OUR STANCE ON TODAY'S ISSUES - Abortion

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.