"My view of life...is very simple. Put simply, I believe that life is dolorously boring and hence has no meaning whatsoever".
So begins Single Lilly's opinion piece entitled "Teenage Abortion: Why It's Not So Bad". I suspect, however, that Ms. Lilly looks both ways before crossing the street and does not engage in drink-driving every Friday and Saturday night. Probably she eats three meals a day and does not juggle Homelite chainsaws while they are running. But if she really believes what she says, why wouldn't she close her eyes when crossing Gwamile on a busy Tuesday morning, or see just how many limb-dismembering Homelites she can keep in the air at once? Such actions certainly would relieve the boredom, and if they ended in her death, well, she's already said life has no meaning, so there'd be no loss.
In all likelihood Ms. Lilly engages in (and refrains from) a large number of behaviours which result in her continued survival and health. What we do always shows what we believe. We conclude, therefore, that Ms. Lilly believes life (hers at least) has enough meaning to act in ways intended to keep it going. Since Ms. Lilly's life is no more or less valuable than any other human life, let's see if abortion really is not so bad for the meaningful lives of women and children.
Ms. Lilly says "from what I've witnessed from close friends, abortion is usually a decision taken calmly, sanely and rationally". A couple of qualifiers deserve mention here. One, the women for whom abortion was a terrifying decision and experience probably aren't going to talk about it the way a sports fan talks about his favorite team or a young man talks about his new love. We naturally avoid discussion of events that hurt us. Consequently, Ms. Lilly has not heard much from the women for whom abortion was (and continues to be) a disaster. Two, the number of women Ms. Lilly has spoken to (specifically, her close friends) is relatively small, compared to all the women who undergo abortions. Her sample is not representative. What do representative surveys tell us about womens' experiences with abortion?
Dr. David Reardon of the Elliot Institute in America studies the effects of abortion on women. His website http://www.afterabortion.org contains oceans of research on the topic. Consider a few results of much larger surveys in Europe, Britain and the United States:
* 64% of women having abortions felt pressured by others.
* 52% felt rushed and 54% were not sure about the decision at the time.
* In a survey of women who sought help after abortion, 83% said they would have carried to term if they had received support from the baby’s father, their family, or other important people in their lives.
* 84% reported that they did not receive adequate counseling.
* 79% were not informed about available alternatives.
* 31% of women suffered health complications after abortion. 10% suffer immediate complications, one-fifth of which are life-threatening.
* Women have a 65% higher risk of clinical depression after abortion compared to women who give birth.
* 65% suffer multiple symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder after abortion.
* Death rates from all causes are 3.5 times higher among women who abort, compared to women who give birth.
* 60% said “part of me died,” according to a survey of women who aborted.
* Suicide rates are 6 times higher for post-aborted women compared to women who give birth.
Clearly, the vast majority of women who undergo abortions suffer from them. Bearing in mind that we avoid discussion of painful experiences, the above results may under-represent the number of women injured through abortion.
The vast majority of us want to live rich and fulfilling lives. In our best moments, we also wish this for other people. Surveys of post-abortive women indicate that abortion is not the way to build those rich and fulfilling lives. Let us stand in solidarity and charity with women in crisis pregnancies; let us give them the love and support they need to take care of their unexpected children. The moms, the children, and we the helpers will all grow because of the experience.
