Reasons Not to Have an Abortion

 

Are you pregnant now and considering an abortion? What is the first thing you should do?

Here are the main considerations which you must weigh first before making such a life-impacting decision as having an abortion:

 

1) Abortion ends the life of a small human being. This is a scientific fact. From the earliest time you even qualify to have an abortion (approximately 8 weeks), your baby has already started thumb sucking (7 weeks), has a recognizable face (6 weeks), and a body with arms, legs, a head, and all necessary internal organs including a beating heart and brainwaves. You are not carrying a blob of tissue but a real, live human being, who in all probability has many of your physical and personal characteristics. Your body is specifically designed to carry a baby, and where your baby is - inside your womb - is where it belongs. Your baby is in the right place and needs your nurturing and protection!

 

"I want the general public to know what the doctors know- that this is a person, this is a baby. That this is not some kind of blob of tissue." (Former abortionist Dr. Anthony Levantino)

"There are weary, grim moments when I think I cannot bear another basin of bloody remains, utter another kind phrase of reassurance ... 'How can you stand it?' even the clients ask. They see the machine, the strange instruments, the blood, the final strike that wipes away the promise of pregnancy. Sometimes I see that too. I watch a woman's swollen abdomen sink to softness in a few stuttering moments and my own belly flip-flops with sorrow." (Sallie Tisdale, Clinic Nurse)

 

2) You've never had the taking of another human life on your conscience before. So don't start now. Take a moment to imagine what it must feel like to know you killed another human being. And to go through the rest of your life pretending nothing happened. Once you have an abortion and take a human life, there is no going back. So don't go there.

 

"And then to see, to be with somebody while they're having the injection when they're twenty or twenty-four weeks, and you see the baby moving around, kicking around, as this needle goes into the stomach, you know."  (Susan Lindstrom, M.S.W.)

 

“(I watched women)…who had just had an abortion… lie in the recovery room and cry, ‘I’ve just killed my baby.  I’ve just killed my baby.’  I don’t know what to say to these women.  Part of me thinks, ‘Maybe they’re right.’” (Diane Gianelli, “Abortion Providers Share Inner Conflicts”, American Medical News, 7/12/93)

 

3) Abortion clinics will not tell you the truth about abortion. Expecting to get the truth about abortions from an abortion clinic, is like expecting to get the truth about cigarette smoking...from a tobacco company. Abortion clinics need to perform abortions if they want to stay in business. It makes no sense to expect objective and truthful answers from anyone who profits handsomely from the issue at hand, does it? Of course not, so learn from other women who believed the lies, had abortions, and gave their own testimonies about their ordeal.

 

ABORTION METHODS

 

What types of abortion are most commonly used?

Various abortion techniques are used depending on the unborn child's age and size.  We must keep in mind that by the time a woman has missed her menstrual period and suspects she is pregnant (31 days after her last menstrual period), the child already has a beating heart (22 days after her last menstrual period). 

 

Furthermore, most abortions are performed after 8 weeks since the baby is small and may be missed if performed prior to that time.  By then, the baby already has brainwaves and a recognizable face (6 weeks), thumb sucking has started (7 weeks), and all organs and body structures have developed (8 weeks).

 

Here are some methods used, how the baby dies, and the risks to the mother.  Also included are testimonies from former abortion workers:

 

1)  Suction/vacuum aspiration:  A suction tube with a sharp front edge is inserted into the womb and manipulated to cut and suction the baby's body out.  The baby is killed through traumatic injury, bleeding, and dismemberment.  The mother risks hemorrhage, perforation of her uterus, damage to the cervix, and infection due to retained body parts and placental tissue inside her uterus.

 

Former abortionist McArthur Hill M.D. said:  "I have taken the lives of innocent babies, and I have ripped them from their mother's wombs with a powerful suction machine"

 

Judy Mamou, speaking of her ongoing memories of her abortion, stated: "The sound of the suction machine haunts me to this day. I cannot vacuum a floor without thinking of my abortion."

 

2)   Dilatation and curettage (D & C):  A sharp loop-shaped razor is inserted into the womb to cut the baby's body into pieces, and the pieces removed.  The baby is killed through traumatic injury, bleeding, and dismemberment.  The mother's risk for hemorrhage, perforation of her uterus, and damage to the cervix is much greater than for suction aspiration.  She also risks infection due to retained body parts and placental tissue inside her uterus.  This type of D & C is much more traumatic to the uterus than the more routine D & C used to treat non-pregnancy situations.             

 

3)  RU-486 "abortion pill":  RU-486 contains hormones which induce abortion.  Performed between 5 to 9 weeks of gestation, it destroys the oxygen and nutrient-rich lining of the uterus which feeds the baby.  The baby dies from starvation and lack of oxygen.  Later, uterine contractions expel the dead baby.  The greatest risk to the mother is hemorrhage and infection due to retained body parts and placental tissue inside her uterus, but it has also been directly linked to heart attacks.  Long term effects are not known although an increase in miscarriages and birth defects for future pregnancies is suspected.  

 

Anne Hawkins, 36, of New York, described her experience with RU-486 as:  "…the worst experience, the most physically and emotionally painful thing, that I've ever been through. The pill (RU-486) for me was the experience of having a baby. Contractions for 10 hours, sweating, screaming, being by myself. It was emotionally scarring and physically horrible."  (Ref:  Anne Hawkins, abortion patient, “Scientists Will Gather to Discuss Safety of Abortion Pill”, New York Times, 5/11/06)

      

4)  Methotrexate:  Similar to RU-486 but in an injectable form rather than pills.  The baby dies from starvation and lack of oxygen.  Risks to the mother include hemorrhage, infection due to retained body parts and placental tissue inside her uterus, liver damage, bone marrow damage, severe anemia, and methotrexate-induced lung disease.

 

5)  Prostaglandins:  Performed during the second trimester (13 to 26 weeks of gestation), this injection into the amniotic sac produces violent labor contractions and the baby is expelled.  The baby is killed during the contractions because it is not yet of age and size to survive this process.  Risks to the mother include hemorrhage, infection due to retained body parts and placental tissue inside her uterus, cardiac arrest, and rupture of the uterus.  

 

"I was for abortion, I thought it was a woman's right to terminate pregnancy she did not want. Now I'm not so sure. I am a student nurse nearing the end of my OB-GYN rotation at a major metropolitan hospital and teaching center. It wasn't until I saw what abortion really involves that I changed my mind. After the first week in the abortion clinic several people in my clinical group were shaky about their previously positive feelings about abortion. This new attitude resulted from our actually seeing a Prostaglandin abortion, one similar in nature to the widely used saline abortion. . . this method is being used for terminations of pregnancies of sixteen weeks and over. I used to find rationales. The fetus isn't real. Abdomens aren't really very swollen. It isn't 'alive.' No more excuses...I am a member of the health profession and members of my class are now ambivalent about abortion. I now know a great deal more about what is involved in the issue. Women should perceive fully what abortion is; how destructive an act it is both for themselves and their unborn child. Whatever psychological coping mechanisms are employed during the process, the sight of a fetus in a hospital bedpan remains the final statement."  (Quoted in "The Zero People: Essays on Life" by Jeff Lane Hensley, 1983).

 

6)  Saline abortion:  Also performed during the second trimester, a needle is inserted through the mother’s abdomen.  Amniotic fluid is withdrawn and replaced with a concentrated salt solution.  The baby dies when the concentrated salt solution enters the baby's lungs, burning the lungs and also the skin.  Afterwards, labor is induced and the burned and shriveled baby is expelled.  Risks to the mother include hemorrhage, infection due to retained body parts and placental tissue inside her uterus, blood clots, and seizures. 

 

"Saline abortions have to be done in the hospital because of the complications that can arise. Not that they can't arise during other times, but more so now. The saline, a salt solution, is injected into the woman's sac, and the baby starts dying a slow, violent death. The mother feels everything, and many times it is at this point when she realizes that she really has a live baby inside her, because the baby starts fighting violently, for his or her life. He's just fighting inside because he's burning."  (D. Harry, former abortion worker).
 
"I saw the pain of the babies who were born burned from the saline solution used for late-term abortions. I saw the bits of feet, bits of hands, the mangled heads and bodies of the little people. I saw pain and felt pain."  (Former abortion worker Paula Sutcliffe quoted in "Pro-Life Feminism: Different Voices" by Gail Garnier-Sweet, 1985).

 

NancyJo Mann experienced complications from infection and bleeding following her abortion which eventually led to a hysterectomy (surgical removal of her uterus).  Recalling her experience, she said:  "Beforehand, I liked myself. I had never entertained the idea of abortion.  But the minute that needle went through my abdomen, I hated it, because I knew it could not be reversed. I wanted to scream, ‘Don’t do this to me!"

 

7)  Dilatation and Evacuation (D & E):  Performed up to 24 weeks of gestation, forceps with sharp metal jaws are used to grasp parts of the unanesthetized baby's body (arms, legs, head), which are then twisted, pulled, and torn away (disarticulation). This grisly procedure continues until the child’s entire body is removed from the womb.  The skull is often crushed to facilitate removal.  The baby is killed through traumatic injury, bleeding, and dismemberment.  The gross trauma inflicted on the unborn child using this method far exceeds anything that would be done to a premature newborn at the same stage of development.  The mother risks hemorrhage, perforation of her uterus, damage to the cervix, and infection due to retained body parts and placental tissue inside her uterus.

 

Abortionist William Bendow describing a D & E:  “You are doing a destructive process…arms, legs, chests come out in the forceps. It’s not a sight for everybody.” (Ref:  “The Dreaded Complication”, Philadelphia Inquirer, 8/2/1981)

 

"One night a lady delivered and I was called to come and see her because she was 'uncontrollable.' I went into the room, and she was going to pieces; she was having a nervous breakdown, screaming and thrashing. The other patients were upset because this lady was screaming. I walked in, and here was this little saline abortion baby kicking. It had been born alive, and was kicking and moving for a little while before it finally died of those terrible burns, because the salt solution gets into the lungs and burns the lungs too. I'll tell you one thing about D& E . You never have to worry about a baby being born alive. I won't describe D & E, other than to say that, as a doctor, you are sitting there tearing, and I mean tearing- you need a lot of strength to do it- arms and legs off of babies and putting them in a stack on top of the table."  (Dr. David Brewer, Glen Ellyn, Illinois).

 

"A long curved Mayo scissors may be necessary to decapitate and dismember the fetus."
(Warren Hern, M.D., "Abortion Practice", 1984)

8)  Partial Birth Abortion:  Performed from 24 weeks up to full term, forceps with sharp metal jaws are used to reach into the uterus and grab the child's leg.  The child's body is pulled completely out of the mother except for the head, hence the term "partial birth".  The head is deliberately kept inside the mother's birth canal, technically and legally making this procedure an abortion (killing a yet-unborn child) rather than infanticide (killing an already-born child). 

 

While the baby is still alive, sharp scissors are stabbed into the back of the head and the tips of the scissors are used to make an opening into the back of the skull.  A suction catheter is inserted into the back of the skull and the baby’s brains are suctioned out, collapsing the skull and killing the child.  The collapsed head is then removed along with the rest of the child's body.  Needless to say, this is an absolutely horrifying and barbaric procedure performed on a well-developed child fully capable of surviving outside of the womb and equivalent to many normal newborns as well as premature infants who spend their first weeks of life in an incubator.  Risks to the mother include hemorrhage,  perforation of her uterus, damage to the cervix, and infection due to retained placental tissue inside her uterus. 

 

“The back of the fetus's skull was punctured. There was a tiny spurt of blood into the stainless-steel waste can that sat on the floor beneath. A curette was inserted, a hose was attached and the deep rumble of the suction machinery near me kicked on. Into a clear plastic jar at my feet there appeared instantaneously about a half-inch of pinkish fluid marked by tiny whitish-gray globules. On some animal level, deep in my own brain stem, I knew what it was and leapt back in fear.” (Ref:  Jack Hitt, “Who Will Do Abortions Here?”; NY Times Magazine, 1988)

 

“The baby's little fingers were clasping and unclasping, and his little feet were kicking. Then the doctor stuck the scissors in the back of his head, and the baby's arms jerked out . . .The doctor opened up the scissors, stuck a high-powered suction tube into the opening, and sucked the baby's brains out. Now the baby went completely limp. I was really completely unprepared for what I was seeing. I almost threw up as I watched Dr. Haskell doing these things.  The woman wanted to see her baby, so they cleaned up the baby and put it in a blanket and handed it to her. She cried the whole time. She kept saying, "I am so sorry, please forgive me." I was crying, too. I couldn't take it."  (Former abortion nurse Brenda Pratt Shafer, who turned against abortion immediately upon witnessing a partial birth abortion in 1993).

 

“I inserted my forceps into the uterus and applied them to the head of the fetus, which was still alive, since fetal injection is not done at that stage of pregnancy. I closed the forceps, crushing the skull of the fetus, and withdrew the forceps.”  (Boulder, CO abortionist Warren Hern).

 

For more information, please visit National Right to Life Committee (https://www.nrlc.org) and AbortionRisks.org http://www.abortionrisks.org/index.php?title=Index. For a comprehensive index. 
 

Here are a few testimonies from former abortion workers:

 

"The longer I was in it, the less I cared, so I really didn't really care what my conscience said. My conscience was totally numb anyway. But what it did do was public relations-wise. You were able, when a reporter or TV crew came, to pull out a packet of information for the patients to read and they received it. So what can anybody say? Publicly it looked good -- in reality it was another tool that was used to force a woman into abortion. It's typical -- I would give them an option and then shoot it down. The only option you didn't shoot down, obviously, was abortion."  (Former abortion clinic owner Eric Harrah quoted by Dr. Jack Willke and Brad Mattes)

"They (the women) are never allowed to look at the ultrasound because we knew that if they so much as heard the heartbeat, they wouldn't want to have an abortion." (Dr. Randall quoted in "Pro-Choice 1990: Skeletons in the Closet" by David Kuperlain and Mark Masters, "New Dimensions" magazine)

"Every woman has these same two questions: First, "Is it a baby?" "No" the counselor assures her. "It is a product of conception (or a blood clot, or a piece of tissue)... How many women would have an abortion, if they told them the truth?" (Carol Everett, former owner and director of several abortion clinics, quoted in "A Walk Through an Abortion Clinic", All About Issues Magazine, Aug-Sept 1991).

"We tried to avoid the women seeing them (their aborted babies). They always wanted to know the sex, but we lied and said it was too early to tell. It's better for the women to think of the fetus as an ‘it’." (Abortion clinic worker Norma Eidelman quoted in the book "Rachel Weeping" by James Tunstead Burtchaell, 1991).

 

"Sometimes we lied. A girl might ask what her baby was like at a certain point in the pregnancy: Was it a baby yet? Even as early as 12 weeks a baby is totally formed, he has fingerprints, turns his head, fans his toes, feels pain. But we would say 'It's not a baby yet. It's just tissue, like a clot.'"  (Kathy Sparks quoted in "The Conversion of Kathy Sparks", Gloria Williamson, Christian Herald, Jan 1986)

 

4) Don't let anyone pressure you into having an abortion. You have rights too! Don't let others violate your personal boundaries and tell you how to make this most important decision in YOUR life! You are carrying YOUR baby, in YOUR body. They aren't. So don't give in! Only YOU can make this decision for yourself. If someone tries to pressure you, your baby and your conscience are at stake. Maintain your boundaries, listen to your conscience, and remain resolute in keeping your baby. You and your baby are much more important than someone else's meager opinion.

 

If someone is harassing or trying to coerce you, please look at these:

 

Here is a letter written by The Justice Foundation to your parent or family member:

http://thejusticefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Dear-Parent-Oct2010.pdf

 

Here is a letter written by The Justice Foundation to the father of your child:

http://thejusticefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DEAR-FATHER-LETTER.pdf

For more information and help regarding forced abortions:

 

www.TheUnchoice.com offers resources to those who are considering abortion and/or are being coerced into having an abortion. Simply click on "Help and Healing", then select from a number of resources listed.

 

http://theJusticeFoundation.org/ : The Justice Foundation’s Center Against Forced Abortions (CAFA) was created to provide legal resources to mothers who are being forced or coerced into an unwanted abortion. Click on the top menu titled "Forced Abortions".

 

"If a woman we were counseling expressed doubts about having an abortion, we would say whatever was necessary to persuade her to abort immediately." (Judy W., former office manager of the second largest abortion clinic in El Paso, Texas).

 

5) You have the strength to hold on to your baby and get through this time.  Even if you don't feel ready to have a baby, in time you will BECOME ready. There is no hardship - financial, social or otherwise - which you cannot get through, if you keep your baby. You can and will do it, just like the millions of mothers of all ages - and all around the globe - have done before you. And most importantly, they got through their pregnancies with a clean conscience and without regret, guilt, or shame. They succeeded in doing what comes naturally to all women - they carried their baby to term. And so can you!  And remember, someday your child will thank you for giving them life!

 

6) There are thousands of non-profit pregnancy centers, in all states across the country that will help you for free. Free counseling, pregnancy testing, ultrasounds (at specific sites), and baby supplies are offered. You are not alone! The great news today is, if you seek help in your pregnancy, you will get it.

 

www.AbortionRecovery.org, a branch of AbortionRecoveryInternational.org (ARIN), offers many resources. Simply click on "Abortion Recovery", then "CARE Directory". Search for a pregnancy help center near you by entering your zip code.

 

www.theUnChoice.com offers resources to those who are considering abortion and/or are being coerced into having an abortion. Simply click on "Help and Healing", then select from a number of resources listed.

 

7) Adoption is a very loving and life-saving option. Over 120,000 children are adopted annually in the U.S. alone. If you cannot care for your baby, there are literally tens of thousands of loving couples willing to adopt your baby. They will care for and give your baby all the love needed to grow up and help them reach their full potential! And most importantly, you will get through your pregnancy with a clean conscience and without guilt or shame. There is absolutely no guilt or shame in putting your child up for adoption - on the contrary, it is THE most loving and selfless option!

 

8) Your child will be eternally grateful to you for having kept them rather than aborted them.

Read the stories of children who survived a failed abortion, their mothers, and how grateful both are to have each other in their lives:

 

www.TheAbortionSurvivors.com : This Abortion Survivor Network is dedicated toward educating the public about the prevalence of survivors and to give a voice to survivors in a society that is unaware of their existence, or, if there is awareness of survivors, they are silenced due to the societal attitudes and beliefs about abortion, and to provide support to fellow survivors.

 

9) Many post-abortive women have given their own testimonies about their abortions. Listen to their advice and learn from their first-hand experiences before you make your decision:

 

www.Abort73.com offers a wide variety of information on abortion. On the front page, you will find the link "Read the Stories". Click on the link or use the direct link here:

 

http://www.abort73.com/testimony/

 

www.theUnChoice.com offers resources to those who are considering abortion and/or are being coerced into having an abortion. Simply click on "Stories" at the top, then select from a number of testimonies listed.

 

www.AbortionNo.org is a pro-life organization, known as Center for Bioethic Reform, dedicated to bringing the truth about abortion to the public. Warning: This site contains images of actual abortions. Click on "Pro-Life Resources", then "Abortion Regret Testimonies", or use this direct

link here: http://www.abortionno.org/testimonies/

 

http://AbortionTestimonials.com was created with the goal to share with the world the real stories of abortion and the effects in women and society.

 

www.SilentNoMoreAwareness.org was created to reach out to people hurt by abortion, to break the silence, to offer hope, and to make resources such as abortion after-care programs available. Go to "Stories" at the top menu, click on "Testimonials", and then click the box.

 

Women Who Regret Their Abortions:  Here are a few testimonies…

 

"Many years later, I saw a photograph of an aborted baby in a garbage can. It was a human person, not the blob of tissue I'd pretended to myself was removed from my body. For the first time, I faced what I'd done and I cried. The general anesthetic had prevented me from seeing, feeling, touching or hearing anything related to my actual abortion. It allowed me to lie to myself. After the abortion, I began drop by drop to lose all sense of who I really was and who I wanted to become. I grew to feel worthless and not worth knowing. Now, I believe a part of me died with my baby."

 

"I was a single mother and found out I was pregnant shortly after getting out of a relationship. I panicked. The few people I told said abortion was the only sensical option, given my situation. The clinic even had brochures from religious groups that supported abortion. I convinced myself that what I was doing was okay, even though I knew deep down it wasn’t. I remember only a couple details from the “procedure”. One, it was extremely painful. But the part I remember most was sitting up on the table and begging them to stop. The doctor told me it was too late, but it wasn’t. Instead of getting up off that table and just walking out, I let them continue. I could have stopped it all, but I didn’t. I went into the bathroom after it was all done, and when I saw my reflection in the mirror, I was disgusted and looked away. I fell to my knees and sobbed, asking myself, “Oh Lord, what have I done????”  

 

This was back in 1999. It still hurts today. There’s not a day that goes by where you don’t cross my mind. I’m so so sorry. I would give anything to give you back the life I allowed to be taken from you. I was selfish. I could have put you up for adoption, but I didn’t. I’m so sorry. After I let you go, God blessed me with twins. I’ve never felt worthy of that blessing. God also blessed me with a little boy after the twins. Why couldn’t I see you as a blessing until it was too late?

 

I have no excuse or explanation for what I did to you. I talked to a priest shortly afterwards. He told me you were with Jesus and that you’re okay. Just know that I’m so sorry. He told me to give you a name, and I chose Michael. I don’t know why I chose that name, but it was the first one that came to my mind.

 

Abortion leaves invisible scars and an emptiness that can never be filled. There are two times of the year that are very painful for me. January/February (when I first learned about you and then let you go) and September, when I would have been able to hold you had I not let you go. I’m sorry."

 

10) Over 2000 years ago, Jesus addressed your situation and said:

"For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his soul?" (Mark 8:36)

 

We all know what this means...and we know He's right. It serves no purpose whatsoever if we gain financially or gain the "freedom" to do whatever we want in life, if in the process, we lose our soul. This is what happens when we kill our unborn child - we lose our soul. Abortion sucks the life out of the baby AND the mother. Don't lose your soul to the life-taking abortion business. Keep your baby. You will never regret your choice.

 

"Every woman ... has a trauma at destroying a pregnancy ... This is a part of her own life. When she destroys a pregnancy she is destroying herself."  (Ref: Dr. Julius Fogel, Psychiatrist/OB who has performed over 20,000 abortions)