A recent report regarding why women choose the type of abortion they will have includes some interesting facts that could help us more effectively discuss what abortion does to a child with those who think they really want an abortion. I must point out, however, that the study involved 205 expectant mothers, which is not a large number, and they were all women who live in Iowa. Yes, I said Iowa!
Iowa is one of the most pro-life states in America and yet it was there that well-known abortion advocate James Trussell of Princeton University, the University of Hull York Medical School, and Tara Schochet of the University of Iowa's College of Public Health conducted this study. This was also the state where three Planned Parenthood clinics were most happy to oblige by inviting their clients to participate.
Iowa's state motto, "Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain," has been dealt a serious blow because liberty has no viable meaning when divorced from the natural law, and the "right" to kill violates human decency. When I read the full report on this study and realized what the attitudes of those mothers involved in it were, I wondered what in the world the down-to-earth, right-thinking majority of Iowans would have thought, had they seen or heard the reflections of those mothers who chose to have their children killed. Here is the excerpt from the article that causes my sincere concern:
About 71% of the women who chose aspiration and could have chosen medication abortion said they believed aspiration would be quicker, while 35% believed it would be less painful and 27% said they did not want to be at home for the abortion. Among women who selected medication abortion, 34% said they wanted to be at home for the abortion, 20% wanted to avoid aspiration and 20% believed medication abortion was less invasive. Another 20% believed medication abortion would be less painful, while 19% said medication abortion is less frightening or more natural.
For those of you new to my blog or to the pro-life movement, "aspiration" means sucking the baby out of his mother. "Medication", on the other hand, simply renders the preborn child dead – the only way the expectant mother knows that her child has died is when she expels his body, which could occur at home and at any time.
I have never had an abortion, so I am not sure how painful one manner of killing is versus another, but I do know that the pain is real for the preborn child during his last moments of life.
The fact that some mothers wanted to experience the death of their child by a less invasive or more natural means frightens me more than words can say, for such comments make it perfectly clear that the average American who is experiencing pregnancy at a time that is inconvenient or irritating, in her opinion, is someone who has no idea who she is carrying. She is perhaps unaware that she already is that child's mother or perhaps nobody has ever explained to her what the act of abortion really means in terms of killing the child. And this is why I am bringing this sad report to your attention.
The nation has been slowly desensitized to the reality of what abortion does, and reports like this make it clear that we are not doing a very good job of educating the public, our friends, our relatives and those with whom we have an opportunity to speak. I would encourage you to get a copy of our DVD, Baby Steps, and study it. Familiarize yourself with the identity of this person who, according to this most recent study, is merely a problem similar to an infected tooth.
When a person thinks about taking an innocent person's life in terms of what sort of pain she will experience, without a thought for her baby – because perhaps she does not think her problem is actually a baby – we must realize we have our work cut out for us. Let's get to it!