Abortion and my own thoughts

                                                       John Harvell

                                                     English 110U

                                                     February 12, 1997

A-B-O-R-T-I-O-N

and my own thoughts

What would it be like to die so young and so fragile?  What would it be like to kill something so young and so fragile?  Abortion, in my definition, is the taking of a life.  Now it is hard for me to sit here and type this paper when I know good and well that if my daughter or wife were ever raped I would want whatever was inside of them out -- immediately.  I think that to take the life of an unborn just because the couple involved were too lazy to use contraceptives, is immature and quite horrid.  In this informative paper, you as a reader will come to understand the facts on abortion and then understand where I stand. 

Let us begin.  According to US Abortion data provided in 1995 by

Planned Parenthood, there were 1.8 million first trimester abortions, 180 thousand second trimester abortions, and about four thousand required Hysterotomies.  Now according to these figures we, as the United States, killed/aborted 1,984,000 fetus'.  Sure we could keep down the increase in our population at this rate, but where would we be emotionally?  Speaking from a "my" point of view, I wouldn't get to far.  I enjoy children profusely and thinking that there are 1.9 million children less in the world every year sends shivers down my spine.  But I guess you may say that it is not my place to speak.

There are fewer deaths per million abortions than per million births according to the Planned Parenthood survey of 1995.  There are nine deaths per million abortion procedures and sixty-three deaths per million births.  Both complications and the death rate rise with the age of the fetus.  I can understand that these facts portray a much better picture for abortion than carrying to term, but what about the pain that the fetus will feel?   According to pro-choice physicians they believe that a certain connection, synaptic, necessary to perceive pain, for the fetus, is not formed until the twenty-eighth week of pregnancy.  Others who are pro-life believe that the fetus can feel pain as early as the seventh week.  But even though these facts by Planned Parenthood show a better side to abortion as well, nothing can compare to the guilt of the "Post-traumatic abortion syndrome" right?  Wrong.

According to Dr. Paul Sachdef, professor of social work at Memorial University in Newfoundland, Canada, long term guilt or depression was rare in the seventy in-depth interviews that he conducted of women ages eighteen to twenty-five, single, and white.  These classifications of the women interviewed represented the largest group of women seeking abortions.  He also found that two-thirds of the women used contraceptives rarely or not at all.  Three-fourths of the women thought they would not become pregnant.  Almost eighty percent "felt relief and satisfaction" soon after the abortion.  He also found the elective abortion is much less traumatic for the parent/s than an elective adoption.  June Scandiffino disagreed with the good doctor's findings.  She believes that Post-traumatic abortion syndrome does not set in until perhaps seven years after the abortion.  I would like to believe both findings but I find that it would be hard not to feel some loneliness and some guilt immediately after having an abortion. What do you think?

My English professor gave me this assignment, to investigate a subject of interest that we know little about but have wanted to learn more about and then present it, but I kind of cheated on it.  I know a good amount about abortion, emotionally, but I don't know a lot of the facts.  I know what the main points are and that I always hated when someone would bring up the subject of abortion and then ask my opinion.  I have a real split opinion.  As for the percentage of abortions dealing with rape and incest -- go for it.  If my daughter or wife were ever subject to either one of these I probably would consent to having an abortion and then going out and killing the bastard who did it.  As for the percentage of abortions that concentrate around the health of the fetus/ and finding that the fetus has an irreparable disease or body malfunction that would mean bringing a neurologically impaired child, or a deformed child into this world than I would, as well, consider an abortion.  There are probably several other "percentages" that once confronted with them I would change my feeble mind.

When you hear about all the bombings or incidents of arson on abortion clinics you, well at least I do, wonder what those people involved with those incidents would do if confronted with something of the magnitude of rape or something.  I think a lot of those minds would change.  Because I know that if I found that I was the product of rape, I probably would want to kill myself.  You?  My final statement is this, "I am usually pro-life and if there is anyway of keeping and supporting a healthy child than do it.  For new life comes around only once in a while."