Abortion: Rape, Incest, and Birth Defects

I could talk for hours strait about all the reasons why abortion is wrong. Seriously. So I said to myself, "Self, you should write all these reasons in your blog." So here I go.

Today I shall talk about rape, incest, and birth defects. These are some of the touchier subjects having to do with abortion. Even many pro-life people believe these circumstances should be exceptions. But I am here to tell you that they are not. And here's why.

First of all, I would like to say that I would not wish any of these situations upon anyone. People affected by them need our prayers and care. This care, however, should not include abortion.

Second, perhaps not many people know that these are not reasons why many women get abortions. In fact, only 1% of abortions in the United States are performed because of rape or incest, and another 1% are performed because of fetal abnormalities. Therefore, if this is your argument for keeping abortion legal, you're missing the big picture. Most abortions are performed as a form of birth control, because a baby would be inconvenient.
[Source: http://www.abortiontv.com/Misc/AbortionStatistics.htm#Why Abortions Are Performed]


Rape:

Okay, so we all know rape is awful, horrendous, disgusting, horrible, and various other negative adjectives. Besides the immediate physical effects of rape, the psychological and emotional effects cause many women to require professional help. Possible effects include eating disorders, nightmares, insomnia, sexual problems, depression, anxiety, phobias, withdrawl from friends and family, self-injury, rage, and suicide. Tragically, one-third of people who have been raped consider suicide, and 17% actually attempt to kill themselves. Rape is truly a heinous crime.
[Sources: http://www.rainn.org/get-information/effects-of-sexual-assault/rape-trauma-syndrome , http://www.paar.net/103]

As bad as rape is, I have to make one point (pay very close attention!!): Abortion does not make you un-raped. I cannot stress this enough. An abortion only adds to the trauma caused by the rape. In fact, the symptoms of Post-Abortion Syndrome (a scientifically documented condition) are nearly identical to those of rape. These include Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, social withdrawl, nightmares, anxiety, forgetfullness, fatigue, irritability, depression, eating disorders, alcohol/drug abuse, increase in tobacco use, sexual dysfunction, child neglect/abuse, chronic relationship problems, and suicidal thoughts/suicide.
[Sources: http://www.allaboutlifechallenges.org/post-abortion-symptoms-faq.htm , http://www.abortionfacts.com/reardon/post_abortion_syndrome_character.asp]

Here's the thing: just because that child was concieved during an evil crime, that does not mean the baby itself is evil! Rape has horrible effects on a woman; why should it go further and punish an unborn child who has done nothing wrong? You might think that baby is "unwanted" because it was concieved in rape, but this is simply untrue. Millions of couples (that's right, millions) are waiting to adopt because they cannot concieve. A rape victim can transcend their trauma by creating something beautiful from something evil: by giving a couple a beautiful child that otherwise would not be there for them to love and care for.


Birth Defects:

I suppose this can include any sort of fetal abnormalities like Down's syndrome, mental retardation, chronic or terminal diseases, congenital defects, etc. Fun fact: in children who are prenatally diagnosed with Down's Syndrome, 90% or more are aborted. Go ahead, read that sentence again. Soak it in. 90%. Now, why do you think this is so? Mercy on the child? Do the parents tell themselves, "Who would want to live with Down's Syndrome?" Who are they to judge that? Honestly, I think that they are really thinking, "How am I going to raise a child with Down's Syndrome?? I don't want to do that!" So they don't. In other words, they are being selfish. I'll say it again: SELFISH.
[source: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/65500197/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0]

Again, I would like to point out that maybe the pregnant parents do not want to raise a child with Down's Syndrome, or any other birth defect for that matter, but there are millions of couples waiting to adopt who would be happy to raise one of these children.

Now, Down's Syndrome is not terminal, but what about in the case of deadly diseases? Would it be better to end the child's life before it is born? Here I would like to refer you to this story of a young couple and their son Eliot. Eliot had Edward's Syndrome, a genetic disorder which is fatal. His parents could have aborted him, but they didn't. Judge for yourself if they should have or not. http://infectingtheworldwithlove.blogspot.com/2009/01/99-days-to-live.html Be sure to watch the video. (There is a link to it at the bottom of the post.)


Incest:

I saved this for last because it is essentically a combination of the previous two issues, since it is rape by a family member which has the potential for many fetal abnormalities.


If I am not being objective, politely let me know. But I believe these are all valid arguments. I have included sources to back up my argument. If I have convinced you, please let me know.

Whether you are pro-life or not, I am praying for you.

Squirrely Thoughts

Living on campus has given me a new appreciation for squirrels.

Don't get me wrong, they're still technically vicious wild rodents that carry diseases and things. I avoid getting too close to them.

But honestly, they're kind of adorable. The ones on campus have probably been there their whole lives so they are used to being in close proximity with people. They won't get too close, but they're pretty comfortable being 5 feet away from me if I don't act like I want to eat them.

They are devious little creatures. They like to hang out under benches and tables and in trash cans because they're smart and they know where food is.

Except I saw one squirrel who decided that a ball of plastic wrap would be a nice treat. I tried to scare it so it wouldn't choke and die, but it shoved the plastic in its mouth and ran off. I yelled after it, "Hey! Don't blame me when you fall out of that tree after you choke! ...stupid squirrel."

The other day I saw a squirrel gathering... nuts or acorns or something... and I saw that it had a flabby belly and big nipples and I was like "awww... it has babies!" My brother said that back home two baby squirrels fell out of their nest so their mom picked them up in her mouth and hid them under a leaf while she built a new nest. Also, apparently baby squirrels cry. Who'da thunk it??

I feel like no one else appreciates the squirrels, much less notice their existence. Except, of course, when they jump out of a trash can when we walk by and scare the living daylights out of us.

Academia

Here's what I think. Say there is a question that needs to be answered.

Math is like this: You can solve the problem a couple different ways, but you get the same answer no matter what.

English is like this: Everyone's answers are different and some of them might not be correct but most of them are because they involve opinions. All you have to do is back up your answer and you can say whatever you want. But if you can't back up your opinion, then you just sound stupid and everything you say is wrong.

Science is like this: I can do the exact same thing 20 different times and get completely different results each time. And then I change the procedure and get a billion different variations, most of which are wrong anyways. So my final answer is only a theory which hasn't been proven, it just hasn't been disproven my the experiments.

Well, that sounded a little whiny. Honestly, science is my favorite, probably because it is a bit annoying. It's hard to discover something new, and extremely rewarding when it does happen. But math is a lot easier because there's one right answer and that's it. Ta Daa.

And here is a cute picture that I think is funny.