Abortion
I once heard that the famous Rolls Royce motor car was guaranteed never to break down. Apparently though, they can be temporarily inhibited from being fully mobile!
It's all about language.
The same type of thing occurs with the topic of abortion. The term "abortion" is a nice politically-correct, soft-language replacement for something other than what it really is (in much the same way that Rolls Royce can state that their cars will never break down).
Associated with the cuddly lingo of "abortion" are other neutral sounding words like: embryo, foetus, termination, and pro-choice.
Here's what is really meant -
| Soft Language |
Definition |
| abortion |
Infanticide, the murder of children |
| Embryo, foetus |
Baby, a developing human being |
| terminate |
Murder |
| Pro-choice |
Pro-abortion |
If we would choose to use accurate language located in the right column, rather than potentially deceptive language in the left column, we sharply bring this disgraceful act into focus.
By softening our vocabulary we conceal and avoid the most fundamental implications of abortion/murder. This is because words like "foetus", "embryo", Òwoman's body" disguise the fact that we are really talking about a new human life rather than merely a potential one. All medical researchers acknowledge that human life begins at conception. Therefore make no mistake about it: abortion/murder is the killing of an innocent human.
In one of Frank Perretti's earlier works he narrates the fictional (and unlikely) account of a huge demon sitting on the steps of an Abortion Clinic crying with his head in his hands. As the angel guide comes up to the demon, readers are able to hear the demon mutter over and over, ÒI never thought it would come to this!Ó as he was obviously shaken by the (previously unthinkable) atrocities being committed within the abortion clinic.
Perhaps if most people who support abortion actually knew what it involved, they too might similarly be moved to heaving, disbelieving tears. With the aid of modern technology we now have 3D (and 4D) ultrasounds of 12 week old foetuses where incredible physical traits are easily identifiable. The thought of Òpartial birthÓ abortion (where the foetus is partially delivered so that it is easier to drill through its skull to extract its brain by vacuum) would surely repulse even the hardest abortion advocates.
Dr. Joseph Bruner at Vanderbilt is known for his work in fetal surgery, especially on babies with spina bifida, a condition in which the spine does not close properly during development. Vanderbilt confirms that little Samuel Armus was 21 weeks-old in the womb which makes the surgery very risky because if anything goes wrong, the baby cannot survive on its own. Dr. Bruner and his colleagues, however, have done numerous successful spina bifida surgeries on fetuses that are not yet viable. In this particular surgery, the baby's hand poked out of the incision in its mother's womb and Dr. Bruner says he instinctively offered his finger for the baby to hold. Most versions of the story say the baby reached out and grasped Dr. Bruner's finger, but in an article in USA Today on May 2, 2000, Dr. Bruner says both the mother and the baby were under anesthesia and could not move. Michael Clancy, the photographer who took the picture and who owns the copyright to it says, however, that out of the corner of his eye he saw the uterus shake and the baby's hand pop out of the surgical opening on its own. Clancy says that when the doctor put his finger into the baby's hand, the baby squeezed the finger and held on. You can read Clancy's description of the experience and more about the picture at his website at www.michaelclancy.com.
A colleague tells the story of a university class where he had to choose a social issue and present its impact on society. His presentation included a series of pictures showing 12-24 week old foetuses (developing humans, babies) dismembered through the act of abortion. The photos were apparently very graphic and served to illustrate the relevance of his chosen topic to the assignment. The lecturer however regarded this as an outrage and hysterically castigated the student for introducing emotionalism into the debate. The irony of course was that the pro-abortion lecturer was the emotional one!
For those who know that abortion is wrong there is a profound need to take a stand against this abominable practice. The argument proposed by pro-non-lifers that it is a matter off personal morality is absurd. This reasoning would never be used regarding someone's personal moral choice to kill any other human being. It is demeaning to the sanctity of a baby's humanity by claiming that it is merely an appendage to a woman's body.
But our campaign to save the lives of the 100,000 infant Australians who are executed against their will every year is not one of violence and militant threats, but one of prayerful reasoning and creative use of various media to expose the lies and myths of pro-non-lifers.