Children are a blessing. That is a fact we are all born with. But recent events and statistics in and about our country-Kenya- have left me wondering if this truth still applies. First there was the statistic on the most sought after topic in Google, “how to abort”. Then today morning there was a discussion on one of the Kenyan local radio stations where a married lady was seeking abortion because the husband declared he cannot support more children. I am saddened by that. The birth of children has been celebrated by parents and families since the dawn of human communities. They are often called bundles of joy. When did this anticipated joy become such a burden that its life must be ended? When did the fruit of love become a problem enough to justify its death? My ignorance may be pardoned but I believe in Love, where and the institution of marriage where sex is the act that cements that love. I also believe in the procreative aspect of marriage. I am saddened by that which changes this beauty.
The bible clearly states in Psalm 127:3 that children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Regardless of the act that led to that pregnancy, or our readiness to accept it, the fruit is transformed to a blessing, it is already a blessing. It further goes ahead to state in Psalm 139:13-16 “for you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them’’. Wonderful are indeed the works of God to the extent that no Doctor in the world whatsoever can tell the exact moment of conception, the beauty of it is a story to behold, and the greatest part is, in that instant moment, the life of that beautiful being recognized in the Kingdom of God, and its days have been laid out, and its purpose assigned. Its purpose is predetermined. In the new testament, and finally in Matthew 18:10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.”We are forewarned never to touch the little ones of Christ.
Yet it is so common today; acceptable in nearly all “civilized” societies. This is according to http://watchman.lakeinfoworks.com/choose-life, The Watchman on the Wall “Sharing the Truth in Love”. Amid all this knowledge and beauty, there is all over the world a constant cry and shout that abortion be legalized. That legalizing it will make it safe. That legalizing it will minimize the back alley abortions and thus allegedly reduce the maternal deaths. But, does legalizing Abortion make it right? No…Does it make it safe? No, read on the processes of clinical abortions and this will be contradicted…Does it reduce Maternal Mortality? No…Is the death rate reduced by safe abortion versus back alley/unsafe abortion? No… THE TRUTH is if a pregnant lady is murdered in America, where Abortion is legal, the defendant will be charged with two counts of murder; THE TRUTH, after South Africa, legalized abortion in 1995/96 and its maternal mortality rose by 20% by 2005; THE TRUTH is Chile has the lowest maternal mortality rate in South America and it protects the unborn life in its constitution. Guyana has the highest maternal mortality rate, 30 times higher than Chile. Guyana has allowed abortion without any restriction since in 1995; THE TRUTH is Mauritius is the nation with the lowest African maternal mortality rate, according to a 2009 World Health Organization (WHO) report. Mauritius’ laws are among the continents most protective of the unborn. THE TRUTH is Ethiopia, despite having decriminalized abortion has failed to lower dramatic maternal death rates. Its maternal death rate is 48 times higher than in Mauritius. So the cries for abortion legalization are a fallacy.
The most cited reason, what pro-lifers call hard cases, for allowing abortion is for rape cases and incest and health and medical complications to the mother and child. According to womenissues.about.com, the most commonly cited reasons for abortion are; negative impact on the mother’s life, that is a pregnancy that occurs in the wrong place at the wrong time which can have a lifelong impact on a woman’s ability to raise a family and earn a living for example less than half of teens who become mothers before age 18 graduate from high school or College students who become pregnant and give birth are also much less likely to complete their education than their peers or employed single women who become pregnant face an interruption of their jobs and careers which allegedly impacts their earning ability and may make them unable to raise a child on their own or for women who already have other children at home or are caring for aging relatives, the reduction in income resulting from pregnancy/birth may bring them below the poverty level and require them to seek public assistance. The other reason cited is financial instability- whether she’s a high school or college student, or a single woman earning just enough to live independently, many expectant mothers lacks the resources to cover the staggeringly high costs associated with pregnancy, birth, and childrearing. The other reason is relationship problems /unwillingness to be a single mother in the majority of women with unplanned pregnancies do not live with their partners or have committed relationships and there is a prospect of raising the child as a single mother and many are unwilling to take this big step due to the reasons described above: interruption of education or career, insufficient financial resources, or inability to care for an infant due to care giving needs of other children or family members. Even in situations involving women cohabitating with their partners, the outlook for unmarried women as single mothers in discouraging; for women in their 20s living with their partners at the time of birth, one-third ended their relationships within two years. The other reasons cited by women are; I don’t want more children or I’m done with childbearing I’m not ready to become a mother or not ready for another child; I don’t want others to know about my pregnancy or that I’m having sex; My husband/partner wants me to have an abortion; There are problems with the health of fetus; There are problems with my own health and; My parents want me to have an abortion. The facts above are drawn from annual statistics for abortion in the United States – as reported by the Guttmacher Institute in May 2006. The same report further goes to state that; Unintended pregnancies account for almost half of all pregnancies; Four out of ten unintended pregnancies end in abortion; Out of the total number of pregnancies, 24% end in abortion; For women ages 15-44, two out of every hundred have an abortion and Of these, 48% have had one or more abortions previously; For women choosing abortion, 52% are under 25 and Teenagers account for 19%, and women 20-24 account for 33%; Black women are almost four times as likely to have an abortion as white women; For Latino women, the number is 2.5 times; Women who have never been married account for 2/3rds of all abortions; The majority of women who choose abortions have already given birth; Mothers who have had one or more children comprise over 60% of all abortions. Women who have never used any birth control method account for 8% of abortions; for women having abortions, 43% are Protestant and 27% identify as Catholic. That only summarizes America, one of the first countries to legalize abortion which since then has killed over 40million of its unborn citizens. A favorite mantra of the pro-choice crowd is that one should not be forced to bear a child if it would endanger the health of the mother or if the mother was a victim of rape or incest. But from the previously highlighted statistics only 1.7% of all abortions are performed because of a mother’s health issues, and 0.3% are performed because the child is the product of rape or incest.
But how civilized can a country be that advocates the murder of its unborn children? How can some Christians-and there are many Christians who support the current abortion laws or call themselves “pro-choice Christians”- go before a just and holy God and explain why they support the legalization of the murder of the most vulnerable members of our society? God tells us in the Old Testament that if a man harms a pregnant woman causing her unborn baby to die, he is to be considered guilty of murder. Exodus: 21:22-23: “If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman’s husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life.” If he looks on that situation as murder, how much more must He abhor the killing of that child by the mother–surely the child’s natural protector!
Abortion is procured-Bought. And like any other thing bought for consumption, it has side effects. If the fact that a baby being a blessing or that abortion is murder cannot convince us enough that we should not abort, then another thing to consider is the fact that abortion not only kills babies, but greatly harms women. First, complications are by no means rare, and may include injury to the bowel or the bladder, hemorrhaging and infection. About 1 in every 20 women suffers a laceration of the cervix that causes a 50/50 chance of miscarriage in your next pregnancy if left untreated. Studies show that if you choose to become pregnant later you will be more likely to bleed in the first three months of the pregnancy, less likely to have a normal delivery and more likely to have complications expelling the baby and its placenta. Also your next baby will be more likely to be born prematurely, twice as likely to die in the first few months of life, and three to four times more likely to die in the last months of his first year of life. Further, women who have undergone abortions have significantly higher rates of breast cancer later in life (breast cancer has risen by 50% in America since 1973 when abortion became legal) and a higher rate of sterility. One in twenty to fifty women become sterile: the risk of secondary infertility is three to four times greater than among women who have never had an abortion. Now add to all of this the emotional and spiritual damage that is referred to as “Post-Abortion Syndrome.” Women who have abortions are more likely to experience depression, sleep disorders, mood disorders and unexplained fears.
Maybe we made a mistake in getting pregnant: we should not compound the sin by committing a more egregious one. A child is not a curse or a punishment–a child is a gift from God Almighty Himself. No matter how wrong your timing for the pregnancy is, God can make it right. No matter how difficult the road may be right now, God will walk it with us and deliver us and our baby safely at the end! If we feel we absolutely can’t keep your child (or do not choose to), there are thousands of loving homes with families that would thank God for the whole of their lives that they were allowed the gift of a new baby they may not have been able to have had otherwise, for instance the Kyota in Kenya. Help is out there. Abortion is NEVER the only choice we have, regardless of how you may feel at this moment.
Finally, like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. The irony is, regardless of this, our quivers are empty- well, almost. The irony is that which was and still is a blessing has become our curse. The irony is, despite a child being a blessing we consciously choose to kill it. The irony is despite the truth, that we all know, which comes from the father, we will still kill our children, even in years to come. Sad. Really sad.
kebeneij 