The Case Against Abortion

In recent facebook discussions, I have been surprised by the number of people who argue that "unwanted babies (in the womb) become abused/neglected children." There is just no evidence to support this. In fact, research shows that  "Compared to women with no history of induced abortion, those with one prior abortion were found to have a 144% increased risk of engaging in child maltreatment."

While this claim is incorrect, there are pro life advocates who do have histories of abuse. One such person is Bob Brewer.

Read Bob's story here.

I am a 22 year old male from NSW. My parents were unmarried when they conceived me, they were extremely poor and essentially unable to look after me. Virtually uneducated, my dad was officially a truck driver, but received very little income, and was also partly disabled. They had many other problems but had me (and over the next few years, my brother and sister).

When I was born, I had a blood condition known as anaemia, I was in hospital for some time because of this.

After my sister was born, they split up, so my mum then became a single mother.

After numerous complaints to the NSW Dept Community Services we were removed from the care of mum when I was about 4 years of age - this was in my best interest. I was officially in foster care until I was 18 (though I'd been living on my own with support from DOCS from 16 y.o.).

My time in foster care was not overly pretty. I moved between 14 "families" in as many years, I was transferred to many schools, I was sexually abused when I was 10 years old and was bullied for most of my life (there were many other things that occurred as well).

Despite all the issues I faced and overcame growing up, I still feel very blessed that my parents at least gave me a chance at life. I have a world of opportunities available to me for the future, many of which I am working on achieving. I have some very amazing friends, who help me through a lot of issues that I still face today, but I do not regret being alive for a single day.

Because of my own life, the lives of my siblings, and the lives of many other people I've seen, who have overcome some extraordinary challenges during their lives, I am 100% pro-life. I do not believe that there is any justification for abortion. Every single child, no matter how bad their situation seems, has the ability to have a very fulfilling life, and it is not our decision to make, as to whether a child should live or die.

By Debbie Garratt, Real Choices Australia - Used with permission.

This week we watched in horror as the story of the tragic death of two baby boys at the royal women's hospital  unfolded.  We are rightly horrified.  A healthy, viable, loved baby has been deliberately killed and the parents and other family members will have to live with the loss and grief for the rest of their lives.  It is a tragedy. 

One aspect of this story that will not make the news is that had the 'correct' baby been terminated he would have been simply a number in the 2011 Perinatal Morbidity Statistics.  We wouldn't have heard about him or his family. 

Is it because the baby was healthy that we are outraged and it made the news headlines? No, it can't be that because every year healthy babies are aborted after 23 weeks of pregnancy.  The Perinatal Morbidity Statistics reveal that of 328 late term abortions in 2008, 178 of them were performed on healthy babies whose mothers were experiencing psychosocial problems.  So it isn't that the baby was healthy that we are outraged, otherwise we would be outraged for all of these babies and their mothers.

Is it that the baby was apparently 'wanted' then?  Perhaps not, as research tells us that more than 70% of women having abortions do so feeling as though they have no other choice.  This suggests that if the women were provided social and emotionally supportive alternatives they would have continued their pregnancies.   It wasn't their babies that were unwanted, but the circumstances they found themselves in. 

Perhaps it is that the tragedy of abortion on the lives of babies, women and families has become so great that we don't really want to believe it when we hear it.  When something like this situation occurs it's a collective and cumulative outrage for all mothers and babies that we express.   We should be outraged with a society that continues to allow women to be told that their medically determined 'less than perfect' children are better off not being born or that their social problems are best 'fixed' by the termination of their child.  

The messages we send women and girls about their 'right' to pregnancy and motherhood are outrageous.  Teen mums in Wagga Wagga have been told this month that they must choose between their children and an education,  that abortion would have been a 'better' choice for them.  Instead of looking for ways to support young mums to build a positive future full of opportunities, local services fuss about the lack of surgical termination options available locally.  

Instead of getting the support and encouragement to embrace and love their 'less than perfect' child, even if he only lived a short while, a couple have now lost both their children.  

We should be outraged, but let's be outraged on behalf of every mother not offered what she needs to be able to hold her baby in her arms rather than an ache in her heart for the rest of her life.





Executive Director


Real Choices Australia

Australian Christian Churches are running an advertising campaign on WIN Television to highlight that both women and babies are casualties of abortion. 
The ads show a link to a website 'Hope for Women' where women suffering from abortion can seek help.
View ads on their website here.