Thoughts on Abortion

HOW CAN ONE PREVENT AN ABORTION 1) Abstinence 2) If abstinence is not practical, use safe birth control methods - Although there are many Christians who believe sex is only for the purpose of procreation, I believe sex can also be used as the deepest physical expression of love for your partner, even if your goal at the moment is not to have children. Therefore using safe birth control methods for this purpose would be one way in preventing one to consider having an abortion because of an unwanted pregnancy. And I also believe that there is nothing in Scripture that prohibits one from using such an approach. 3) Allowing pregnancies to come to term, and then putting the unwanted children up for adoption, if still unwanted. The following are thoughts on adoption: 1. Steven says: In the U. S. there are 5 requirements to be eligible for adoption. They are: 1) You must be over 18 years of age, 2) You must be a resident of your state for 5 years, 2) You must be able to provide financially for the child, 4) You must be able to provide a safe home for the child, and 5) You cannot have been convicted of a felony. Notice! It no longer matters if you're single, married, gay, over a certain age, or the same race as the child. However, there are unspoken prejudices that are practiced by social workers who do not agree with this criteria. The laws may say they cannot discriminate, but they find ways around it. Also there is much extortion by those responsible for placing children up for adoption. I've experienced this personally. I finally did find a place where I could adopt at reasonable cost and with a limited waiting period. It's called "Special Link" in South Carolina, and their mission is to finds homes for those kids who are hard to place. It took us just one month to adopt a child. What a blessing. 2. Janet says: There are plenty of couples who would love to adopt children but can't because there aren't enough, due to abortion. I've experience this with my teenage daughter who wanted to put her baby up for adoption and found so many applicants waiting to be considered by her, as she wanted to engage in this process personally. However, I do think that the adoption laws should be refined and more importance should be put on love available instead of money. Kids don't need their own room with a TV and VCR - they need parents to love and care for them. I think the foster parenting system should be revamped also and adoption laws changed to side with the child more than birth parents. Too many people have children and abuse them, but the gov't won't take them away from them permanently because they gave birth to them. Big deal! My opinion is that birth parents should be given a set amount of time to straighten out, or the children should be put up for adoption. I have seen so many kids moved from foster home to foster home because the birth mother is fighting off drug addiction, alcoholism, schizophrenia, etc. The mother never straightens out and the children never find a home and grow up as messed up as their mother. 3. Corbin says: I don't advocate abortion, but even with abortion, I still see many unwanted kids out there. 4. Janet says: Corbin, I think you really have to define what you mean by "unwanted". As I said before, there are children whose birth parents don't want them, but that doesn't mean no one wants them. Heck. If it were possible, I would take all of them. 5. Sylvia says: I think that if the laws and restrictions on adoptions were not so strict, then more people would adopt. The system is only hurting the children, not helping them. A couple has to wait a long time for the adoption to take place, resulting in babies of today becoming young kids. 6. Janet says. One of the problems in adopting is that the monetary restrictions are so tough that many loving people just can't afford to adopt any child. 7. James says: Only a small percentage of those applying to adopt actually are allowed to adopt. The social workers involved are really implying that about 75% of the population are not fit to be parents. 4) Be more loving with more open communication, and less condemnation by surrounding relationships. 5) Gender Equality - If women were granted equal opportunities in all areas of life, they would be thought of more as individuals rather than as sex objects, therefore reducing the possibilities of their having many unwanted pregnancies. 6) Mixed Nudity - If mixed nudity were less frowned upon, curiosity about the nakedness of the woman's body would be less of a reason for males to be sexually driven toward having sex with women that could produce many unwanted pregnancies. I know in my 3 year stint at a nudest camp I noticed that after a while I never viewed anybody as being naked; I just saw them as individuals. QUESTIONS RELATING TO THE REALITY OF ABORTION 1st Internet Question: SHOULD ABORTIONS BE PERMITTED A) TO SAVE THE LIFE OF THE MOTHER, B) RAPE, C) INCEST, D) DEFORMITY OF THE FETUS, E) ECONOMIC REASONS, F) EMOTIONAL INSTABILITY, G) AFTER HAVING AN IN-DEPTH COUNSELING SESSION OR SESSIONS, OR H) NO LIMITATIONS? CHOOSE ONE OR MORE OF THE ABOVE EXCEPTIONS TO NO ABORTIONS ALLOWED. THE RESPONSES COME FROM 3 CHRISTIAN WEBSITES. 1) John says: I'm against all abortions, even to save the life of the mother because the unborn child still has no say in the decision, and the power of prayer is more decisive than a medical opinion. 2) Corbin says: I personally would only choose abortions after an in-depth counseling session or sessions to make sure that the parties involved fully understand that an abortion was not the only possible alternative for them. I'm generally not in favor of abortions, but as a paradox it seems that in leaving the option open for a woman to have an abortion, you will have fewer and safer abortions. This is because legal options give you the freedom to make a choice, and when you have this, you more often are more relaxed to make the right choice. Without legal choice, you more often become desparate and make the wrong choice. Also, as more and more unwanted babies (by their more immediate relationships) are being born, you're also paving the way for more potential future conflict being created by the unwanted, as well. 3) Jonathon says: I think Bill Clinton once said that abortion should be legal, safe, and rare, and it is the latter we need to work on - perhaps more concentration, not on trying to prevent women in choosing abortion as a legal option, but on the prevention of unwanted pregnancies. 4) Sarah says: Deciding who gets aborted and under what circumstances is playing God. I am one of those unwanted babies and so is my husband. How on earth could anyone have really known 3 decades ago that it would have been for the best to abort us. We have had AWESOME lives and contributed much to society. We are both highly educated, responsible individuals. We have both known from early childhood of our difficult beginnings, and been greatly loved by our adoptive parents. Yes, our moms had a rough 9 months carrying us and then I am sure, a difficult time in giving us up. But in exchange for those inconveniences, we have lead incredible lives. 5) James says: My cousin and his wife were expecting their second child, but tests revealed that the fetus had some severe deformities.. Most of the brain never developed, the gastro-intestinal tract was external, rather than internal, and the spine was severly deformed. The doctors assured them that the child would never live more than a month, would never be sentient, and might actually experience some pain. Also, the cost to care for such a child for even a few days would be astronomical. But rather than abort, they decided to have the baby, and everything happened just as the doctors had said. The deformities were awful, and it was obvious the baby was in pain. It died in just about a month, and cost a bundle. It was a horrible series of events to witness. I can't even imagine what the parents might have felt. In that case, I honestly would have favored an abortion. That's why I remain pro-choice. Every situation is different, and ultimately, the choice is an individual one. 6) Jennifer says: I have walked into planned parenthood clinics to get birth control/pregnancies tests, etc, and it really bothered me when you see young girls in there bragging about this being their third abortion. It angers me because this is immoral. 7) Shirley says: I'm in favor of women being allowed to choose, though I'd prefer prevention where possible. 8) Jane says: I fully support an absolute ban on all abortions for any reason. I think if Christians put their faith and trust in God, there would be no need for abortions. If a woman does find herself impregnated for any reason, however, and her life is in danger as a result, she should still lay down her life for the unborn, if necessary. "Whoever will save her life, will lose it, and whoever will lose her life, will save it". A quote from Jesus Christ. 9) David says: There is no place for an abortion in this society. 10) Grace says: What about a case where the child is already dead in the womb, or a case where you have an esoteric pregnancy where there's no chance the child will survive a birth procedure, and in both cases, it could be life threatening to the mother? 11) Frank says: I am pro-choice, not pro-abortion. We want abortions to stop just as everyone else would. But I feel I don't have the right to tell anyone else what choice they should make. 12) Joan says: Frank, that argument doesn't go very far in life. You may not think we have a choice in telling people what to do, but take into consideration that we have laws and rules everywhere we go in life. If telling someone they can't murder someone else isn't a good stance to take, I don't know what is. 13) Frank says: You're right, Vicki, but the ultimate answer is to find ways to prevent people from ever getting into a situation where they would even consider the option of having an abortion. 14) Corbin says: Sometimes I feel Pro-Choicers are more concerned with the quality of life, whereas Pro-Lifers (so-called) are more concerned with the quantity of life. A 2nd Internet question that I asked on the web sites was whether one should believe in bombing abortion clinics and/or killing abortion activists. Most suggested that two wrongs don't make a right, while one lone individual agreed with this supposition, and stated many believe in capital punishment for murderers. 3rd Internet Question: WHEN DOES LIFE BEGIN, AND WHAT IS LIFE? 1) Jim says: Life begins at conception. And that's a scientific fact. 2) Steven says: Of course, if one believes in reincarnation, than the ramifications of this question are fairly pointless. And what about belief in the immortal soul - if the soul is immortal, then this life is, again, fleeting. 3) Jonathon says: Oh WOW, you do go for the easy questions, don't you! I dont' think there is a straightforward answer to this. Life at conception is potential not actual, in the sense of being able to survive independently. 4) Sarah says: I believe life begins at conception. What animates living things. It is sustained by breathing. When a child is in the mother's womb, its life is sustained by the oxygen (obtained by her breathing) in her blood. When it is born it is sustained by its own breathing. 5) James says: On a personal level I have always considered it no earlier than that the fetus could survive outside the womb. Perhaps what worries me most about the idea of making a person a legal person is how it affects the rights of the mother as a human being. For instance , if the mother miscarries, and the fetus is legally a person, then won't every mother who miscarries have to be investigated and tried for reckless endangerment, manslaughter, or even murder. It's this nightmare that really worries me. 6) Andrew says: Someone once said "Life is nothing but a slither of light in between two immensities of darkness". But I believe that life really begins when we are able to live independently in God's creation. 7) James says: Life actually begins when God can see your substance. But life as known by the individual does not really begin until there is a consciousness of things around you and you truly begin to relate to living. THERE'S ONE WEBSITE WHICH SUGGESTS THAT ABORTION IS NOT ANTI-BIBLICAL The author suggests that Scripture should not be read out of context to prove a point, and that there is no place in the Bible that points to the fact that the fetus is a human being., only a potential human being. 1) Psalm 139:13-16 indicates that God is very much involved in our creation, but not that the fetus is actually a human being. 2) Jeremiah 1:4-10 indicates that God knew Jeremiah before he was even conceived suggesting that if you consider the fetus as a human being, it must have been a human being before conception. 3) Jeremiah 1:4-10, & Luke 1:39-41 indicates that these verses only relate to Jeremiah & John the Baptist. 4) Ecclesiastes 4:1-3 suggests it might be better to abort than to cause one to live a miserable life. 5) Numbers 3:15 A census was taken of those who were only over 1 month old indicating that fetuses were not considered human beings in Biblical times. WITH THIS LATTER INFORMATION ON BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION, WHEN DO YOU THINK THE SOUL WOULD CONNECT WITH THE BODY? WOULD IT BE WHEN THE BODY RECEIVES A CONSCIENCE? IF THIS WERE TRUE, WOULD THIS ALTAR YOUR POSITION ON SOME ABORTIONS? WHAT DO YOU THINK? The names of the commentarians, except for myself, have been changed to protect the privacy of the Internet contributors, but their comments are accurate.