What is life?

Abortion. 

Yes, I have decided to talk about this controversial topic. The big question of Pro-Life or Pro-Choice. 

Now, first off let's get one thing straight. I am always for the right to choose. Having free agency is something people don't value enough. We used to with the right to choose which ever religion we wanted to worship in. Because of this, no matter how much I would love abortions to be illegal, I wont protest for a law because that only limits peoples choices. But here is why I am Pro-Life over Pro-Abortion. See how I said abortion. I'm not against a woman's right to choose, I'm against the act itself and here is why. 

When I had found out that you could terminate a pregnancy before birth, I was appalled. I was taught from a young age that e every soul waits in the pre-mortal existence (similar to heaven but different) for their birth. I thought, "Why would I every stop one of my spiritual siblings from having the chance to have a body? Why would I make them wait longer to come to Earth and experience so many wonderful things." 

As LDS members we value the existence of a body no matter what shape it comes to earth in. We value learning and this life on Earth is where we learn and grow to become better. But all that is another topic all together for another time. Back to the main point. 

For most of my life, I was against abortion for religious reasons. But as I got older, my views on anything in life were shaped by logic. How could I argue the existence of gravity? How could I claim that salt water freezes at a different temperature than fresh water? I couldn't. Those were facts. I enjoyed science in school. How could I not. Figure out the way the world works was fascinating, especially learning about how the human body works. I loved everything about human anatomy. 

Now while my opinion on abortion started with religion, that is the only aspect about my opinion that is religious. The rest is all based on science. 

It is in both the 10 commandments and in the laws of the country that killing people is wrong. It is a common value shared throughout the world that taking a life is an extreme offence, punishable with life sentences or (ironically) punishable by death. We are all in agreement that ending a human life is bad. a huge "no-no." 

Well here is the truth (explained by science). 

Abortion = Murder

Whoa! That is a big statement to make. Many would argue that abortion isn't murder because the fetus isn't alive. It hasn't been born yet, sometimes it is only a clump of cells. And when abortion occurs, the fetus doesn't suffer. 

On Facebook, an article was posted that I just had to read. A formerly Pro-Choice nurse, Cynthia Isabell explains to her med students her view on abortion. They ask her questions that are blasted by the media and she has them help her answer them by making them think back to their basic lessons of biology. Here are some excerpts. 

- "Without fail, my students ask me the questions that they hear argued in the media. My students ask these questions even though they, having studied biology, human anatomy, and physiology, already know the answers.

"They ask, “When does life begin?”  I respond with, “You know the answer to this question.  How do you tell if something, such as a cell, is alive or not?”  The students answer correctly that “living cells grow and multiply.”  And so of course I must remind them of what they already know: that growth and multiplication is exactly what is happening after the egg and the sperm join to form the zygote. Within twenty-four hours of conception the zygote is dividing rapidly into many cells which will differentiate to form different parts of the human body.

"Dead things do not do this... Life begins at conception, when the fertilized egg begins to grow" (Isabell).  

So from this we learned that cells that multiply are, in fact, living things. So when they don't multiply they are dead. When an abortion occurs, it stops the multiplication of those cells. Thus abortion ending life. 

But not all cells are human right? People kill spiders, they go hunting and fishing, and eat bacon all the time. Those are not considered murder. True, but let's let Cynthia Isabell answer that one again.  

- "The next question they ask is “When can it be considered a human?”  I answer, “What determines whether we are a human, rather than a bird or a zucchini?”  The answer to this is simple and they correctly reply that it is “our genetics, our DNA.”  When the egg and the sperm join, this is the beginning of a new human, with its own set of DNA which also includes hair color, eye color, skin tone, fingerprints, and a multitude of other individual characteristics.  The baby is genetically different from the mother, having only half of the DNA coming from her, and half from the father; a distinct human being.

“So now we all can agree that we have established that abortion is killing a living human" (Isabell).

Couldn't have said it better. Now, to the final argument between Pro-Life and Pro-Choice. 

- "Why shouldn’t a woman be able to do what she wants with her body?”

“The woman has every right to be in control of and responsible for her body,” I answer.  She has the right and responsibility to use methods to prevent conception if she does not want to become pregnant.  Being in control also would include not engaging in activity which is known to lead to pregnancy, which is sexual intercourse. There are a variety of other, easily accessible methods which can be used to prevent conception from occurring.

“However, once a pregnancy occurs, it is no longer only the woman’s body that is in question, as the baby is not a part of her body,” I explain.  “Tell me how we know that the baby is not a part of the woman’s body.”

The students then explain to me that the placenta and the umbilical cord are what separate the baby from the mother... it’s the placenta and umbilical cord which separate the mother from the baby and prove that the fetus was never part of its mother’s body.  This is because the placenta and umbilical cord exist precisely because the baby has a different and separate circulatory system from the mother and their blood must not intermingle.  If something happens, such as a traumatic injury, that causes their blood to mix, it can cause serious complications.

If the fetus were not a separate human being but were only another part of its mother’s body, it would not need a placenta and umbilical cord to separate them.  It could simply grow inside one of her body cavities like a tumor without any barriers between the two to protect each of them... And even though the placenta is attached to the uterus, it is no more a part of her body than an earring or a watch is when you wear them.  So now we have determined that the baby is a genetically distinct human, not a part of the woman’s body, and that it is alive, growing, and developing” (Isabell). 

That was a lot longer, but it is all information that people need to know when understanding and talking about abortion in general. Isabell goes on to talk about the ethics of abortion with rape victims. I believe that with rape victims, adoption is the best options when not wanting to raise the child yourself because you are not ready. Now if you want all the ethics she discusses, please go read the article. I will link it below. But I only want to talk about the science behind abortions and not the ethics surrounding abortions and rape victims.  

So scientifically speaking, abortion is ending innocent human life (innocent because the fetus has done nothing by multiply and grow) thus abortion is murder. Isabell also talks about her experiences when helping with abortions. She would help the mother, not actually perform the abortion, but she did assist. She gives two accounts which are hard for he to talk about many years later. 

One abortion was with the use of saline injected inside the mother. Isabell explains that she saw the fetus in the ultra sound "recoil in pain" when the saline reached it because it was burning the fetus's skin. How is that not suffering?

Another is called "theraputic" and it is when "labor is induced and the woman delivers an intact baby which will then slowly die by suffocation"(Isabell). Many patients want to hold the baby wrapped in a blanket and bond with it as it slowly suffocates believing the lie that it isn't suffering. Isabell explains that she arrived after one of those procedure and she was tasked with wrapping the baby in a blanket and taking it to the morgue. She took it into another room and proceeded to cry while holding the dead baby. She never aided in another abortion again. 

To Conclude:

So, while I hate abortions, a woman still has the right to choose to carry the child or not. I believe that if a woman is considering abortion, she should know, not only the risks for herself, but all the facts on what happens in the surgery. Just like with any other surgery. The doctors explain what they are going to do and the risk factor. I believe women should do research on abortions before just ending the life. The whole point of this post is not only to express my opinions about abortions, but to inform other's about how scientifically, abortion is murder, the intentional act of ending a human life. Please be informed about abortions before you decided it is what you want to do. There are other options if you are no ready to raise a baby. Many couples wish to adopt because they cannot have children of their own, because they cannot physically or because they are a married gay couple wishing to start a family. Know the facts before any kind of surgery. 

Religious people can be Pro-Life for more reasons than religious ones. 

*Isabell, Cynthia. "How a Formerly Pro-Choice Nursing Instructor Discusses Abortion with her Sutdents." The Torch. 12 August, 2016. http://thetorchblog.net/?p=996. 26 January, 2017.