So what inspired me to write this blog post was based on my own recent research trying to better understand why people choose what they do. Whether they believe in abortion or not. I was set to discover the origins of it all. How abortion laws even came about. What are the exceptions of anti-abortions laws. I wanted clarification of it all. I didn’t want to vote based on just what a general party decides to do. I don’t work that way. I need to get back to the root of it all.

I hope through my discovering of an in depth look into why I choose what I choose, it will help you see more clearly as to why I’ve come to my decision. I really hope we can be more open minded through it all and show more respect and kindness to others in the process.

First things first….

When do we consider a fetus to be a life, or is it?

Well, think of it this way… when do we consider when a life ends? The time of death is considered to be when the heart stops beating. With that said, shouldn’t the life begin when the heart STARTS beating? When is that? About 3 weeks and 1 day after the egg is fertilized  (found here). So there you have it, the beginning of life. By week 4, the heart beats between 105 and 121 beats per minute.

Think about this… Most women don’t find out they’re pregnant until a missed cycle (at LEAST week 5 of pregnancy. By then, the heart is in full force function. Also to note, the first fetal pain receptors start to develop in week 7 of gestation and are throughout the entire body fully developed by week 20. Stated here, pain is determined when the baby senses danger and begins to move. If you watch the video at the bottom of this post regarding a 12wk fetus undergoing an abortion, you can clearly see the frantic movement.

Types of abortions

Medical abortions: “The abortion pill or Induced abortions (video)”. Can be done up to ten weeks of gestation, but is educated generally around 6 weeks to reduce risk of it failing.

In clinic abortions: “Aspiration abortions (video)”. Can be done between 6-16 weeks of gestation. Here’s another video at 12 wks gestation explained via ultrasound (warning: can be graphic to watch for some.)

“Dilation and Extraction (video)” (D&E). Can be done after 16 weeks gestation.

“Late term 3rd Trimester Induction abortions (video)”. Is performed 25weeks and beyond.

Just under 90% of abortions happen during the first trimester with only 20% of them done via induced abortions or via the “abortion pill”. That means around 80% are done via aspiration and extraction method. (source here)

Now, how did abortion come about in the first place?

To shortly summarize, in 1973 a case (Roe vs. Wade) was presented in court based on a single woman having an unwanted pregnancy. The court ruled that it was “unconstitutional” to take away her “rights” of privacy and since then it became legal in many states to uphold abortion “rights” (I’ll explain later why I put “rights” in quotation marks). Just to make a quick side note, since 1973, WELL over 58 MILLION abortions have taken place.

I am well aware that abortions took place before this and outside that of a medical practice, which deemed unsafe. However, it doesn’t take away from the fact that it is terminating the life of that unborn baby. People kill people outside of medical practices in an obvious unsafe manner, but do we open up clinics to help them do it? That’s like saying we’re going to remove the law that protects people from being murdered because people “will end up doing it anyway”.

It’s all in how we view the definition of life.

We also have to consider that education about the unborn child and methods of abortions weren’t as well rounded and accessible as it is today.

Let’s discuss questions and controversies as to why abortions take place. Here are the statistics of the reasons that women have given for getting abortions…

(full article here)

Why do women get abortions?

“It’s my right” 

Many pro-choice voters feel it should be the right of the woman/mother to choose whether or not to keep the baby and no one else’s. Why is this? My question is, why is killing an unborn child a right? I don’t understand how our society has defined unwanted pregnancy as a right. The fact of the matter is, the pro life argument isn’t about disrespecting the individual’s rights or body. It’s about recognizing that there is an ADDITIONAL body to protect. It’s not like a choice of refusing a blood transfusion like certain religions believe. That’s a single individual prerogative and no one else is affected. Pregnancy shouldn’t be by definition a “right”.  A “right” is defined as a moral or legal entitlement. Pregnancy isn’t an entitlement, it’s a biological outcome of a life created after intercourse. Intercourse was the right (whether that was violated or not), not the life formed after. That’s the line that separates the pro choice and pro life arguments, the definition of a life over a right.

Don’t get me wrong, women work hard for their careers and reputations to prove strength and dignity in a man eating world. I understand the battle women have in the working field. Fact of the matter is, there are other laws and supportive infrastructures that can be put into place over the choice of abortion. I will be the first to admit that more education and support of women need to be implemented in order to provide abortion alternatives in the potential reversal of Roe v Wade. That’s what our focus needs to be on going further. First step though, protect ALL lives and provide equal “rights” for ALL lives to be given a chance.

Women are strong and so specific in the role that God has for them in this world. Let’s talk about that strength. There is no greater strength than that of a mother. The decision to keep a baby beyond any tough circumstance, knowing that there’s a purpose inside of you now greater than your own. No greater strength. Whether you choose to raise that child, or give him/her up for adoption….no greater strength. So what better way to prove the power of women to others than to choose to birth that child. My heart breaks that women fight concepts of inferiority within the blurred lines of their concepts of the foundational definition of life.

Additionally, the term “right” is subjective based on people’s viewpoints, upbringing, standards, morals, etc. For example, a thief could feel it’s his/her right to rob someone at gunpoint if they felt taken advantage of. Does it make it ok? Of course not. Laws were created against that to protect other’s lives in that situation. Not to compare at all thieves to mothers, but the point of an anti-abortion law is to protect the life of the unborn child who doesn’t have a say so whether or not he/she will live (just like that in the case of someone being held at gunpoint). It should be no one’s “right” in my opinion to choose to end a life.

Just one more scenario to think about:

People say that it is a mother’s right to choose, but have you ever thought about the horrible double standard? Here’s an example: So let’s say a mom receives a diagnosis that her unborn 24 week old child will have a disability and she feels that she cannot afford to take care of the baby and chooses to have an abortion. In a similar scenario, a mom delivers a premature 24 week old baby who is fighting for his/her life and succeeding, but has some complications. The mother then decides she cannot afford the costs and doesn’t want the baby. Can she choose to kill the baby then? No, it’s not possible? Why?…because it is considered murder. What I don’t understand is why it is not considered to be murder when a baby is in the womb. Are we in denial because it hides behind a uterine wall where we cannot see? It just doesn’t make sense.

“I’m not ready” & “I can’t afford it” (Accounts for 32% and 30% of all abortions)

Well, the reality of this thought is the fact that NO woman is “ready” to be a mother….not even the ones who had it on their life’s agenda to be one. There’s no way to truly prepare yourself for motherhood (ha! I know this firsthand). If you choose to engage in sexual intercourse before you consider yourself “ready”, you have to take the risk of becoming pregnant. That’s just how life works unfortunately. I understand there are cases of rape, but that accounts for 0.3% of abortions. I’m looking at bigger picture here. Also, I wouldn’t be here today if my single grandmother chose to abort my mother after her forced and horrible situation she was put in. She was abandoned and my mother never knew her father. I’m so grateful for my grandmother’s strength to choose to birth my mother. It wasn’t an easy life for my mother growing up, but she overcame and became one of the strongest women I know.

I don’t live under a rock and also know that people are going to have sex no matter what, but please play smart and be preventative. Use common sense. If we end up pregnant, we just have to put our big girl panties on and embrace it. We are now blessed with a purpose greater than we can ever imagine. We have to birth that purpose. I promise you, from experience, when you accept the challenge of being a mother, something innate inside of you becomes more ready than you ever realized possible. If you choose to give your child to a family in need, congratulations on becoming someone’s biggest blessing. That is incredible strength beyond comprehension. When there’s a will there’s a way. You make it happen. The moment you value that life inside of you, you become invincible at life.

“Afraid of being a single mom or relationship troubles” (Accounts for 12-13%)

Again, it kind of ties along with the others. When you value that purpose now inside of you, you can get through anything. Change perspectives of yourself. You’re much stronger than you realize.

For the medical concerns

Some of you reading are probably thinking “what the heck? what about medical reasons (less than 1%), heaven forbid issues of rape (less than 1%), mental health of the mother (0.8-8%)??” Don’t worry I know those issues arise. All are legitimate, very serious and sensitive situations. This is why I started my research in the first place. I was always pro-life, but I wanted to make sure I was taking in all of the potential scenarios. Luckily, I have been fortunate enough to not have to undergo any troubled pregnancies, but I have close friends who have. It’s devastating and I don’t wish that on anyone. I work in the medical field as a nurse and have witnessed many devastating scenarios for mothers or potential mothers. It’s heartbreaking. I do want to clarify though why anti-abortion laws also take these situations into consideration. This is the biggest debunker of it all…

Many pro-choice voters have come to their conclusions because of stories they have either read or experienced having to do with medical situations of the baby having a debilitating diagnosis that will lead to ultimate death or death of the mother. Many mothers receive word that their child may not make it and can’t bare the thought of having to birth a stillborn. I can’t even begin to imagine that heartache. Like I stated before, I have close friends who have though. As horrific as it is, I truly believe we aren’t given anything we cannot handle with God’s help. I do not mean that insensitively at all. I have great respect and the deepest of sympathies for those women who have gone through tough situations like that.

One family received the news that their unborn child would not make it. They could not handle the fact that she had to undergo birthing a stillborn and wanted to just get the baby out (even though the baby at the time still had a heartbeat). I can’t imagine receiving that painful news, but I can’t imagine even further trying to end the baby’s life before it naturally occurred no matter how painful it was to bare. Because the couple lived in Texas, the doctors would not perform the abortion as long as the baby had a heartbeat. In many cases, in the strict anti-abortion states (such as Texas), they will not abort a baby with a heart beat unless it falls under certain exceptions. Other cases have to be voted on in court. I have to say that I agree with this because it is a serious situation regarding a life. For one, I’m a firm believer in miracles and also fighting till the end no matter how impossible the situation seems to be. Two, the process of aborting that baby prematurely is a gruesome process. If you clicked on the links above explaining the process of abortion, it’s horrific and no baby deserves that way to die even if dying was the inevitable. Recent research has proven that babies do feel pain during this process.

Now, back to these medical exceptions…

Many voters think that anti-abortion laws restrict many medical situations which is why they come to their conclusion. This is where the debunking takes place…

One of the most strict anti-abortion laws exist in the state of Texas. Even in this state it considers certain exceptions.

(You can read the laws fully here.)

You can see by reading the actual abortion laws that it is not considered abortion if it threatens the life of the mother (which if you watch the video I posted at the very end of this post, it explains how rare this is) or if it’s an ectopic pregnancy. No, a disability of a child is not considered an exemption (I don’t think it should. Everyone deserves a fair shot at life.). So therefore, those who have based their decisions on the fact that they think anti-abortion laws don’t take medical necessity into consideration, they do.

So what how does our now elected President feel about it?

 Here’s a copy of an open letter he wrote here.

Let me explain what some of that letter means…

First, the Hyde Amendment. This amendment takes away the ability of abortions being government funded through Medicaid. Like I stated before, I don’t think it’s anyone’s right or responsibility to take the life of an unborn baby, much less the government. Many people consider this to target the poor (probably because they are the ones most likely to receive Medicaid). Well if you choose to see opposition, then of course you’d view it that way. However, there’s no bias at all….just the simplicity of the government not wanting to fund abortions.

Now, the next opposed viewpoint of the letter…

Defunding Planned Parenthood. This is where the letter gets misunderstood. He continues his statement by saying as long as they “continue to perform abortions”. Many people will argue that Planned Parenthood provides other healthcare for women. That’s true, but he did go on to say “and reallocating their funding to community health centers that provide comprehensive health care for women”. Also, just to throw another fact out there: 95% of Planned Parenthood’s services are abortions. Do you realize that the average abortion costs $800-$1500? So with over 699,000 abortions happening a year (based on a CDC report from 2012), that’s 559.2 million- over 1 billion dollars in profit a year. Gets you to thinking the system’s intentions huh?

Why I still stick to pro-life…

Now, with all that said and all the facts laid out there, I can’t help but to stick to my original beliefs of being pro-life, even beyond my Christianity. The reasons of the majority of why abortions happen are for selfish reasons no matter how you lay them out. No one woman goes in with the intentions of murder, but because maybe having a baby won’t fit into the plan of life and so on. It’s just sad to me how the viewpoint of the unborn child has become so miniscule. What can we do about it? Well, first we can vote pro-life because the next president will be able to appoint 5 judges in the Supreme Court to maybe help establish the protection of the unborn baby. Second, we can work hard to ensure that women are educated about the truth on abortion and other options. We need to continue to research (because knowledge is power) and figure out ways to help the needs of a mother who feels helpless, ensure proper education of preventative pregnancy measures, fight for better healthcare that covers counseling, having more childcare programs in schools, and other needs in order to assist a mother in keeping the baby and so on, as well as figuring out ways to make the adoption process easier and more affordable (without compromising the potential safety of the adopted). A lot of it is lack of education on the matter. Lack of education doesn’t imply lack of intelligence when I say that either. It just means people need to understand the details of what abortion entails. It’s TORTURE to the fetus. No one deserves that. Maybe more education will help promote more caution and awareness. Education about support systems as well. Education about prevention. I step up daily in doing this. I go in areas helping those in need as best as I can. That’s my point in writing this. To hopefully inspire others to reach out to those who need assistance and more education. I agree, it has to go beyond discussing. I will continue to educate myself further and do what I can to provide tools and resources to help those in difficult situations. I hope others step up as well. Maybe we can see dramatic change in all of this. Above all else, changing the mindset of how we view the unborn child and viewing pregnancy (even unwanted) as something with greater purpose than that of yourself. When we become selfless in every aspect of life and view others’ needs (including the unborn child) bigger than our own, we’ll be world changers…

If all what I shared above still isn’t enough,  here’s an interview with a doctor who performed over 1200 abortions, who originally was pro-choice and changed perspectives.