I am a woman, a woman who likely will not be able to conceive and carry my own

children which breaks my heart, but something that breaks my heart more it that there are women
in this world who have the ability to conceive and they choose to terminate. I am not in their
position and likely will never understand the thoughts going through their heads when that
decision is being made or the situation that may have brought about their pregnancy, but I know
that it breaks my heart every time I hear of a baby being aborted. I am not the only woman in this
boat as a predicted 10 percent of women in the United States also struggle with not being able to
conceive and give birth to their own children.
According to the National Right to Life site, there have been 60,942,033 total abortions
performed since 1973. Almost 70 million women have chosen to terminate and get rid of a
potential child in the last 45 years, meaning more than a million babies a year are aborted.
With very little chance of that potential child being available for myself, that number
brings up so much sadness. How could someone throw away something so precious? I would
like to share a story that I feel does so much good at representing the hope we can spread to
others by being examples of the importance of children and their place in this world. This story
was shared on Aleteia.org:
“One day, I saw the receptionist at our apartment and it looked like she’d been crying. I asked
her what was up. She told me, “You.”
I didn’t understand, but she invited me in to sit with her. It turned out she’d just broken up with
her boyfriend and found out afterward that she was pregnant. Two girlfriends already offered to
drive her to get an abortion, but she said seeing my son every day, holding him as he smiled and
kicked, she couldn’t. She just couldn’t.
Her reaction to me actually echoed my own reaction to someone else: I’d become a stay-at-home
mom because I’d seen a baby boy in the daycare and witnessed his smiles. I couldn’t not be with
my son, I just couldn’t. That unknown baby’s smiles led to my staying home and being
desperately lonely … and that led to sharing my son’s smiles with this pregnant receptionist. I
hugged her and we cried over her worries.
We talked about what she could do. I’d never counseled anyone before, but we created a plan. It
involved calling a doctor to get herself checked, calling her folks to get support and calling her
boyfriend to let him know. I didn’t know what would happen, but told her we’d be there for her
regardless. She gave my son a kiss and dried her eyes.”
This story represents the idea that children are amazing and do have a place in this world and
therefore abortion should not be the answer to pregnancy.
Individuals who have abortions performed are at risk for many different health problems and
mental health issues are a major issue. A study called, “Differential impact of abortion on
adolescents and adults” conducted by W. Franz and D. Reardon does a good job of illustrating
this by talking about the negative psychological impact an abortion can have on a woman and
those around her. Another study speaks about the ethical issues of dealing with women who have
had abortions as a counselor. This one is called Induced Abortion: An Ethical Conundrum for
Counselors. Abortion has a huge impact on a lot of people.
Not only can abortion have a major impact on the individual involved and families involved, but
it can have a huge impact on our society and even our politics. According to life.com in the long
run the rise in abortions will lead to a disproportion of democrats to republicans in the United
States. Democrats are more likely to have abortions and therefore the number of children born to
democrats will end up being lower, children tend to lean towards their own parents views which
in the long run can lead to a decline in those who are democrats. This can have a huge impact on
where the politics of this nation are going and ultimately can end up hurting the agenda of
Democrats, who are the majority of those who support abortion, in other areas of politics.
While very few laws currently exist or have been proposed to help the prolife agenda there are
many laws including New York’s reproductive health act that do the opposite of what should be
done regarding abortion. This law allows abortions to be done after the 24-week mark in a
pregnancy. Children have been born and lived before that time in a pregnancy. We need to make
changes to current legislation regarding abortion.
If you want to see changes made to legislation that involves abortion, you need to act. Be
involved in your local communities, use your right to vote, this is the best way in which we can
share our voice. Reach out to those around you, speak out. There are many good organizations
including American Life League, Human Life Alliance, and Pro-life healthcare alliance, that you
can participate in that fully support the prolife agenda. Work to be heard and don’t be afraid to
share your beliefs and ideas, especially when it comes to your votes towards policies and laws in
our nation. That is where change starts.
 References

Franz, W., & Reardon, D. (1992). Differential impact of abortion on adolescents and adults.

Adolescence, 27(105), 161. Retrieved from https://byui.idm.oclc.org/login?

url=https://search-ebscohost-com.byui.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=f5h&AN=9203093805&site=eds-live

Krieger, N., Gruskin, S., Singh, N., Kiang, M. V., Chen, J. T., Waterman, P. D., … Coull, B.

A. (2016). Article: Reproductive justice & preventable deaths: State funding, family

planning, abortion, and infant mortality, US 1980–2010. SSM - Population Health, 2,

277–293. https://doi-org.byui.idm.oclc.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2016.03.007

Lanfranchi, A., Gentles, I. J., Ring-Cassidy, E., & Ring-Cassidy, E. (2013). Complications:

Abortions impact on women. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: DeVeber Institute for

Bioethics and Social Research.

Millner, V. S., & Hanks, R. B. (2002). Induced Abortion: An Ethical Conundrum for

Counselors. Journal of Counseling & Development, 80(1), 57.

https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6678.2002.tb00166.x

National Right to Life. (n.d.). Factsheets. Retrieved February 15, 2019, from

https://www.nrlc.org/factsheets/

The Life Resources Charitable Trust. (2011). Impact of Abortion on Society. Retrieved February

15, 2019, from http://www.life.org.nz/abortion/abortionkeyissues/impact-on-society-

abortion/