Miscarriage. The ending of a life. Murder. All of these have been used to define the term abortion. Etymonline.com, an online etymology dictionary, reads that during the 19th century, abortion came to be used principally for intentional miscarriages. There are a plethora of reasons that women choose to terminate their pregnancy; they don't feel like they would be a good mother, they were raped, they don't want a deformed or mentally debilitated child, it's for the best, the list goes on. A hundred reasons can all be boiled down to one: the child is unwanted. Who could possibly want a handicapped child? Who could possibly want a child born from a rape?
Abortion has been around since the beginning of time, although the term for the act has only been around a few centuries. Doctors once used herbs to cause the mother to go into pre-term labor, thereby expelling the (sometimes still living) child. Now, they make sure the baby is dead before vacuuming out the inside of the woman's womb.
Abortion is one of the hot topics surrounding politics and religion today. It has become a commonplace medical, outpatient procedure, much like getting an unwanted tooth removed, and there are some that view the child just like that, an unwanted object that needs to be gotten rid of. Except, the child isn't a tooth. It's a living being. It has nerves, it develops a brain, it feels pain. It feels when it is pulled from the womb. It feels when it's died. Yet these are all points that no one wants to think about, scientific points that are largely ignored, because then it's easier to justify ending that life.
At three weeks, the tiny cells in the womb already have a gender. It's a boy or it's a girl. 3 weeks. That's even before the egg implants on the side of the uterus.
At five weeks, the tiny baby may not look like much, but it's already developing a spinal cord. It has nerves.
At week six, the heart begins beating and begins its lifelong job of pumping blood, which has already begun forming in little blood vessels. Most mothers are just finding out that they are pregnant.
In week seven, the now pumping heart forms chambers. the arms and legs develop, as well as the lungs and other assorted organs. Its brain is growing, learning, and its tiny vocal cords are formed.
At eight weeks, the child begins moving, moving its arms, its legs, everything. It has teeth underneath its gums and a mouth and a nose. It's a baby.
By week nine, the heart is completely formed. The child has fingers, toes, and plays with each. It plays, it explores. It learns.
In week ten, hair begins to form. The childs distinct identity is already apparent in the appearance of fingerprints.
By eleven weeks, the child is sticking out its tongue, tasting the embryonic fluid with its newly formed tastebuds, swallowing. Its brain is still developing, making over 250,000 neurons a minute. The cartilage giving it shape is turning to bone.
By twelve weeks, its brain is fully formed. It has fingernails, toenails, and is learning by the minute. It uses its legs to push against the womb, it plays, it explores.
The vast majority of abortions occur between six and twelve weeks. When does life begin? Scientists say at six weeks, when the heart begins to beat, yet at three weeks, the sex of the infant is already determined. It's a boy or it's a girl. How is that not life? Because it doesn't breathe? Plants don't breathe, starfish don't breath, yet both of these things are protected.
205 million women become pregnant each year. Over a third of that number is unintended pregnancy. A fifth of the 205 million (approximately 41 million) end in abortion. Abortions account for approximately 70,000 maternal deaths each year, and five million women end up crippled from the procedure.
The lack of education on abortion is astounding. Women are able to walk into clinics simply saying they need an abortion and have it done. Some clinics, because of privacy laws, don't even require the mother to be of legal age. They aren't educated about the results of the abortion, they aren't told that there are alternatives, they simply aren't informed. What a difference it would make if women were better informed about what is happening inside of them. What a difference it would make if they could see the tiny creature they are bearing.
Educate. Inform. Learn.
Don't judge. Don't hate.
Love.
