The Damages of Abortion

Abortion. What do you think it means? It means the termination of pregnancy and expulsion of an embryo or of a fetus that is incapable of survival, according to the Webster dictionary. Abortion is harmful to our society physically, morally, and socially. It affects both the mother and the unborn child. Some say its okay to abort your child and others say it's a horrible thing. What do you think?

Would you want to be cut into pieces or be sucked up like a vacuum? It's a terrible thought and unbearable to feel or watch. Think of what the mother and the unborn child have to go through, physically and emotionally. Yes, the baby has feelings too, believe it or not. As a matter of fact, the reality of abortion would put a horror film to shame. How's that for a mental picture? Did you know that the first 12 weeks of pregnancy are extremely important because this is when the baby forms its major organ systems? Which means that there's actually a living thing in the mother's womb! It's alive! According to Your Pregnancy week by week, by Dr. Glade B. and Judith Schuler, here's an overview of those first extremely important 12 weeks of an unborn child's life; During the first couple of weeks, the embryo is about 0.006 inch long (o.150mm). Week 3 of the pregnancy is actually the first week of the fetus, which means it's 1 week old. At this point, it's only a group of cells, but it is multiplying and growing rapidly. The embryo is the size of the head of a pin and would be visible to the naked eye if it wasn't inside the mother's womb. Week 4 of the pregnancy, the fetus is now 2 weeks old. It is still tiny. Its size varies from 0.014-0.04 inch (o.36-1mm) in length. 1 millimeter is half the size of this letter "o." During week 5, the fetus is actually 3 weeks old. It is about 0.05 inch (1.25mm) long. A plate, that will later become the heart, has developed. Also during this time, the central nervous system (brain & spinal cord), and muscle and bone formation are beginning to take place in the process of this week. Lastly, at this time, the baby's skeleton is beginning to form.

Now, at week 6, the fetus is four weeks old, which is about a month. The "crown-to-rump" length, if you've heard that term, of the growing baby is 0.08-0.16 inch (2-4mm). Also, did you know that with the proper equipment, the heartbeat could be seen on ultrasound by this week? Now that's amazing! Imagine how that would feel to see your baby's heartbeat, knowing there's a life inside you, just waiting to be set free. The result of malformation's growth is a body form showing the head and tailbone area. Check this out, neural grooves close allowing early brain chambers to form, eyes and limb buds are appearing and forming, and finally the heart tubes fuse allowing heart contractions to begin. Imagine all that in just one week's time! Wow! An amazing sight! After the 7th week, the fetus is 5 weeks old and its crown-to-rump length is 0.16-0.2 (4-5mm) long. This is about the size of a BB pellet. By the end of the week, the baby has more than doubled in size, to about a ½ inch (1.1-1.3cm) long. As for the physical developments, leg buds are beginning to form and the heart is now bulging from the body and is divided into right and left chambers. Now lastly, the cerebral hemispheres, which make up the brain, are growing and also the eyes and nostrils are developing. Not much has formed, but it is still important as the rest. Now as for week 8, it is quite a different story. The fetus is a whopping 6 weeks old! Its crown-to-rump length is ½-3/4 inch, which is 1.4-2 in centimeters. That size is about the size of a pinto bean. Again, not very big, but remember it is still not done growing! The baby has lots more to grow and develop! For instance, the eyelids are forming on the face and the nerve cells in the retina are also developing. The teeny tiny tip of the nose is present and the ears are forming both internally and externally. Almost there! The fetus is now 7 weeks old, which is during the 9th week of the woman's pregnancy. Now during this time, the baby's crown-to-rump length is now 1-1 ¼ inches (2.2-3 cm), which is close to the size of a medium green olive. How cute!

For the last 3 weeks of the 12-week overview, you can start weighing the child. During week 10, the baby's weight is about 0.18 ounce that is the size of a small plum. It still hasn't grown that much in length, but its size is 1 ¼-1 ¾ inches. Each ¼ of an inch is very vital and quite special. Now for week 11, the fetus is 9 weeks old. The baby has now grown an inch more, 1 ½- 2 ½ inches and its weight is 0.3 ounce, which is the size of a large lime. Now last, but not least, week 12. The fetus is now 10 weeks old, weighs 1/3-1/2 ounce, and is 2 ½ inches long. The 12th week is probably the most important week because, with a special machine, you can actually hear the baby's heartbeat! Now that's amazing!

This is probably the hardest decision in a mother's life, deciding whether to abort her baby or give it life. Although her decision should be to give it life, most women and even teenage girls choose to abort the child. How do the doctors abort the baby? They simply murder it with horrible, unbearable methods. According to Dr. Stephen Schwarz and his book The Moral Question of Abortion, let's take a look at these so called "methods." First of all, this method is called Dilation and Curettage. During this, the 12- week old child is cut into pieces by a sharp knife. The next method is called Suction. This is when the 12- week old child is torn into pieces by a suction machine, 29 times as powerful as a home vacuum cleaner. Wouldn't any living being with functioning nerve endings and a nervous system feel pain, probably excruciating pain, when put through these horrible procedures? Now for the 3 rd procedure, it is called Dilation and Evacuation. This is the same as Dilation and Curettage, but the child is now much larger and more fully developed and it only takes 10 minutes. Imagine that!

Not satisfied yet? Wait, there's more! As for the fourth method, called Salt Poisoning, the child is older and more developed, and the procedure takes 2 hours, so the amount of pain is undoubtedly much greater. The child is bathed in a chemical solution that poisons it and burns the skin. The pain is so unbearable that the mother may throw herself off the table. This is exactly what the unborn child does in its mother's womb. According to Curt Young, here's a mother's story: "…Once they put in the saline there is no way to reverse it. And for the next hour and a half I felt my daughter thrash around violently while she was being choked, poisoned, burned, and suffocated to death. I didn't know any of that was going to happen. And I remember talking to her and I remember telling her I didn't want to do this, I wished she could live. And yet she was dying and I remember her very last kick on my left side. She had no strength left." In tears yet? There's one last method. This method is called Prostaglandin. The child is subjected to violent muscle contractions as it's forced out of the womb. Some babies have been decapitated.

Some would argue that abortion is okay because God doesn't mention the word "abortion" in the Bible, but when you honestly search God's word, you will find that abortion is morally wrong. However, the Bible does speak against murder, and that's what abortion is. For instance, in Exodus 20:13, the verse specifically says, "Thou shalt not murder." This, as a matter of fact, is number six of the 10 Commandments. Did you know that if you think you are innocently aborting a child, you are disobeying one of God's Commandments? Abortion is morally wrong because people are murdering their babies! Yes, murdering. God created everyone to have a purpose. He even knew us before we were born. He is the one who created us in our mother's womb. Check this out, Psalm 139:13-16 specifically states," For you created my inmost being: you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." This clearly explains that each life is precious to God.

Since abortion has been legalized in 1973, the un-wed pregnancy rate rose dramatically, partially because for many it was just another form of birth control. According to Adam Bartlett's Plain Talk for Teens, abortions occur at a rate of: 1.6 million every year, 130,000 every month, 30,000 every week, 4,000 every day, 180 every hour, 4 every minute, and I every 15 seconds. Since 1973-1996, an estimated total of 35,273,792 babies have been aborted. Compare that figure to the total figure of men and women that died in the Civil War, WW 1&2, Korean War, Vietnam War, and the Persian Gulf War, which are 1,135,629 men and women. America has slaughtered over 31 times the amount of babies that were lost in all the wars put together. Imagine what the total is now, in 2005, now almost 2006. What a disgrace abortion is in our country and even all over the world.

Ultimately, the Bible should be our guide and final authority concerning all things especially abortion. We may debate whether abortion is right or wrong until both sides exhaust each other, but one day we will all know for sure that God was right all along. So as you can see, abortion has affected our society in many ways, morally, physically, and socially.

By: Tiphani Aline Flowers

Bible Headquarters