Crises Pregnancy
Thinking about abortion? Please think again. Having an abortion is an important decision. And it is crucial that you consider the following questions carefully: When does human life begin?
It's alive, but is it a person?
What does an abortion do?
Can an abortion hurt me?
When does human life begin?
Some people say human life begins at conception. Others insist the human fetus becomes a person at birth, or even at some time after birth. Still others point to a time in the middle, the twentieth week of gestation because at that point a baby is viable - can live outside the womb.
Who is right? Here are five vital signs of life in the womb for you to think about:
1. Heartbeat.
Modern technology can detect a baby's heartbeat eighteen days after conception. That is only four days after most women miss a period and begin to suspect they are pregnant. Keep in mind the fact that most abortions are not performed until the eighth week of a pregnancy, or a little later.
2. Brain waves.
Six weeks after conception signals from the fetal brain can be detected. Dream patterns have been discovered around the eighth or ninth week. Perhaps more advanced technology will someday show us heartbeats and brain waves at even earlier stages in the unborn child's life.
3. Independent movement.
At about the sixth week, the baby in the womb can move spontaneously: Kicking, swimming, jumping and stretching. This is long before the mother will feel any sensations of movement.
4. Senses.
A baby in the womb is capable of responding to touch and sound by about the eighth or tenth week. A child at that age will move away from painful stimuli, the most painful of which would be the abortionist's instrument.
5. Breathing.
By about the fourteenth week, a baby's lungs are functioning and he or she will practice breathing. Vocal cords are formed by the thirteenth week, and were it not for a lack of air, the baby could be heard to cry!
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It's alive, but is it a person?
Many more milestones of life could be noted here, but the bottom line is, once a human egg is fertilized by sperm, there exists a new human being. All information concerning the child's sex, hair color, eye color, and much more is already present from the beginning.
If the fertilized egg is not human life, what is it? A giraffe? A grapefruit?
Some people acknowledge that it may be human life, but say it is not yet a person. What are the signs of personhood?
God, the Author of all life, should have something to say about His creation, and He does! In Psalm 139, verses 13 through 16, David responds with wonder at how well God knows him:
"For thou hast possessed my reins:
thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.
I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made:
marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
My substance was not hid from thee,
when I was made in secret,
and wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect;
and in thy book all my members were written,
which in continuance were fashioned,
when as yet there was none of them."
God's knowledge of us before birth means that we are important to Him even then; and we should be because we are made in His image (Genesis 1:26 and 27). Also, His Son Jesus did not despise being "made in likeness of men" (Philippians 2:7), starting out his ministry on earth as an embryo in the womb of Mary. Finally, Jesus died on the cross to end our separation from God that was caused by sin. Romans 5:8 says:
"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that,
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
Because God made us, knows all about us, and loves us, He alone has the right to determine the boundaries of our lives, including the end. From the moment of conception, every human being has worth - is a person - because we bear His image. No one can morally choose to end the life of another, even life in the womb. Abortion ends a human life, and more.
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What does an abortion do?
Again, some people say that abortion is nothing more than the termination of a pregnancy; that what is aborted is nothing more than a "blob of tissue" or a "mass of cells." An early abortion will produce what appears to be a "blob of tissue," but what would you expect the shredded remains of a tiny unborn baby to look like?
As we noted before, most abortions are performed after the eighth week of pregnancy which is beyond the point when the child exhibits many of the vital life signs, but before the time when cartilage has given way to real bone (by the end of the sixth month). Later abortions produce fully recognizable body parts or even whole, fully formed babies. Yet, even pills that cause very early abortions end a human life.
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Can an abortion hurt me?
Induced abortion produces more than a dead baby. There are dangers for the woman having an abortion as well. Complications from abortion include:
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Hemorrhaging (heavy bleeding)
- Laceration of the cervix (tearing of the opening to the womb)
- Perforation of the uterus (puncture or tear of the womb)
- Infection
- Pelvic Inflammatory Disease
Women - especially teenagers - who abort their first pregnancies and have a family history of breast cancer increase their risk of eventually developing breast cancer.
Years after an abortion, many women report:
-
Feelings of guilt
- Depression
- Loss of empathy
- Lack of interest in sex
- Diminished self-worth
- Increased abuse of alcohol and drugs
There are also dangers to future wanted children:
- Sterility (one out of twenty women may never again bear children)
- Future miscarriages
- Premature births
- Ectopic (tubal) pregnancies
- Neo-natal deaths
Among teenage women, the effects of abortion on later wanted pregnancies appear to be even worse than among women in general.
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If your pregnancy seems too difficult to bear alone - if it seems more difficult than an abortion would be - seek help from someone who will tell you the truth about abortion.
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