Wednesday, April 6, 2011

"Abortion - Not Healthcare"

Today is World Health Day. As such, myself and like-minded bloggers are working to debunk the common misunderstanding that abortion (one of the most common surgical procedures in the world) is healthcare. I contend that it isn't, for reasons I'll state below.


1) Abortion: Not a Physical Health benefit.

So to be really obvious: What is Healthcare?
At its most basic, healthcare is the care of people's mental and physical health.  It is the prevention of disease, illness and stress resulting in mental disorders, and the treatment of every kind of sickness and mental illness.  It is also the promotion of healthy living and behaviours.

Abortion - what is it and how does it fit into Healthcare?
You'd be justified in thinking it's stupid to explain what abortion is.
Actually, it's a little more complicated than a simple 'surgical procedure'.  Abortion can be scientifically described as the termination and removal of the embryo/foetus from the uterus of the mother.  Let's put it more simply: abortion ends the life of a living human being  - a being that at the time of the operation will have a heartbeat, as well as (often) measurable brain waves.

Quit the pro-life yabbering and answer the question.


Ok. What the debate (whether or not abortion is healthcare) rests ultimately upon is what the foetus is.
For the sake of the argument, the foetus is, in the belief of most pro-choice people, a lump of tissue that will at some point during the pregnancy - or even, as soon as it draws breath, become a human being.  Before that, it is merely a tumor, something that will keep growing until it has become something that brings a woman the pain of morning sickness, of child birth etc.  It impinges on her social ability, and could seriously constrict her career plans.

IF it were true that the foetus is a lump of tissue during the majority of a woman's pregnancy, then pro-choice people would not be far wrong from saying that abortion is a healthcare issue.

Unfortunately for them, they are wrong about the foetus being merely a clump of tissue or at best, a parasitical creature that has no right to the womb.  As stated above, abortions always kill babies with heartbeats.
Most random lumps of tissue do not have heartbeats.  The presence of a heartbeat says something radical.  It says: Hey, I'm living!  Science is quite predictable about what the foetus is.  All biology textbooks agree: the egg and sperm together create a new individual that has its own unique DNA info - all the data it needs to produce a unique Somebody.

Abortion, then, reliably kills a unique somebody.  And unique somebodies can not be called sicknesses that can be cured with 'healthcare'.  That just doesn't match up with the science.

Yeah, sure.  But it's the mother's choice.  If she feels like she couldn't cope with the baby, like mental stress and stuff, then she should be allowed the choice to make decisions about her own body.


So we're on to the next part of what healthcare does: It works to prevent/cure mental illness and stresses.
It's outrageously early in the morning, so I'll use a quote from a fellow blogger from the groundswell youth for life movement, on the prolife.org.nz blog.

"David Fergusson, a professor at Otago University based at Christchurch hospital conducted some studies (not sure how many – google him) that proved a causal link between abortion and an increased risk of mental health problems – 1.4 – 1.8 times the control rate. 98% of abortions in New Zealand are conducted on the grounds of risk to the mental health of the mother.  This inconsistency is astounding." - (thanks, Alex)


Add to that the fact that abortion has huge health risks for women (which I'll write about later) that makes it
an incredibly unsafe operation for both mother and child.

What we're seeing here is that Abortion isn't healthcare.  In terms of women's safety, their risk of increased complications due to abortion (breast cancer, depression, inability to have further children, infections, bleeding etc.) - are very high.  In terms of the foetus' health - this unique somebody that we discussed - abortion does away with their need for healthcare.

Here are a list of articles that have been written to address this issue:

National Public Health Week & Abortion - The A Word
If Abortion is Healthcare than Healthcare is Dead - The Culture Vulture
Abortion: Not Healthcare - Insights From Eire - Prolife NZ
World Health Day: Abortion Is Not A Health Issue - Dr. Matthew Flannagan, PhD
Madeleine Is Right, Abortion isn't a Health Issue, it's a Moral Issue - Dr. Jim West, ThD
Is Abortion Healthcare? - Dr. Glenn Peoples, PhD
Abortion: It's A Health Issue AND A Crime - Jim Mc Veagh, MD
On World Health Day Tell The World: "Abortion Is Not Healthcare" - JillStanek.com

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