About Abortion
Learn About RU-486 – Mifeprex
Should I be concerned about having an abortion? What can I do about people pressuring me? Can I have my baby and still live my life?
You think you are pregnant. This was not in your plans. Fear, confusion and anger are just some of the feelings that you may be experiencing. You wonder what you are going to do.
Facing an unplanned pregnancy is hard. Before you decide, you deserve to know the facts. The law gives you the right to be fully informed about this important decision. You have the legal right to choose the outcome of your pregnancy. But real empowerment comes when you find the resources and inner strength necessary to make your best choice.
The following statements are made daily by women who are experiencing an unplanned pregnancy. Which ones apply to you?
1. I can’t let my parents know-they’ll kill me!
Have your parents ever killed anyone before? Unless they are really violent, you mean they will be very upset. And you are probably right. Give your parents some credit, though. They did not make it to adulthood without experiencing disappointment. Your parents have had dreams shattered and hopes dashed, yet they have survived. Abortion involves the life of their grandchild. It seems only fair to include them, even if they will initially be shocked by the news. Open communication is key. Keeping a secret – for years and years – will add unhealthy stress to your system. You don’t need more of that!
2. I can’t support myself, much less a baby. I want to finish school.
It can be very scary to have financial difficulties, but there are many possible solutions. Social service agencies offer temporary assistance with food, medical care and even baby sitting. Today’s schools often give aid to single mothers or a job could always come through. Church groups will sometimes help. A lot can change financially in nine months! Another alternative would be to place the baby in a loving adoptive home. What an honorable act! Of course there can be heartache with this choice, but knowing that you unselfishly gave your baby a loving, stable home will comfort you in years to come. Adoption can cause grief but also gives hope for a positive future – for both you and your baby.
3. Well, it is legal.
But many things that are legal (smoking, cheating on your partner, gambling) may not be right for you. And our country is in conflict about the legal worth of a fetus. If a pregnant woman dies in a plane crash, her baby’s life is counted in the death toll. Likewise, a fetus is protected from a mother who is abusing drugs. The woman can be put in jail while pregnant to protect the baby’s health. Laws and opinions are constantly changing (even the original woman who was “Roe” in the landmark Roe vs. Wade case that legalized abortion now speaks out publicly against it.) And, some women are suing their abortionist for damage done to them from their “safe and legal” abortions. Don’t depend on the legal system to make your own moral choices for you!
4. My boyfriend will break up with me if I don’t have an abortion.
Here’s the sad truth. Statistics tell us that at least 50% of relationships end after an abortion occurs. The risk may be even higher if you haven’t been dating very long. If you get the abortion, you will always remind him of something of which he isn’t proud. If you don’t, he may resent that he has to pay child support and take responsibility as a father. Either way, it isn’t wise to make a life-altering decision based on what someone else dictates. Remember that the baby’s father has no legal rights when it comes to abortion… He cannot force you to have one, and you should not give him the power to do so. Is a guy who would break up with you for not ending your baby’s life really worth trusting with the decision anyway?
5. My parents are pressuring me to have an abortion.
Some parents suggest abortion because a pregnancy will impact their own lives in negative ways. Most really do put their children first, wanting what is best for them. Your mother may believe that abortion is the easy way out. Your mom may feel she had her own children too young, or at the cost of her own education. She may not wish the same to happen to you. She may have had an abortion herself and she may see it as the answer for you. But what your mother may not realize is that 94% of women who have had an abortion, regret their decision. If she knew the facts about the potential physical and emotional consequences for the daughter she loves, your mother might instead choose to support you in the pregnancy. Chances are your mother is glad she did not abort you.
6. Getting pregnant was an accident. I just want to undo it.
Once a conception has occurred, the pregnancy will end in delivering the baby, aborting the baby, or by having a miscarriage. A normal pregnancy lasts only 40 weeks, a relatively short amount of time in your whole life. Carrying your baby to term and then placing the baby for adoption could make what you now consider “an accident,” a huge blessing for others. Choosing abortion over adoption because you know you would naturally become attached to your baby throughout the pregnancy means that you recognize that there will be pain and separation. That pain will lessen over time and be eased by knowing you made the unselfish choice to offer your baby a wonderful life. If you fear your baby won’t be raised in a loving adoptive home, try to imagine what could be less loving than ending his or her life.
7. I don’t like what pregnancy will do to my body.
While it is true that pregnancy causes changes in your body, many women today actually celebrate those changes and stay in great shape. If you are honestly fearful of what being pregnant may do to you, consider also what abortion can do. According to the Georgia Department of Human Resources, the most common, immediate and short-term complications of abortion include: excessive bleeding, infections, intense pain, high fever, incomplete removal of the baby or placenta (which can cause life-threatening infections and sterility), PID (Pelvic Inflammatory Disease), and a punctured or torn uterus. Abortion can also result in problems with reproductive organs that can make it difficult to conceive or carry a child to term in the future. For pregnant women who have previously had abortions, they now have a 160% increased risk of tubal pregnancy and 200% increased risk of miscarriage. You are not doing your body any favors by subjecting it to an abortion.
8. It’s not really a baby. It’s just a “blob of tissue”.
The fact is, upon fertilization, 23 chromosomes from each parent have joined to form a 46-chromosome, complete individual with the eye color, shoe size, and sex already determined. Only oxygen and nutrition are added in the womb. A baby’s heartbeat begins at just 30 days old! You may not have even had a pregnancy test by this time! An ultrasound at the earliest stages of development will reveal the specific features of a unique person miraculously being formed. And consider this: those in post-abortion support groups across the country are not there to mourn the loss of their “blobs of tissue”. They are there to mourn the loss of their babies.
9. I’m pregnant because of a rape.
Carrying this baby to term must seem unthinkable! Although our culture would give you “permission” and even the encouragement to abort, please don’t jump to that obvious choice. Adding another violent act, abortion, to the horrible thing that has already happened to you, will only complicate your healing process. You are in a very unusual circumstance (conception from rape is extremely rare) and it is understandable that you would be frantic. But don’t allow the rapist to further impact your situation by causing you to end the life of an innocent child.
10. I have to have an abortion. There is no other way.
We understand that you may feel trapped. However, you may be surprised to find there are many people who are willing to offer you love and support. Our Center’s staff can appreciate your situation and we are ready to help you and offer you that support.
Help After Abortion
If you have had an abortion, you probably feel very much alone with the memories of your experience. Perhaps the father of the baby has been out of your life for quite some time, or it seems as if no one wants to hear about your pain anymore.
Perhaps you denied that there ever was any pain for quite some time, only to realize that you simply took all those complicated feelings and stuffed them down and tried not to think about them. In spite of your best efforts, they have now surfaced.
Many women like you feel hopeless about ever resolving the pain connected with their abortion experience. But, healing is possible. Thousands of women (and men) will seek and receive help this year, and you can be one of them.
What are some risks about abortion?
–Spiritual Consequences
When people make decisions that go against their core values (beliefs that they have held to for their entire lives), this can produce negative effects, especially long term. People have different understandings of God. Whatever your present beliefs may be, there is a spiritual side to abortion that deserves to be considered. Having an abortion may affect more than just your body and mind — it may have an impact on your relationship with God. What is God’s desire for you in this situation? How does God see your unborn child? These are important questions to consider.
–Abortion and Breast Cancer
Medical experts are still researching and debating the link between abortion and breast cancer. However, here are some important facts:
1. Carrying a pregnancy to full term gives protection against breast cancer that cannot be gained if abortion is chosen.
2. Abortion causes a sudden drop in estrogen levels that may make breast cells more prone to cancer.
3. Most studies conducted so far show a significant linkage between abortion and breast cancer.
4. A 1994 study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found: “Among women who had been pregnant at least once, the risk of breast cancer in those who had experienced an induced abortion was 50% higher than among other women.”
Abortion is offered as a simple solution. Abortion clinics may not take medical information you would have to give for any other kind of surgery, and they may not tell you all of the risks. Yet, it is your body. You have a right to know all of the risks and consequences of an abortion. Otherwise, it isn’t a choice.
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