With the past presidential election,
there has been much talk about abortion and whether it should be legal at
certain stages of embryonic development. We here at Children of Father God and
Mother Earth believe life is sacred, and should not be terminated at a whim or
because of lifestyle choices. That being said, we also recognize that there are
circumstances where abortion should be a viable alternative for consideration.
The 16-year-old girl who has been repeatedly raped by her step-father should
not be forced to carry and give birth to a child that has resulted from her
victimization. The woman who simply has the bad luck to live in a part of the
country where something like the Zika virus flourishes should have the option
of terminating a pregnancy when tests have shown that the fetus is brain
damaged. The women in these cases need to be able to go to a hospital, where
the equipment and resources are available in case of complications, and have
the procedure they have chosen.
However,
the procedure of abortion should never be used as a mode of contraception. The
young girl who gets knocked up in the back seat of her boyfriend’s car, the
mother of four who does not want to take the pill because it makes her fat, the
call girl who simply forgot a step with one of her customers, all of these
should not be able to get abortions simply because it is more convenient or
fits into their lifestyles better than carrying and giving birth to a child.
Organizations such as Planned Parenthood can give out all the condoms,
contraceptive pills, and educational fliers they wish, but abortions should not
be available in clinics where emergencies could not be met with the same
expertise as they would be in a regular hospital, and certainly never for free.
Scientific
testing shows that a fetus responds to stimuli with movement at six weeks of
development. This means that the fetus is a living and viable entity, even if
not conscious, six weeks after conception. Abortion after this stage is the
termination of the life of a living, sacred being, and should not be available
at a neighborhood clinic. Women should have the choice of what happens to their
bodies, but they also need to take responsibility for their actions with those
same bodies. If a woman does not want to get pregnant, she needs to abstain
from sex or, if this is not an option, insist on using a contraceptive measure.
The unborn should not have to pay the price for our lifestyle choices.
