Did you know that a baby has all of its vital organs and its heart can beat in the fourth month of a woman’s pregnancy?

And did you also know that this is the time when most women have their abortions?

This is why the American people have set out to pass a bill that will outlaw any abortion to take place after the first three months of a pregnancy, also known as the first trimester. Abortion is a very controversial issue because as of now, it is a woman’s constitutional right to have a choice. Outlawing abortion all together would be a violation of this right however, we also know that it is unconstitutional to terminate a functioning human being. That is why it is absolutely necessary to set limits as to when abortions can take place and when they can’t. Any time after the first trimester is far too late for many reasons.

Many studies have shown that a baby can survive outside the mother’s womb as early as 20 weeks. That is approximately 4 months into the pregnancy. According to California laws, a fetus is considered a human. Meaning that if a women is assaulted and her fetus is killed, but she survives, it is considered a homicide. If the fetus is injured it is battery and if the fetus is handicapped due to medical negligence it is considered mal-practice. Yet we allow the killing of babies to take place legally on a mother’s consent.

Isn’t this a double standard? The Roe vs. Wade act was put into affect in 1973. Under this law it is considered a criminal act to viciously kill a fetus without consent, yet doctors viciously kill unborn babies every day without the label of a being a criminal. These doctors not only perform this procedure as late as eight months into a pregnancy, they also perform partial birth abortions; meaning the baby can still be terminated as it is partially born.

It is acts like these that must be eliminated. Not only do abortions cause death to the children they greatly put the mothers life at risk even years after the abortion. In recent studies we have found that breast cancer can be directly linked to abortions. A pro-abortion scientist by the name of Janet Daling developed a study in which she found an overall 50% risk increase of breast cancer in women that have abortion histories. She stated, “I would have loved to have found no association between breast cancer and abortion but our research is rock solid and our data is accurate.”

Emotional and psychological health is also greatly affected by having an abortion. Women who have had abortions often experience severe depression for many years afterward. Our society has come a long way since the seventies and I think it’s time to reevaluate what we are doing here. There are so many other solutions out there. Open adoption is a great way to bring joy to a family that can’t have kids and still allow the birth mother to see their children. An unprepared mother or unplanned pregnancy is no reason to get an abortion. It’s the easy way out. Wouldn’t you rather give a child a chance at life?

By Alissa Caldwell
Senior High School Project, 2003
Daughter of Director and Vice-President