The Case Against Abortion

• Used with permission from an author who wishes to remain anonymous.

  
  

  "I wrote the following from my personal experience. I think it captures all that I felt back then, and still feel today".
  
  Missing You Already ©
  
  We never got to see,
  Your smile break the morning sleep or
  the sound of your cry
  Announcing your arrival.
  
  The sounds of little feet
  when you’d learn to walk,
  and the gargle of commentary
  that you’d consider to be talk.
  
  The cry for help when you
  first hurt yourself,
  and your tears, as we’d leave
  you at the school gate.
  
  The pains that you’d endure
  as your heart gets broken,
  the pride we’d feel
  when you’d graduate.
  
  The happiness of seeing
  your wedding day,
  And the birth of your first child.
  
  We never got to see you
  for long at all.
  Yet, the breaking of our
  Hearts is so intense.
  
  The tears we cry
  fall not from memories of past,
  But from thoughts of
  what could have been.
  
  But what hurts the most,
  is that we never had
  the chance, just to say
  We love you.
  

  
  

  For anyone wishing to learn about the impact of abortion on men, the Real Choices Australia conference will be held in Melbourne in May 2012. Click here for more information

By Nicole Watson - Used with permission.

Yesterday I was checking the Sam's Heart website, and as I did I listened to the interview I had done with 89.9Light Fm.  Sam was having morning tea at a small table next to me as I worked and listened.  In the beginning of the interview I am asked by the radio broadcator what the options were for Sam's treatment after diagnosis of his heart condition.  I proceed to give the three options that were given to us, termination, palliative care and surgery.  After the interview had finished Sam stood up and walked over to me and put his hand on my leg.

I sit there in silence.  A million thoughts race through my head but one was most clear. 

I would love to have put a professional medical practitioner in my place just now, so that my son can lay a hand on their leg and tell them.

You wanted to die me.

I wonder if it would make a difference to the need for this abhorrent 'choice' in pregnancy.  I wonder if those poor parents that lost their babies this week would have gone along with the advice they were given, if they could spend a day with my son, and take a few steps in our shoes.  I don't pretend to know the circumstance surrounding the loss of two little lives this week.  I pray for their everyone involved, that they would receive mercy from God, and that they would know his forgiveness.  Read the story here.

What I do know is that it makes me even more passionate to reach who ever I can and tell them that there is always hope, God keeps his promises, and every life is precious no matter how long it is lived.

Ruth Lamperd's article, 'The best doctors are only human', has been welcomed by pro life advocates who remain concerned that our society has only expressed outrage at the loss of one of the twin boys aborted two weeks ago today. It has become obvious that the outrage is because of a  "bungled abortion", that claimed the life of the "wrong baby". 

But what about the other baby boy - the "unhealthy twin"?

In her article, Ms Lamperd describes a contrasting outcome for a boy called Kush, who also had a serious diagnosis similar to that of the "unhealthy twin": "At 19 weeks gestation, medics discovered he had a serious congenital heart defect. They recommended termination because of the likelihood he would die early and painfully. But his parents would not consider abortion. When he was born prematurely at under 2kg they had no expectations. One minute? One day? One week? One month? A year was even too much to expect, even if they hoped".

The article says that "Kush will join classmates at a graduation dinner celebrating the end of his primary school years" and that "Last year, he qualified for his school's cross-country competition and he plays cricket every weekend. He's a kid who was never expected to live long enough to even start primary school, let alone finish it. This little chap functions on only three heart chambers. He's cheeky and smart and he has a mile-wide smile".

How is it possible to know what the possibilities may have been for babies lost to abortion - for our "unhealthy twin", who are simply not given any chance at life? There has developed a "cruel to be kind" mentality in our society that is fast removing any chance that these babies have to 'beat the odds'. And we can all tell a story of someone we know who has!   

Ms Lamperd closes by saying "You can't help notice the wildly contradictory ideas on what constitutes viable human life. Or human life full stop. People like Kush and his parents are in no doubt."

NB. According to the Victorian Health Department's Report - Infant Mortality and Morbidity, over half of the babies aborted late term in Victoria are performed on perfectly healthy babies - so the loss of "the healthy twin" is no different to what happens 'every other day' in Victoria.

Related article here.

 

Life Network Australia maintains that babies, women and families deserve "Better than abortion" (Feminists for Life).

The Age (Oct 23, 2011) have described how a late term abortion procedure almost claimed the life of Ms Pheap Sem: "Still unconscious, without pain relief or oxygen, with clear signs that her liver was not producing the proteins that would enable her blood to clot, and without any of her family or friends nearby, she underwent the abortion. Shortly afterwards, at 10.39am, clinic staff called an ambulance. But even then they only called for a ''Code 2'' pick-up - meaning ''not time critical'', so no lights and sirens". 

"Dr Schulberg had aborted Ms Sem's 23-week-old foetus, without anaesthetic, even though she was dangerously ill, unconscious and had no family present".

Read more here...

The Age states that "Single and unemployed, she (Ms Sem) felt she could not support a fifth child in her tiny two-bedroom flat".  In reading about her situation, another of FFL's catch phrases comes to mind.. that "Abortion is a reflection that the needs of women are not being met". Her situation and decision to abort also supports international research that reveals that the majority of women who undergo abortions feel they have no "choice". 

Sadly, the death of Ms Sem's 23 week old baby does not warrant even a mention in this article. It is wonderful that Ms Sem has miraculously survived this abortion procedure.

The Age reported that the doctor who performed the abortion of Ms Sem's baby has been under scrutiny before:  "In 2009, Dr Schulberg was found guilty in VCAT of serious unprofessional conduct for failing to obtain proper consent to perform an abortion on an intellectually disabled woman who was raped by her father". 

PS: Life Network Australia is interested to know if, given the change in Victorian abortion legislation, the previous case against Dr Schulberg would be possible today - given that parental consent is no longer required.   

 Melissa Ohden has announced that her family welcome a new little member, due to be born next year.

Thirty four years ago, Melissa's mother underwent a saline infusion abortion during her fifth month of pregnancy with Melissa. When Melissa was delivered, she was put aside - the medical staff believing she was dead, while they tended to her mother. When Melissa began to make small grunting noises and movements, medical staff stepped in to provide her with life saving treatment. Melissa has become a "voice for the voiceless" - for so many babies who are aborted each and every day and for their mothers and families impacted by abortion.

On Melissa's website there is a quote: "One decision, one single moment, can have such a detrimental impact on so many people, living and dead, born and yet to be conceived." In Melissa's talks, while touring Australia, she became emotional at times, describing the pain of knowing that if the abortion attempt on her life had been "successful", her beloved daughter Olivia would never have been born. Their new addition adds an even greater awareness of the long reaching impact of abortion on families and generations to come

 Melissa said that "As mothers, we instinctively concern ourselves with our children’s safety and well-being, whether they are playing in the yard or growing in our womb.  I will stay on guard for both of my children all of my life, regardless of their location."

 

 

My journey through abortion
Used with permission

When I was around the age of 19, my girlfriend came to me one day and told me we were going to have a baby. We had been together for a couple of years and this was a topic we had discussed more than once, should something like this happen.

Sophie refused to tell anyone, especially her parents at that stage, which made things very difficult. I finally convinced her we needed to see a doctor and we went to my doctor to confirm the pregnancy and ensure Sophie was ok. I’m a bit hazy on whose idea it was, whether it was my Dr’s or ours but we ended up at the local hospital being assessed by a social worker.

After many lengthy interviews, both together and separately we were seen as a young couple that could successfully raise a child. And we were ok with that. Due to the social worker’s decision, it was not an option for Sophie to have a legal abortion, from the hospital’s criteria. This was one of the options discussed in the interviews.  I believed at the time we could make this work for our child, even if we didn’t live as a couple.

I finally convinced Sophie we must tell her parents.  I asked her Mum to come on a walk with me and we got no more than 20 yards from the house and she turned and looked at me and asked how far on Sophie was. She’d known all along. This was at the 3month mark.

It was out in the open. I was sure I was going to get dragged out the back of the woodshed, but instead Sophie’s father informed me they were worried Sophie would destroy my life. That was definitely not what I was expecting, nor did I agree with it.

After 27 years some of the exact sequence is lost but somewhere around this time a third party became involved, a woman and her husband .

The next thing I was being informed that Sophie was being taken to Auckland by this third party to the only illegal abortion clinic in NZ at the time. I don’t remember being referred to in the process, it just happened –Sophie and our baby were gone.

Sophie returned a few days later, I went to see her, we just sat, what could you say? I was numb. We stayed together as a couple, as I wanted to be there for her as best I could but the strain grew too much between us and we began to push each other away and tear each other apart..

During this time I had to do something with all the feelings churning inside and I had no one to talk to about it. I was suppressing it all. Who does a young guy talk to about this kind of situation? Talk to the wrong group of friends and you get told you were lucky – you’ve got a second chance at life – that’s not how I saw it at all. I was concerned what the trauma of the situation would do to my own immediate family so I just buried it deeper. I would only really speak of it when I was drunk or under the influence of other substances and with people I felt safe with.

At that time I was a keen outdoorsman so I went to a picturesque lake I knew and had spent many happy hours at. It was and still is a special place. I paddled to the most remote section of the lake and on a small hill I made a little grave and placed a simple cross for our daughter. Since becoming a Christian some 22 years ago and becoming aware of the grace of God, I’ve given my daughter the name Jasmine.

Eventually we ended our relationship. I moved 1000km away and began a new life. I returned to my old town about a year later for a family occasion and as I walked down the street and rounded a corner I walked straight into Sophie. She was heavily pregnant.

We just stopped and stared at each other. We didn’t say a word. Slowly we moved off still staring at each other. I’ve since learnt that often after an abortion a woman may experience a tremendous need to have another child

I later found out Sophie gave that child to her sister to raise.

Approximately 18months later I received a phone call very late one night. It was my Mum. Sophie had taken her life.

There is a road I can drive down whenever I return to that area, and from it I can see Jasmine’s lake and hill.  The entire area has since been set aside as a wildlife sanctuary not to be disturbed.

I’ve only just started to tell my story and it stirs up a myriad of feelings. Some of the strongest ones are the anger, frustration and sheer grief that I didn’t want anyone to die and I couldn’t protect either of them. Also I wasn’t permitted to be with Sophie when she was in one of her darkest moments in her life. Other times I stop and wonder what Jasmine would be like if she were here now.

My hope is that in time more men will speak up about their experiences and through that, change will occur. Ultimately, greater support will be provided, and there will be a deeper understanding of how men feel and cope with the experience of abortion - which, by the way, we don’t do very well. Personally I believe, suppressed grief from abortion could well contribute to many of the health issues men face and don’t deal with. We’re very good at self-medicating.

The pain doesn’t go away as such but I’ve learnt to live with it and embrace it and move forward with it through the Cross of Jesus. It’s in that place where He can touch my heart, take my pain and grief; and in turn enable me to move on by His Grace.

There are many different seasons with grief, and it is important to be gentle on yourself in working through it. The guilt and shame have been the most difficult to deal with. Sharing my story firstly in a safe environment was such a tremendous help in overcoming the shame. I’d encourage any male struggling to email Open Doors or a likeminded support group and take that bold step. In that place, healing will begin to flow.

I’d like to thank my beautiful wife and our five children, without their support and encouragement I wouldn’t be standing before you. I’ve only just begun the next part of my journey through abortion.

 

Used with permission.
www.silentnomore.org 
  
Raped. His strong arms gripping tightly around my neck, strangling me, choking me, left me gasping for breath. I realized death was imminent, so in a split second I chose to let him have his way with my body, so that I could stay alive. Afterwards, I clutched my coat tightly against me, so no one would see my ripped clothing underneath....

Although my body started to change, needing larger clothes, I believed I was not pregnant, as the intital pregnancy test came up negative (not enough hormones yet). But after a 6-week roadshow, a visit to my family doctor informed me I was pregnant. "Oh no!" Shock, disbelief, fear and turmoil gripped me. London advised me to go a clinic halfway north in England for an abortion, mentioning that it had to be done quickly, as it was on the verge of the time it was allowed to be done legally....Numb, and only focusing on all the fears, I went ahead….

My abortion took place in a cold, sinister old mansion. I felt very uncomfortable waiting in the hall with black-white checkered tiles, watching the minutes on the clock tick by. It was as if death hung as a cloud in the air above me. I did my best to stuff my emotions, signed a paper, received my number, and joined some eight women lying on beds in a room, waiting a long time after inserting something and changing into an operation garment that was to remain open. As they spoke of their pregnancies, morning sickness, and why they were killing their babies, I began to think. In the lift later, when I was going upstairs, I placed a hand over my tummy, finally realizing I had a child inside of me, and said, "I'm a mother.. I have a baby inside of me!" The nurse accompanying me reassured me, saying, "It's ok - other women have that thought too at the last minute - you’re doing the right thing," after which the doors opened, and I walked into a brightly lit operating room, where I was told to lie down, and place my legs up high in the stirrups. But I felt terrible and vulnerable due to the privacy, and even more so as the abortionist became very angry and agitated when the nurse discussed something with him, and he started to yell at me, saying I had already signed a consent form, hadn´t I? And that I was holding up the flow of things. He roughly grabbed my arms, which they strapped down, and forced a needle into my arm.....after which I don´t remember much....I passed out...

When I came to, I was loudly told to stand. In agony I gripped my tummy with one hand, doubled with pain, while with the other I fumbled my way along the dark corridor wall, back to my bed in the other room. The other women were now silent and groaning with pain. My stomach felt as if every inch had been scraped open with a sharp razor blade. We were left alone... and after a long time.. I believe the next day... I was allowed to go home, but the pain was unbearable. They offered a wheelchair, but I grit my teeth, saying to myself, "I wanted this, so grin and bear it." I bled profusely on the drive home, having to stop every now and then, dizzy, and was in absolute agony. The bleeding lasted half a year.

Looking back, I regret my abortion, and the morning after pills I took. If I had realized then, what I now know, I would never have been able to ask to have my baby killed. I came to this awareness after seeing videos of an abortion, seeing a 12-week-old baby react to the instruments inside the womb, and seeing the awful pictures of these little humans, where we pull off their arms, break their legs and pull them off, squash their skull, suction out (parts of their) bodies, brains, decapitate them, etc. How can we look at these pictures, with intestines, ribs, brains, heart, backbone etc, and not call them a human being? Life starts at conception – all the genes, and sex are in the first cell, hair color, skin color, etc., which keeps on expanding to 2, 4, 8, 16 cells etc., on until adolescence, when our children are fully grown.

I had immense guilt and remorse, after realizing what I had done. I also cut myself off from my emotions, as the guilt was too much to bear, causing problems in relationships later. Later I read that women like me, who abort after sexual abuse (=less that 1% of all abortions) that 80% of us regret our abortions. Whereas of the 70% who chose to let their baby live, none had regrets... I wish I hadn’t killed her...

Every Mother’s Day afterwards, I had to stand still at the fact that I was a mother, even though I had no living child - mother of a dead baby, through my own doing. Emotional trauma. I carried this in silence, not talking about it. I froze when shortly afterwards someone placed their little baby in my arms - who was I to still hold a baby after killing mine? I joined the statistics of having a miscarriage later. And also had placenta previa in a later pregnancy. I learned that scar tissue from the abortion can cause problems in later pregnancies, and premature births from the damage of the abortion, along with 50% more chance of breast cancer if you don't carry your first baby to full term, but abruptly stop the milk production process developing by aborting. When my daughter was born later via c-section, my arms were strapped again, just like during the abortion, and all the fear and anxiety came flooding back, at what should have been just a joyous moment. I also find it heart-wrenching to not be able to say to my oldest living child, that she is my first born. And when one day she came home from school, asking if I had ever lost a baby, I was stuck for words - how do you tell a little girl that you ordered her (half-) sister to be killed? How emotionally traumatic for the family of the woman who chose to kill. How unsafe the brother/sister feel... Why them, and not me?

When I was around 35, I found out that I, myself, was conceived in (marital) rape. My whole family had known all along, except for me. My father was totally drunk at the time, and had violently slapped my mother all around the room, after which he threw her on the bed, and raped her at force. Domestic violence. I was conceived. When I had been growing in her womb about six months, she got on her bike, having premeditated to throw both her and me in front of a train at the railroad tracks a few miles near home. She went there, and stood at the side of the rails… But just as the train was approaching, she couldn't go through with it. I am so grateful she didn't!!

Life is not about how we were conceived, or our upbringing… But about what we make of it. There is healing, and I am so glad my mother didn't have me killed, when she had the chance. Pro-choice people would now say I should have been murdered in the womb. I am so glad though that she gave birth to me, and raised me, despite how I was conceived, and that I am alive and able to now do something for humanity. My value and right to life does not depend on how I was conceived! Even after rape!

And yet… What did I do when I found out I myself was carrying a child following rape myself?

I have had to come to terms with what I, myself did. I chose to have someone paid to kill my innocent baby. There was a father (the rapist), a mother (me) and a baby. But I hired a murderer (the abortionist) to kill my innocent baby. I stuffed it away as much as I could for 25 years, but like psychology says, eventually the cesspool of life needs to be opened, and we need to become honest about things we have done in our life.

I have named my babies, made a grave for them at the cemetry, and I have found healing with YHWH (God), and His son Yahshua (Jesus), whereby I am now able to testify of what I have done, and the effects.it has brought me, my family and loved ones - physically, emotionally and spiritually. I deeply regret having put my innocent little baby through such torture and painful mutilation, letting it be cut up into pieces while still alive with a beating heart. Killing an innocent baby is never right, even after rape. "Two wrongs don’t make a right." The father harmed me, but I harmed the baby. The baby didn't do anything wrong. The baby is a third person. I could have grown to love it, or have it adopted in a loving family. A baby should not carry the burden of the sin of the parent and be killed for it. In law, if a man kills a pregnant woman, he is punished for the death of two people. What are we doing killing our own children?

I wish people would have told me about the beautiful development of my little one (= foetus in Latin). That before we, as mothers even know we are pregnant, four days missed cycle, that the baby already has a beating heart at 18-21 days. That at 18 days their brains start developing, at 20 days with mid-, fore- and hindbrain, and that their brainwaves can be measured at 40 days. That they are sensitive to touch, heat, light, and noise. Pain receptors begin to grow with 4-5 weeks. At 6 weeks they respond to touch. They have their own DNA, sex, blood type, and fingerprint, making them unique individuals. Beautiful little hands and feet, ribs, mouth, tongue.

Sometimes the baby doesn’t die straight away when the killing starts, and the arms and legs are pulled off.. an abortionist has testified that the babies heart then still throbs sometimes. Or that they are still alive as they are suctioned out, going through the tube, to die later in the jar. These are human beings, who are not brain-dead, or without feeling……
 
If a woman is pregnant, she needs support, not abortion.

Many of us (64%) are coerced into abortion (by boyfriend, mother, father, school teacher, doctor, nurse, girlfriend, social worker) whereby we can feel regret and shame and guilt later, when we fully realize the full extent of what we have done. A baby says, "Let me live. Take my hand, instead of my life. Love me, instead of kill me."  The abortion kills a beating heart. With embryo-selection for diseases, we are saying to brothers/sisters, "You are only wanted and loved, because you don’t have a handicap." To the handicapped people, we are actually saying, "You are only tolerated because the technology wasn't there to eliminate you when you were an embryo." Genocide inside our laboratories. Remember: God loves you, but also your baby.

With abortion, one heart stops beating, but another heart breaks. We either become numb, like I did at first, or the remorse and guilt and shame hovers over us, until we come clean, and find healing. Like Mother Theresa said, "Abortion is the death of two: the baby, and the mother’s conscience." Please don’t kill your baby. Your baby needs to be allowed to live...find someone to help you...

If you would like to contact me, either for speaking engagements, or help if you are struggling, please contact me : info@abortioninformation.eu

Irene van de Wende.

 
 

Congratulations to 60 Minutes for their story about teenage mums and their babies, aired in April (in case you missed it!).  Karl Stefanovic was positive about the 'gutsy' young ladies making enormous progress in education and in raising their babies. 
The story describes the criticism these young mums endure and makes it clear that while teenage pregnancy is a challenge, it is most definitely not the end of the world - despite what parents, friends, boyfriends and society may say.
 
The Burnside High School is featured in the story, showing the fabulous support and alternative education that is assisting these young mums to thrive. 
Bernadette Black (from 'The Brave Foundation') also appears, with her family. Having been a teen Mum, she went on to write 'Brave Little Bear' and become a nurse. She later received the award for 'Barnados Mother of the Year'. 

Story contacts (from the 60 MInutes website):

"For more information on the Burnside High School program for teenage mums - STEMM (Supporting Teenagers with Education Mothering and Mentoring): www.stemm.com.au

Bernadette Black (former Barnardos Mother of the Year) : www.bravefoundation.org.au "

 Rebecca Kiessling is an international pro-life speaker from the U.S, an attorney, a wife and mother of five. Her life story is inspiring - having been conceived in rape, she has made it her mission to change the negative stereotypes and expectations surrounding pregnancies by rape and to advocate for lives like hers that are often aborted.
"I do hope that, as a child conceived in rape, I can help to put a face, a voice, and a story to this issue" - Rebecca Kiessling.

The following article has been used with permission.

We've all heard someone say "I'm pro-life, well, except in cases of rape . . ." or "I'm pro-choice, especially in cases of rape !"

Have you ever considered how really insulting it is to say to someone, "I think your  mother should have been able to abort you."?  It's like saying, "If I had my way, you'd be dead right now."  And that is the reality with which I live every time someone says they are pro-choice or pro-life "except in cases of rape" because I absolutely would have been aborted if it had been legal in Michigan when I
was an  unborn child, and I can tell you that it hurts. 
But I know that most people don't put  a face to this issue -- for them abortion is just a concept -- with a quick cliche, they  sweep it under the rug and forget about it. 

I was adopted nearly from birth.  At 18, I learned that I was conceived out of a brutal rape at knife-point by a serial rapist.  Like most people, I'd never considered that abortion applied to my life, but once I received this information, all of a sudden I realized that, not only does it apply to my life, but it has to do with my very existence.  It was as if I could hear the echoes of all those people who, with the most sympathetic of tones, would say, “Well, except in cases of rape. . .  ," or who would rather fervently exclaim in disgust: “Especially is cases of rape!!!”  All these people are out there who don’t even know me, but are standing in judgment of my life, so quick to dismiss it just because of how I was conceived.  I felt like I was now going to have to justify my own existence, that I would have to prove myself to the world that I shouldn’t have been aborted and that I was worthy of living.  I also remember feeling like garbage because of people who would say that my life was like garbage -- that I was disposable.

I've often experienced those who would confront me and try to dismiss me with quick quips like, “Oh well, you were lucky!” Be sure that my survival has nothing to do with luck.  The fact that I’m alive today has to do with choices that were made by our society at large, people who fought to ensure abortion was illegal in Michigan at the time – even in cases of rape, people who argued to protect my life, and people who voted pro-life.  I wasn’t lucky.  I was protected.  And would you
really rationalize that our brothers and sisters who are being aborted every day are just somehow "unlucky"?!!

Although my birthmother was thrilled to meet me, she did tell me that she actually went to two back-alley abortionists and I was almost aborted.  After the rape, the police referred her to a counselor who basically told her that abortion was the thing to do.  She said there were no crisis pregnancy centers back then, but my birthmother assured me that if there had been, she would have gone if at least for a little more guidance.  The rape counselor is the one who set her up with the back-alley abortionists.  For the first, she said it was the typical back-alley conditions that you hear about as to why "she should have been able to safely and legally abort" me -- blood and dirt all over the table and floor.  Those back-alley conditions and the fact that it was illegal caused her to back out, as with most women. 

Then she got hooked up with a more expensive abortionist.  This time she was to meet someone at night by the Detroit Institute of Arts.  Someone would approach her, say her name, blindfold her, put her in the backseat of a car, take her and then abort me . . . , then blindfold her again and drop her back off.  And do you know what I think is so pathetic?  It’s that I know there are an awful lot of people out there who would hear me describe those conditions and their response would just be a pitiful shake of the head in disgust:  “It’s just so awful that your birthmother should have had to have gone through that in order to have been able to abort you!”  Like that’s compassionate?!!  I fully realize that they think they are being compassionate, but that’s pretty cold-hearted from
where I stand, don’t you think?  That is my life that they are so callously talking about and there is nothing compassionate about that position.  My birthmother is okay – her life went on and in fact, she's doing great, but my life would have been ended.  I may not look the same as I did when I was four years old or four days old yet unborn in my mother’s womb, but that was still undeniably me and I would have been killed through a brutal abortion.

The nasty disposition and foul mouth of this second back-alley abortionist, along with a fear for her own safety, caused her to back out.  When she told him by phone that she wasn't interested in this risky arrangement, this abortion doctor insulted her and called her names.  To her surprise, he called again the next day to try to talk her into aborting me once again, and again she declined and was hurled insults.  So that was it -- after that she just couldn’t go through with it.  My birthmother was then heading into her second trimester – far more dangerous, far more expensive to have me 
aborted.

In law school, I’d also have classmates say things to me like, “Oh well!  If you’d been aborted, you wouldn’t be here today, and you wouldn’t know the difference anyway, so what does it matter?”  Believe it or not, some of the top pro-abortion philosophers use that same kind of argument:  “The fetus never knows what hits him, so there’s no such fetus to miss his life.”    And if a baby is aborted, and no one else is around to know about it, does it matter?  The answer is, “YES!  Their lives matter.  My life matters.  Your life matters and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!

According to the research of Dr. David Reardon, director of the Elliot Institute, co-editor of the book Victims and Victors:  Speaking Out About Their Pregnancies, Abortions and Children Resulting From Sexual Assault, and author of the article "Rape, Incest and Abortion:  Searching Beyond the Myths," most women who become pregnant out of sexual assault do not want an abortion and are in fact worse-off after an abortion.  http://www.afterabortion.org. 
So most people's position on abortion in cases of rape is based upon faulty premises:  1) the rape victim would want an abortion, 2) she'd be better off with an abortion and 3) that child's life just isn't worth having to put her through the pregnancy. 

I hope that my story, and those following, will be able to help dispel that last myth.

For Life,
Rebecca
rebecca@rebeccakiessling.com

Rebecca's website has footage from three women who were raped and who defied pressure from society to abort their babies. Their stories are both beautiful and powerful - well worth watching.  http://rebeccakiessling.com/PregnantByRape.html

Bill Saunders (Life News. com) has written a great article on the important need for perinatal hospice for families and their sick or terminal unborn babies.
He comments that around only 20% of babies such as these are born, but with care, "families are given the gift of time to truly cherish the life of the child and allow him or her to be a part of their family, even if it is for a short time".

He also says that "These parents are often pressured to make the decision quickly in light of the complications surrounding late term abortions. Yet the statistics show that parents who choose abortion because of a prenatal diagnosis have great regret. The intensity of their grief is so great that it can cause psychological harm. This doesn’t have to be the case; perinatal hospice is a nurturing option for both the child and the family. When given the option, eighty percent of these parents choose perinatal. These programs support the family emotionally and give them the tools to say good bye to their baby".
 
 'Defiant Birth' by Melinda Tankard-Reist, is a compilation of beautiful accounts from numerous families and couples who defied (often intense) medical pressure to abort. These families instead chose to take the important opportunity to hold their precious babies and to grieve their sickness, disability or loss. While heartwrenching, these stories demonstrate the crucial need for excellent perinatal hospice as a positive option for families. Parents, families and babies deserve the best of care and support.