By Samantha Pettinato

When exactly did humanity decide that it was our obligation, nay, our right to start playing the role of God? Perhaps it began with the gladiators, the mighty Emperor pointing his thumb downward to signify death. Or, with the enslavement of the African race, made subject to their owner’s demands. No, it most definitely started when women were stoned and called whores, while men congratulated each other on their “latest conquests.” For centuries humans have strived for greatness; we seek power, omniscience, immortality…and for centuries humans have fallen short. In the rat-race we call life we are so blinded by what seems good, that we often overlook what we sub-consciously know is right. I do not write to you as an “uptight Catholic”, or a “hypocritical preacher,” but instead as an informed individual. Dr. Seuss, a visionary author, once wrote, “A person’s a person, no matter how small.” But what is a person? What is a life? These are the questions I leave you to answer.

The value of a life

I believe that the most serious problem we face as a modern-day society is our inability to distinguish the value of a life. Suicide bombings, war, the death penalty, euthanasia, prostitution, child labour, and finally abortion; just what has society come to? We have become a machine; operating on one wave-length, unable to think for ourselves. I present to you the abortion debate: pro-life or pro-choice? This battle has been ongoing, the warriors who have gone before us each fighting for their own cause. Much blood was spilled; innocent casualties of war, these unnamed faces tossed into garbage cans after a hard day at work. I speak for those who do not have a voice. I speak for the victims of society’s sins.

In 2004, over 100 000 abortions were performed in Canada alone, and in that same year 337 000 babies were born into our country. Allow me to put this into perspective for you; one in four children in Canada are aborted. In 19th Century Canada, abortion was illegal; however the law was liberalized in 1969, and thrown out completely in 1988. In less than one hundred years our country has turned full circle, and I feel we do not fully understand the consequences of our actions. Abortion has not only claimed the lives of approximately 2 800 000 innocent Canadian children since 1970, but it has also paved the way for a society that is more violent and unfeeling. Suicide rates are climbing; violence and drug abuse are as high as ever. Children are immune to the gore they see in films and video games. Life is nothing; death is nothing.

Humans have been desensitized to the horrors of murder and death, and as a result they cannot even begin to understand the consequences of immoral actions. I fear that one day killing a child will be taken no more seriously than killing an insect. I fear that legally taking the life of an unborn child, will develop into legally taking the life of a senior citizen. I fear that if society continues to move in the direction in which it is heading, morality will not just be fogged as it is now, but lost in a sea of misshapen thoughts.

Climbing down off the fence

For a long time I sat on the fence, as I am sure a number of you do, unable to determine whether I was pro-life or pro-choice. Society has deemed it revolutionary, feministic, liberal to be pro-choice, and stubborn, passé, and conservative to remain pro-life. Who wants to be labelled as “old-fashioned?” Most certainly not you; most definitely not I. I urge you however, to ignore societal labels and formulate your own conclusions on what is wrong, and what is right. I researched the issue, examined my conscience, and then developed my belief; and before you pass judgement, I urge you to do the same. I am sure we can all agree that killing is wrong. If one adopts a logistic approach to thinking; killing is wrong, abortion is killing, therefore abortion is wrong. However, nothing is ever that simple.

I am sure a number of you regard my thoughts as nothing more than child’s chatter, but facts are facts. Canada is one of the few countries in the world with absolutely no laws regarding abortion. Some of you may applaud this statistic; however I question your motive. Digital imaging has shown us that there is life inside the womb; we see the child, we can hear a heartbeat. They have hands, feet, and fingernails. Some babies are born premature, as early as six months, and grow into healthy adults. In fact, some children survive attempted abortions and go on to live long and healthy lives. No argument can deny the existence of life within the womb. Therefore, abortion becomes a question of the value of the life of the unborn child. Society has become a place where the easy way out, is now the best way. Is teen pregnancy easy? No. But since when was life supposed to be easy?

Too busy being feminists

Why do women of today choose to have abortions? Abortion in Canada states, “Inadequate finances, inability to handle responsibility, woman’s life would be changed too much, too young, fetus has possible health problems…” Canada’s support of abortion is said to be a step forward in Women’s Rights. I ask you, however, when did selfishness become associated with Women’s Rights? Think of all the female children lost because their mothers were too busy being feminists. Those helpless girls were talented; they possessed futures as academics, politicians, and revolutionaries! The pro-choice movement has developed into the no-choice movement, with young women often-times forced into abortions by unsupportive boyfriends and families. Society needs to protect our women, and our children; unfortunately an easy escape such as abortion is not the solution. Mothers need assistance, finances, people with whom they can confide; they do not need another human being tearing their insides to pieces.

In Canada, abortion is legal at any stage within a pregnancy and there is no legal requirement to discuss the psychological effects, or the procedure of the abortion with the expecting mother before the surgery is performed. The average woman therefore enters the surgery with no idea what is going on inside her, and completely unaware of the side-effects. These can include long term health risks such as breast cancer, and infertility, not to mention greater risk in future pregnancies.

Abortion in Canada is only the beginning; in fact it is spreading faster than the Bubonic Plague, raking in a grand total of 42 million babies taken worldwide each and every year. Don’t think that is enough? Don’t fear! Abortion is the newest trend. Like everything else in our society if you don’t want it? Don’t like it? Then why keep it? Throw it out, or trade it in for an upgrade at your own convenience! This is the philosophy that our society has adopted. In India gender selection occurs; meaning if an ultrasound confirms that a woman will give birth to a daughter, she will have it aborted. This supports the notion of male supremacy; but wait a minute, did society not tell us that abortion was feministic?

A call to arms

I do not present you with a question of religion, politics, or feminism. What I present you with is a question of life… or death. Abortion no longer exists to preserve the life of the mother, but to exploit the life of a child. Dr. Ratner* said, “In times past, abortion took the life of one, for otherwise two would die. Today, abortion takes the life of one, where otherwise two would live.” And so I send out a call to arms; the battle rages onward, though many deem it already lost. If you take nothing from this article then I ask you to remember this; abortion is wholly different than any other medical procedure, as no other procedure aims to terminate a potential human life. And so I leave you with the words of Mother Teresa, “If we can accept that a mother can kill her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?” Pro-life, pro-choice; what does it mean anyway; for when the choice involves life, what is there to choose?

*Herbert Ratner, M.D. (1907 - 1997)  was professor of family and community medicine at Loyola University, Chicago, and visiting professor of community and preventive medicine at New York Medical college. He was appointed as consultant to the Pontifical Council on the Family in 1982 by Pope John Paul II.