By Christine Novelero
Healthcare. Reproductive freedom. The right to choose. A woman’s right to bodily autonomy. All of these are terms used by our culture today when referring to abortion. When abortion access sounds so positive, so right, as many of my classmates claim, how could anyone be against it?
Well, as over one-third of our country believes, it’s because what our culture claims as a right requires an egregious wrong: the killing of preborn human beings. So, which claim is more accurate? To answer this question, we need to break through the rhetoric of rights and examine what abortion physically entails.
From a procedural standpoint, there are two kinds of abortion: surgical abortion and medication (or chemical) abortion. Surgical abortion is further comprised of three different procedures, with each intended for a different trimester of pregnancy.
In suction D&C abortions, which occur in the first trimester, a suction catheter is used to extract the preborn child from the uterus, either whole or dismembered. In D&E abortions, which occur in the second trimester, a Sopher clamp is used to extract the child’s body parts one by one. This includes crushing the skull before it can be removed. Then there are third trimester induction abortions, which are rare but very real. The child is effectively poisoned by being injected with a substance to stop her heartbeat, then labor is induced for the woman to deliver her dead child.
As for chemical abortions, they are limited to the first trimester but actually constitute the majority of abortions in the US today. It involves two pills: the first one to destroy the uterine lining and starve the child of nutrients, the second one to induce labor. Because chemical abortions require no medical supervision, the dead child is typically delivered somewhere in the woman’s own home, most often in the toilet.
Contrary to what modern culture would like us to believe, abortion is not a tidy solution that makes the pregnancy go “poof.” It is bloody. It is violent. But more than that, if the biological evidence and philosophical reasoning that equate human embryos and fetuses to children of moral worth are to be believed, it is murder.
All this being said, how am I—how are we—to defend life amidst this culture of death masquerading as a right? As a student at a disproportionately liberal and pro-choice school, the biggest lesson I’ve learned regarding abortion is this: Know who the enemy is. It’s not women who get abortions. It’s not people who identify as pro-choice. It’s not even abortion workers. The enemy is never a person but rather the idea that individual autonomy supersedes all else.
Don’t be afraid to speak out against abortion, but be an example of the hope that comes with the alternative. Instead of shunning women in unplanned pregnancies, volunteer at a local pregnancy resource center to help those who might otherwise consider abortion. Instead of condemning post-abortive women or abortion workers as murderers, pray for them. Instead of immediately being outraged with your pro-choice acquaintances, listen to them. Get to know them not only as ideological opponents but as full individuals with hopes and fears, as people who genuinely care about women but who have learned to dismiss the preborn child.
These are all ways I have spoken and will continue to speak out in defense of life. But despite the brutal dehumanization of the preborn baby, it is crucial that we not participate in the very evil we stand against by dehumanizing those who take a different view. Let us not remain silent in the face of the egregious wrong that is abortion, but let every word we speak be one of love.
Christine Novelero won first place in the high school category of the Culture of Life Studies Program’s 2024 Pro-Life Essay Contest.