The Truth About Abortion
by Angela Edenhofer (California)
29 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down
the Roe vs Wade decision. On January 22, 1973, this ruling struck down all
laws in every state that in any way had protected the lives of developing unborn
children. It legalized abortion in all 50 states, for the full nine months of
pregnancy, for social and economic reasons. The Court said that abortion could
be performed in light of all factors relevant to the well being of the patient
including physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman's age.
The most recent statistics document an average of
1.4 million legal abortions performed annually from 1973-1998. 2-5% of these
pregnancies are terminated due to incest, rape, fetal abnormalities, or the
mother's health, while the other 95-98% are simply a means of birth control. In
turn, abortion has become a lucrative industry. In practice, abortion providers
are confronted with a choice between their conscience and the immense profit to
be gained. As a result, abortions are not only being performed upon request,
they are being sold to vulnerable and uninformed women. Here are some quotes
which illustrate these tactics:
"I was trained by a professional marketing
director in how to sell abortions over the telephone. He took every one of our
receptionists, nurses, and anyone else who would deal with people over the phone
through an extensive training period. The object was, when the girl called, to
hook the sale so that she wouldn't get an abortion somewhere else, or adopt out
her baby, or change her mind. We were doing it for the money." -- Nina
Whitten, chief secretary at a Dallas abortion clinic under Dr. Curtis Boyd
"If a woman we were counseling expressed
doubts about having an abortion, we would say whatever was necessary to persuade
her to abort immediately." -- Judy W., former office manager of the second
largest abortion clinic in El Paso, Texas
"Sometimes we lied. A girl might ask what
her baby was like at a certain point in the pregnancy: Was it a baby yet? Even
as early as 12 weeks a baby is totally formed, he has fingerprints, turns his
head, fans his toes, feels pain. But we would say 'It's not a baby yet. It's
just tissue, like a clot.'" -- Kathy Sparks told in "The Conversion of
Kathy Sparks" by Gloria Williamson, Christian Herald Jan 1986 p 28
"The counselor at our clinic would cry with
the girls at the drop of a hat. She would find their weakness and work on it.
The women were never given any alternatives. They were told how much trouble it
is to have a baby." -- former abortion worker Debra Harry, quoted in the
film "Meet the Abortion Providers" 1989
"In fact many women will come to me
considering abortion, and I have been personally told that I am to turn the
monitor away from her view so that seeing her baby jump around on the screen
does not influence her choice." -- Shari Richards, quoted from the John
Ankerburg Show on 3/7/90
"We know that its killing, but the state
permits killing under certain circumstances" -- Dr. Neville Sender,
abortionist
"Even now I feel a little peculiar about it,
because as a physician I was trained to conserve life, and here I am destroying
it." -- abortionist
Many doctors however, choose not to ignore their
conscience.
Dr. David Brewer reflects on an experience with a
hysterotomy abortion. "I remember as we made the incision in the uterus, to
see the baby move underneath the sack of membranes as the Caesarian incision was
made before the doctor broke the water. The thought came to me, my God, that's a
person! At that instant he broke the water and I had that terrible pain in my
heart. He delivered the baby and I couldn't even touch it. I wasn't much of an
assistant; I just stood there and the reality of what was going on finally began
to seep in to my callused brain and heart. We simply took that little baby that
was making little sounds and was moving and kicking and set it on the table in a
cold stainless steel bowl. Every time I would look over, while we were repairing
the incision in the uterus, I would see that little person kicking and moving in
that bowl. It kicked and moved less and less as time went on. I can remember
going over and looking at that baby when we were done with surgery and the baby
was still alive. You could see the chest moving as the heart beat and the baby
would try and take a little breath."
There are many ways abortions are performed
throughout the various stages of pregnancy, beginning at 6 weeks. Even at this
early stage, a baby has taken form, has brain waves and a beating heart. All
methods of abortion are entirely merciless to the young life, but the most
apalling of all occurs in the Third Trimester and is commonly referred to as
"Partial Birth Abortion." I feel this procedure is best described from
a first-hand experience. Brenda Pratt Shafer, a registered nurse, recalls her
first assignment to an abortion clinic: "I stood at the doctor's side and
watched him perform a partial-birth abortion on a woman who was six months
pregnant. The baby's heartbeat was clearly visible on the ultrasound screen. The
doctor delivered the baby's body and arms, everything but his little head. The
baby's body was moving. His little fingers were clasping together. He was
kicking his feet. The doctor took a pair of scissors and inserted them into the
back of the baby's head, and the baby's arms jerked out in a flinch, a startle
reaction, like a baby does when he thinks that he might fall. Then the doctor
opened the scissors up. Then he stuck the high-powered suction tube into the
hole and sucked the baby's brains out. Now the baby was completely limp. I never
went back to the clinic. But I am still haunted by the face of that little boy.
It was the most perfect, angelic face I have ever seen."
It is important to note that this procedure,
along with all other methods of abortion, does not provide the benefit of
anesthesia to the child. In these times of advanced technology, an animal can be
can be put to sleep peacefully and painlessly, while such brutal tactics
conducted to murder children are somehow not enough to warrant the
administration of anesthesia.
Since 1973, many had denied that late term
elective abortions were legal and/or did not exist. This claim was discredited
during the 1996 debate in the U.S. Congress on partial birth abortions, when it
was conclusively shown that such abortions were done even late in the third
trimester. This debate was the result of a bill which sought to ban partial
birth abortions on a federal level. In April 1996, the bill passed both the
House and Senate, but was vetoed by President Clinton. The bill was
re-introduced in 1997 and again passed both Houses of Congress in October. This
time, a 2/3 majority vote was achieved in the House of Representatives. This
would allow Congress to override a presidential veto if the Senate also achieved
the same 2/3 majority. However, the Senate fell three votes shy, and again
Clinton vetoed the bill. In October of 1999 Senator Rick Santorum, a Republican
from Pennsylvania pursued this ban for the third time. Senator Barbara Boxer, a
Democrat from California led the opposition to the ban. A transcript of the
debate between these two senators is available on www.nrlc.org,
in which Senator Boxer refused to answer questions as to when a baby could be
considered born. These questions were based on the fact that when a Partial
Birth Abortion is conducted, all parts of the baby have purposefully been
delivered with the exception of the head. The Senate vote came in 2 votes short
of the 2/3 majority needed for the override. It so happens that both Senators
from our state, Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein, voted against the ban. Had
the voters of California sent two Pro-life Senators to Washington, the practice
of PBA would now be illegal. This is because the House of Representatives' third
vote on this issue qualified for the override. One or two votes can mean the
difference between life and death.
The perspective adopted by the majority is that
women should have the right to choose. However, most people are not fully
educated on the issue of abortion. The information is available if one takes the
initiative to do the research. Obviously, abortion clinics do not offer this
information to their potential clients. The media will not broadcast the
information because of their generally pro-choice position. We must find other
means of informing the masses. Without legalized abortion, women still have the
right to choose. Women, and men for that matter, have the right to choose
whether or not to engage in sexual relations; and whether or not to use any
number of birth control methods when they do. How can murder be conceived as a
choice to rectify blatantly irresponsible actions? Furthermore, is murdering an
innocent child the appropriate response to someone else's crime, such as in
cases of incest or rape? If a fetal abnormality is detected, is it preferable
that the child is killed rather than live with a disability? Ironically, those
valiant defenders of abortion are typically the same people who adamantly oppose
the death penalty for violent criminals, because it's "inhumane."
While it is extremely beneficial to read and hear the facts concerning abortion,
the greatest impact will come from seeing them. There are excellent educational
films available on this topic. I highly recommend the following titles:
• The Hard Truth (short in length, yet
the most effective video on the market)
• The Silent Scream (live footage of an actual abortion via ultrasound
imaging)
• Abortion Techniques (a description of all methods except hysterotomy)
• The Massacre of Innocence (discussion of the history and spiritual
aspects of abortion)
To order any of these videos, simply contact
American Portrait Films at 1-800-736-4567. Delivery can be expected in 7-10
days.
Angela Edenhofer is President of TREAD, the Political Action
Committee of Shield of Faith Christian Center, Pomona, CA
