How Much Is That A Baby In The Womb

There is a petition making its way around stating Tell Harper: Hands off our reproductive rights.  This is because on the 26^th of April (today) Stephen Harper is apparently going to allow Conservative MP Stephen Woodworth to put forward a motion in the House of Commons which clearly opens the possibility of re-criminalizing abortion.  I have read this motion, Motion 312 and it is one asking that a committee of the House be appointed and directed to review the declaration in Subsection 223(1) of the Criminal Code of Canada which states that a child becomes a human being only at the moment of complete birth.  This committee would be asked to submit their findings after 10 months on what medical evidence exists to demonstrate that a child is or is not a human being before the moment of complete birth.

I suppose the concern of allowing this motion to move forward is the fear of what the findings would mean.  IF they find there is evidence that a child is a human being before the moment of complete birth it opens the discussion of when it actually does happen and IF they decide that it is a human being in the womb then it would it still be illegal to abort it? 

This petition goes on to talk about the conditions for women before abortions were legal and the medical danger they were in from attempting to abort themselves without medical assistance.  I know this is something that did happen before abortions were legal.  I am also sure that it still happens even though they are legal. 

Before I get to far into this debate I would like to say that I know that some of the women reading this might have already had an abortion.  I want you to know I do not think you are evil, and I am not trying to look down on you for choosing this option that was available to you.  You know the reasons for the decision you made.  If I disagree with those reasons it only means that I disagree with that choice not that I am apposed to you.  I do know women that have had abortions and just because I believe they made a poor choice does not mean I do know love them as people.  

Now, I’m not going to get too far into the legality or politics of abortion and pregnancy because, to be honest I don’t understand in its entirety how the political system works.  What I will talk about is the reasons that are always mentioned for WHY they should be legal.  I have had a few discussions with people in the past about abortion.  Every time this issue is raised the question is eventually asked.  “What if the woman gets pregnant from rape?”  I have looked up the statistics of this and they vary.  It’s somewhere between 0.3% and 1% of all abortions performed because the woman was raped.  The other concern people raise is “What if the woman is at medical risk because of the pregnancy?”  Statistics on this one account for no more than 3% of all abortions.  So my question is why is the exception making the rule?  The vast majority of abortions are performed for elective reasons.  Now, I am in no way saying that there are not traumatic situations and extremely difficult struggles in the rest of the cases.  I do not want anyone to think that I believe 96% of abortions are done flippantly with no regard.  I know there are a lot of reasons women would like this to be an option and a choice.  There are a lot of other options however. 

The largest number of abortions are done for the reasons of affordability and responsibility.  What I wonder is why these women are getting pregnant in the first place.  There is choice in that too.  Abortion should not be used as a form of birth control so if you aren’t ready to have a baby then I would think it would be much easier to prevent one before it happened rather than get rid of it once it does.  There are condoms, the pill, the shot, IUD (although this doesn’t actually prevent conception just attachment so there could still be some controversy over it), sterilization, the patch and the ever popular abstinence.  I know everyone loves that one but it IS very effective.  It’s the method I used until I was married EVEN THOUGH I was already on the pill for problems with my cycle.  I know it’s not the easiest method of birth control but it IS an option that is often brushed aside or sometimes not even considered.  I know all the arguments against abstinence.  Why?  Because as an abstainer many people wanted to change my mind with their position.  I had many people argue with me about it, tell me I was stupid and throw every type of opposition to it in my face.  This may be a topic to cover in a different post but for now I’ll just say abstinence is possible and a viable option.  In short, birth control methods are pretty darn effective these days.  If you don’t want to get pregnant there really are ways around it.  I have worked with quite a few young girls in my day. 

I have heard them say things like “If I got pregnant my parents would kill me.”  This is a slight exaggeration since I’m pretty sure your parent’s wouldn’t actually commit murder because of your actions but does this make it a case of survival of the fittest?  So they don’t kill you you instead kill your own child?  Let’s face it though, pregnancy does sometimes and sex does come with that risk.  Shouldn’t we require people to take responsibility for their actions?  Society requires people to take responsibility for their actions all the time.  This is part of the reason for laws and a justice system.  If I choose to break the law then I need to be aware that there could be the possibility of me paying for that action in some way.  There are risks and consequences.  Why shouldn’t it be the same with pregnancy?  I have sex; I take the responsibility for the pregnancy that is a possible outcome of that action.    

I was just looking up how much it costs to have an abortion since I was sure it was a few hundred and that is definitely higher than the cost of birth control but I found something a little disturbing.  It was hard to find an actual dollar amount when I searched but I found a message board where someone was asking this very question.  The woman that answered said that she had one but since she was in Ontario Canada it was covered by our provincial health care.  This I have a problem with.  The statistic is that 94% of abortions are done for elective reasons.  I thought that health care wasn’t supposed to cover elective procedures.  If someone is going to chose to have an abortion I would really prefer if the money in the health care system wasn’t used to cover it. 

Some abortions are done because there is a medical problem with the fetus.  I was unable to find statistical numbers on what percent are done for this reason.  I realize that every parent would like their child to be “perfect” in order to make things the easiest they can be for them.  It would be difficult to face the struggle of having a child with a birth defect.  Down’s syndrome is one example.  If you talk to the family of someone with Down’s syndrome how many talk of the blessing and the joy that person’s perpetual childlike wonderment has brought into their lives?  I know there are a lot of factors involved in this particular portion of the debate and it’s not entirely simple but I do want to mention that the tests done in the womb can be wrong or exaggerated.  I have known a few women who have been told their baby would be born with complications, issues and defects only to have an almost perfectly healthy baby arrive with very little corrective measures needed.  The tests are not infallible.  Yes, a birth defect could be difficult to deal with, inconvenient and heartbreaking but I believe they should be given a chance.  If the birth defects are, in fact, severe then the chances of the child coming to full term or living an extended life are greatly diminished.  Why take matters into our own hands? 

The other option that I haven’t spoken about is adoption.  There are so many couples that are looking to adopt and that would remove the issue of your financial responsibility in the matter as well as your responsibility to raise the child.  The only issue then is the inconvenience of going through with the pregnancy.  Yes, I will admit pregnancy isn’t always the easiest to live with.  It’s uncomfortable, inconvenient, and it does change your body but IF that is a human, if that is a life and a child with feelings, personality and individuality then shouldn’t they be given a chance?  I do believe that children show their individuality and personality even in the womb.  I know this from experience.  I have had 2 children who demonstrated different energy levels, patterns of behavior, likes and dislikes all while in the womb.

Before my daughter I was pregnant once before.  At about 10 weeks I began to bleed and cramp and I lost the baby.  I spent a very long and agonizing night in the hospital doing tests and getting ultrasounds.  I spent that whole time crying and hoping beyond hope that everything would miraculously be okay.  I know this was a baby I wanted and I was not in the same position as someone who would be getting an abortion but loosing that pregnancy was devastating for me.  The ultrasounds showed that there was no heart beat and the doctors sent me home.  They gave me a urine collection cup and told me that some time in the next day or so I would pass the tissue and that they would like me to collect it to run tests.  This was something they shouldn’t have asked me to do.  It was a horrifying experience.  Once I did pass the “tissue” I scooped it into that little plastic cup and screwed the lid onto it.  My next thought was, now what do I do with it?  I didn’t have my appointment until the next day so I called my husband, inconsolable, asking what he though I should do.  We decided I would have to keep it in the fridge.  In the fridge!  I couldn’t stop looking at it.  This little 2 inch jumble of cells was covered in film but I could see a head and I could see arms and legs.  It was a little body that just stopped having a heartbeat.  I had been living and for some reason we will never know it died.  To me it was very much a human.  It had the potential for a full life the same as any other person and I mourned for that loss of potential.    

I do however think that women should have a choice.  They should have the right to choose to not get pregnant in the first place.  She should have the right to choose support to help her to make the best possible decision in a difficult situation.  She should have the right to choose a family to place her baby into when it’s delivered.  She should have the right to financial assistance should she decide to keep the child.  This might be a little idealistic to think that we could create a better environment of support for women instead of creating in them the fear of judgment for their pregnancy.  I realize that. 

I am also fairly certain that there won’t be a change to the legality of abortions.  Once something is made legal it is hard to go back.  Also the pro choice voice is very loud and difficult to compete with but IF this motion passes and IF they do “discover” that a child is a human before the moment of birth then wouldn’t it stand to reason that someone should be thinking about their right?  Shouldn’t we want to consider options other than killing them?  I know this won’t make me very popular with some of my readers but I DO believe that a child is a human before the moment they are born and as such I don’t think abortions should be so easily attainable or so casually preformed.  Even many people that do believe abortion should be a choice would disagree with partial birth or late term abortions but it is very difficult to draw a line of when exactly in the womb those cells all of a sudden become human.  If that line is so hard to find why not ere on the side of caution and look for any other option?  

In closing, I know this is a very controversial subject and I would like to ask for sensitivity and respect in posting of comments on this blog post as I hope that I have handled this topic in a sensitive and respectful manner.  Thank you.