclusion is faulty. “There are no statistical grounds for believing that the hypothetical youths who were aborted as fetuses would have been more likely to commit crimes had they reached maturity than the actual youths who developed from fetuses and carried to term,” the authors assert in their report.

The Times tells us that abortion supporters want “every baby to be born into a warm caring world,” or in the words of some, “every child a wanted child.” So an unborn child is only worthy of life if it is “wanted?” What about after the child is born? Can we then “abort” its life if we decide we no longer want it?

Abortion within a culture doesn’t cause people to value life. On the contrary, it leads to attitudes that devalue life. This is why it is ridiculous and illogical to argue that abortion helps prevent child abuse. According to Dr. James Dobson, “The incidence of abused, abandoned, neglected, and mistreated children has skyrocketed since the 1970s… What [abortion] actually did was cheapen life at every stage of development.” Mother Theresa said it best when she noted that, "The greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion. Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching the people to love but to use any violence to get what they want."

My wife and I recently had our third child, which was our first daughter. The moment after conception, we were the proud parents of a one-celled, forty-six-chromosomed baby, which possesses everything she needs to grow into an adult human. Within 48 hours she produced a hormone which let my wife’s body know that she was pregnant. On day 6 the embryo began implanting in the uterus. By week 3 her little heart began to beat with her own blood, which is often a different type than the mother’s.

During week 5 my daughter’s eyes, legs, and hands began to develop. Week 6 revealed detectable brain waves and her mouth and lips were present. By week 7 her toes formed and her nose was distinct. Also, she began bending her legs and stretching, jumping, and kicking. By week 8 every organ was in place and bones began to replace cartilage. She could then turn her head, suck her thumb, and respond to pain.

By week 12 she had all the necessary parts to experience pain, including her nerves, spinal cord, and thalamus. She could grasp objects placed in her hand and had fingerprints, a skeletal structure, and circulation. Around week 17 she could have dream (REM) sleep. At around 20 weeks we had our first ultrasound, as we did with our two boys. We can see our precious child living, breathing and moving in the womb. We could even see her tiny heart beat. She still has 20 weeks until birth, but this time is spent mostly just growing the parts already in place.

The bottom line with abortion in any case is that it ends a life. Overturning Roe v Wade, sadly, will not bring an end to abortion. It will simply return the matter to the states. Many states will do as South Dakota has done and ban almost all abortions, but many will continue allowing the practice in almost every circumstance. The Declaration of Independence for this nation tells us that we have been endowed by our Creator with certain rights, and first among them is life. This should apply to every human life and certainly the most defenseless of all.