Have you ever found yourself in a conversation about abortion and just felt like you weren’t prepared for all the arguments from the other side?
With the recent abortion law passed in New York, which allows babies to be killed in the womb and left to die once delivered, more and more of these conversations are happening all over the country.
In order to help you be best prepared for these conversations, we’ve compiled 4 truths you can use to defend life:
In dark times such as these, it is hard to see any good that can come of these events, but there is a glimmer of hope. Individuals across the political board are uneasy about how far abortion legislation has gone, and this provides the opportunity to speak truth to open ears.
Christians must be prepared and ready to give an answer to those who bring up the hot topic of abortion.
They can share truth in a loving and factual way, in order to reveal the horrors of abortion.
Here are four points that contradict liberal’s arguments, driving home the sanctity of life, the personhood of the unborn, and the best interests of the mother.
1. Science shows that life begins at conception
No scientist would argue against the fact that when a sperm fertilizes an egg, a new DNA is formed, thus beginning a new, distinct human life at conception. Through natural biological processes inside the womb a baby would be born.
It is only when man interferes with the natural process that the birth is prevented, except in the case of medical issues that cause a miscarriage.
The DNA that makes you who you are today- your blue eyes, curly hair, and your father’s nose- is the same DNA you had the day you were conceived.
Pro-abortion individuals discredit the personhood of a child in the womb because they can’t see the man or woman they are to become. They don’t take into account the fact that they already possessed the genetic makeup for a unique citizen.
In gestational week 4, the neural tube develops the three distinct bulges of the forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain. Merely a week later, electrical brain activity begins, reports the New York Times. All this higher human functioning begins before most women even miss a cycle, realizing they are pregnant.
Bruce Carlson wrote in the Patten’s Foundations of Embryology, “Almost all higher animals start their lives from a single cell, the fertilized ovum (zygote)… The time of fertilization represents the starting point in the life history, or ontogeny, of the individual.”
2. Women’s health involves their physical AND mental well-being
Let’s start off with the irony of so many females being killed every day by abortion; this is obviously not in their best interest. Leftist have made a proclamation that one woman’s life is worth more than another’s, but who are we to decide such a fate.
As stated earlier, the birth of a baby is the natural culmination of pregnancy, and this route is the healthiest, most reduced risk option for the woman.
Complications from abortion are not to be taken lightly, and women should have a right to know what damage they are doing to their bodies before receiving one.
According to the American Pregnancy Association (APA) risks after an abortion, even if the killing goes as planned, include:
* Heavy or persistent bleeding
* Infection or sepsis
* Damage to the cervix
* Scarring of the uterine lining
* Perforation of the uterus
* Damage to other organs
* Death
These are not rare occurrences either. The APA cites that 1 out of 100 first trimester abortions have complications, and a shocking 1 out of 50 late-term abortions experience problems.
This is not a good health plan for the woman. If she were to deliver the baby naturally and put him or her up for adoption, these risks would be eliminated almost completely.
In addition, future pregnancies can result in low birth weight, ectopic pregnancy, and miscarriage. The mother also has a greater chance of developing breast cancer, according to the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
Mental health does not go unscathed after a woman’s baby is killed in the womb.
An analysis of extensive research was reviewed by Priscilla Coleman in the British Journal of Psychiatry and found that “women who had undergone an abortion experienced an 81 percent increased risk of mental health problems.”
Sharon Osbourne, wife of Ozzy Osbourne, was urged by her mother to get an abortion when she was 17, as she explains in her book Sharon: The rock of the Osbournes unXpurgated.
Looking back she writes, “it was horrible” and that she “would never recommend it to anyone because it comes back to haunt you.”
Sadly, Osbourne lost three children to miscarriage after her abortion, and she thinks it was because something happened to her cervix during the killing.
Stories like these are not few, and women are suffering insurmountable physical and mental anguish on account of their “choice” to take a life.
3. Pro-life individuals are pro-women’s health clinics
Many argue Planned Parenthood is needed for women’s health, but there are many pro-life women’s health clinics that cater to the emotional, physical, and mental well-being of mother and child.
They offer all kinds of support for women, especially expectant mothers.
In addition, there are over 13,500 Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) service sites and Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) in the country already helping provide health services without providing abortions.
Increased financial attention to these health centers would help let young women know that they have options beyond the giant Planned Parenthood.
Over a three-year time span, Heritage Foundation reports, “Planned Parenthood and its affiliates spent $288 million in federal funds. They also received $1.2 billion in funding from Medicaid, which combines federal and state funds. That adds up to a whopping total of $1.5 billion in taxpayer funds from federal health programs.”
Not so ironically, despite this increase in funding from tax payers’ pockets, Planned Parenthood’s scope of services have declined, while abortions have been on a steady rise. It is clear that the organization is not looking to expand women’s health.
4. Abortion is the goal of Planned Parenthood
No single organization has made it clearer that their primary purpose of operation is to perform abortions.
In the Planned Parenthood Greater Iowa annual report, Jill June, president and CEO, stated that “We provide health care services to women and give them the respect they deserve.”
Then, after a woman barely escaped death following a botched abortion where she bled out, James Snowden, attorney for Planned Parenthood, said, “The woman was well aware of the risks associated with the procedure before it was performed on her at the Lincoln clinic this summer,” according to the Lincoln Journal Star.
This profit-making enterprise which markets to vulnerable women wanted to be fully pardoned from any liability of a woman’s health when their actions put her in grave danger.
Planned Parenthood also opposes “women’s right to know” legislation, according to Iowa Right to Life, which requires women be informed of all the risks of an abortion so they can give their consent before taking an irrevocable step.
In 1973, the Supreme Court gave citizens the “right” to an abortion, making it “a protected status” that is “exempt from medical standards”, according to Focus on the Family.
This is how death clinics like Planned Parenthood have been able to skirt around the facts about what they are doing to women.
Having all the facts concerning the tiny life inside of you- like the baby’s development, how the baby is going to be killed, and post-procedure risks- would deter a lot of women who are manipulated into their decision.
Teenage girls who have had an abortion post their experiences on the website TeenBreaks.com and the stories are heartbreaking.
Sherry from the site wrote, “I was never told anything about the risks, not about the pain, and certainly not about the development of the tiny human inside me.”
One abortion clinic director made the point bluntly when reporting to the New York Times, “The bottom line is no woman is going to want an abortion after she sees a sonogram.”
Abortion clinics do not want to implement such practices, even though it would help catch any complications that might make an abortion more dangerous, because it deters from their goal- to kill as many babies as they can.
A look at the Susan B. Anthony List fact sheet shows how abortions make up 94% of Planned Parenthood’s pregnancy services. This is in stark contrast to the 3% listed in the Planned Parenthood fact sheet they put out.
The difference comes in from presenting misleading data. Planned Parenthood includes every aspect of a woman’s visit to the clinic as a “Service”, according to the Washington Post.
So, every young lady who comes in for a pregnancy test they count towards a service. However, Susan B. Anthony List only utilizes the figures for pregnancy services, in which case abortions are overwhelmingly chosen.
And if that wasn’t convincing enough to show how Planned Parenthood is in the business of abortions, not women’s health, their new CEO tweeted triumphantly:
“First, our core mission is providing, protecting and expanding access to abortion.”
It is clear where the Christian should stand on the issue of abortion, and now is the time to speak out.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” – John 10:10
I pray these Truths will help you defend life.
