Abortion: A Never Ending Controversy Approximately 205 million abortions occur each year worldwide. Over a third are unintended and about a fifth end in abortion. What is abortion? Abortion is the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus prior to viability. In other words, it is when a mother decides she doesn’t want to go through with her pregnancy. Abortion in today’s society has become very political. You are either pro-choice, pro-life, and there doesn’t seem to be a happy medium. As we look at abortion and research its history, should it remain legal in the United States, or should it be outlawed, we must consider both points of views. November 14, 1979, with the temperature outside at fifteen degrees, a two pound baby girl was found in a field wrapped up in a wet, dirty, old shirt. The umbilical cord was still attached, and the baby had been aborted twelve weeks prematurely. With little chance of survival, the baby was taken to a medical center. The little girl survived surgery and other efforts to save her. The baby was later adopted by Susan Morrison, one of the nurses who attended to her. The baby was named Christelle, and now she and her mother talk to thousands of people about abortion and the pro-life movement. There are 1,600,000 other abortion stories every year in the United States.
“Abortion is the termination of pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by death of the embryo or fetus. Because life begins at conception, abortion is more than terminating a pregnancy, it is taking a life. The development of a baby can be medically documented. At 18 to 25 days, the baby’s heart starts to beat. At 40 to 42 days, the brain waves can be detected and at 8 weeks, the baby can grasp its own hands. It can also swim with a natural swimmer’s stroke and will already have its own set of fingertips. It is usually around this time that 50% of abortions are done. Approximately 27% of all abortions are done at 10 weeks into the pregnancy. At this stage, a baby can feel and respond to pain. Yet 772,800 abortions are done yearly after this point in pregnancy. Also, at 10 weeks, 95% of the baby’s organs, features, and muscles are formed and working. 14% of abortions occur when the baby is 11 to 12 weeks old and 5% occur at 13 to 15 weeks. There are five main methods of performing an abortion. One method is dilation and curettage. This procedure starts with paralyzing the cervix muscle ring and stretching it open. Then a curette is inserted into the opening and used to cut the placenta and baby into pieces. The remains are scraped into a bin and discarded. This procedure usually causes profuse bleeding. A second form of abortion is known as the suction method. A hollow plastic tube is inserted and attached to a strong vacuum. The baby and placenta are torn into pieces as it is sucked into a bottle. Many times women will need blood transfusions due to hemorrhaging after this method of abortion. The third procedure is called a hysterectomy abortion. The abdomen is cut open and the baby is removed and discarded. The fourth method is called saline abortions. A needle is out into the mother’s stomach and it reaches into the baby’s bag of water. A concentrated salt solution is injected into the fluid which poisons the baby. This causes the baby to convulse and die. A day later, the mother will go into labor and deliver a dead baby. Partial abortions are the fifth method. In this procedure the doctor grabs the baby’s legs and pulls them out into the birth canal. The baby’s whole body is delivered except for the head. The doctor then pokes scissors into the baby’s skull and opens the scissors to increase the size of the hole. A suction tube is inserted into the hole and the baby’s brain is sucked out. The skull collapses and the dead child is removed and discarded. There are many reasons why abortions are done. About 1% is because of rape, incest, or fetal