QuestionHi. I am not really sure where I stand on the abortion issue. I guess I would lean more towards being pro-choice. I hear way too many stories of children being neglected and abused. Not all women(or men for that matter were meant to be parents).
The other day I was driving down a main road and I noticed a bunch of people standing along the road holding these gruesome signs of what they said were aborted fetuses. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. They looked like newborn babies, and they were all cut up and bloody. I was horrified! I want to know, is this actually true? Does an abortion actually look like that? And then I read on-line that by the eighth week of pregnancy all of the organs are fully developed. Is that true?
I guess I do think that women should have that right and I wouldn't want to see abortion made illegal. My mom grew up before abortion was legal, and told me horror stories. She even knew one girl(a fellow classmate) in highschool who actually died from an illegal abortion. But I can't help but wonder if it really IS murder? I mean, we can't deny that it is a baby right? A human being? I am just conflicted is all. I am only fifteen, and am still trying to sort out how I feel about all this. I have a boyfriend and we have a sexual relationship. We are VERY careful(he uses a condom and I am on the Pill) but if an accident were to happen I don't know what I would do. I think I would probably have an abortion, but I would feel real guilty about it. Thanks.
Alison
AnswerHi Alison :)
Those pictures are DEFINITELY not what an aborted embryo or fetus looks like. Or else those pictures would mean that that's what miscarriages look like as well, since miscarriage means a spontaneous abortion. They use gruesome, nasty pictures, don't they? Unrealistic and ridiculous. When 89-90% of abortions take place, they are no bigger than three inches-and that's at the third month. So many are even smaller. By week ten, the vital organs are set in place. At week 9, when the embryo is almost 1 inch long, the pancreas, gallbladder, anus, and nipples are in place, and their reproductive organs begin development.
Yeah, there are horrific, horrific stories from the pre-Roe era. Not only from illegal abortions, but from women who were forced to carry the pregnancy and then surrender the baby for adoption. As well as those women who had to give up their lives to raise multiple children.
It depends on what you consider a baby or a human being. Murder, by its official meaning, would not include abortion-the victim has to have been born in order to be killed, I believe. Some people don't feel it's a baby until it's born, or has a brain that can develop thought, or is viable (when the fetus can live outside the womb-which can be different for any pregnancy, but usually in the later stages). So really, that's up to you. See, you can feel it IS a baby, a human being, but still believe that women have the say in whether something gets to inhabit their body for 9+ months. Being pro-choice can mean different things, but a few things are certain-women have the ultimate say in what happens to their body, it's none of our business, and every child should be a wanted child.
Here's a link with more info (that I use quite a bit) about embryonic/fetal development:http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/prenatal-care/PR00112
So, it's up to you to decide if the pregnancy is a baby or a human being, and at what point it becomes one. The fetus does not feel any pain when the procedure is done, if that helps at all. The abortion issue can be extremely complex. But if you ever want to talk more about it, or have any more questions, please feel free to contact me! I think it's great that you're taking time to learn about this issue, and I can promise that I'll only give you factual information. And it can be hard to think about what would happen if you were to become pregnant-but if that were to happen, and you did have an abortion and felt guilty, there are resources available for women to overcome the grief or sadness they feel. If I didn't give you enough info, you want more, or just want to talk, I'm here :)
