Voices: Abortion: Will we resolve the age-old debate?

Elections across America were held Nov. 7. Where abortion was on the ballot, it appears abortion won in most cases. People, especially women, voted for freedom to choose what they do with a pregnancy.

Humanity has been debating whether to kill an unborn child or not since life began.

Sanctity of life in the Bible

Exodus 21:22-23 says if a man causes a woman with a child to miscarry, he must pay a financial fine. If the lady experiences lasting harm, the man can receive the death penalty. “Life for life.”

Pro-life Christians cite several Biblical passages for the sanctity of life.

At creation, God formed man in God’s image (Genesis 1:26-27).

The sixth of the 10 Commandments says, “Thou shalt not kill” (Exodus 20:13 KJV).

In Psalms, King David writes:

Jeremiah, Isaiah and the Apostle Paul are among those who claim they were called by God before birth for the tasks they undertook in life.

History of abortion

Midwives were used in Bible days to deliver babies, and secular history tells us they also helped with abortions. These assistants used herbs, sharp tools or bloodletting to speed the miscarriage process. They might have had the patient jump up and down or lift heavy burdens. Such methods were used for centuries.

Before 1821, obtaining an abortion was relatively easy, and less thought was given to it. Large families were common, and abortion was a birth control method.

By 1850, the average woman had six to nine children. They didn’t want more kids underfoot, but the ladies had to undergo brutal methods to rid themselves of an unwanted pregnancy. They were given cocktails that could kill them, or brutal instruments were used that might cause death.

By 1880, all states adopted laws restricting abortion, but most states had exceptions. If a woman’s life wasn’t in jeopardy due to pregnancy, she most likely had to abort secretly.

In 1873, Congress passed a law prohibiting the sale of contraceptives.

Family size remained a huge problem. Women continued to circumvent laws and subject themselves to possible death as they aborted a child.

Fast forward to 1916. Margaret Sanger opened the first clinic for birth control. Her efforts led to the modern Planned Parenthood clinics.

Roe v. Wade changed everything. In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court declared the 14th Amendment protected abortion. Abortion became a legal birth control method.

In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision. No longer would women have the protected, federal right to an abortion. The decision leaves abortion laws to the states. Each state makes its own law.

Abortion by state

Women across the land can have abortions. If the state where they live passes laws to prevent abortion, they can travel across state lines to a state that accommodates them.

Each state decides on a cutoff date for abortion, but a few citizens across the land want abortion after birth. Is it acceptable to deliver a healthy baby and then kill it, all the while calling it abortion?

Texas law prohibits abortion after six weeks, with exceptions. A heartbeat can be detected at six weeks. If life ends with a heartbeat, doesn’t it also begin with one?

Virginians failed to approve a law to ban abortion with exceptions after 15 weeks. The unborn feels pain at 15 weeks. Is it OK for the baby to experience the shock and agony of being torn apart?

Some states, like Oregon, allow abortion up to the moment of delivery.

Personal questions about abortion

I find it incongruous how many people have more compassion for the discomfort of an animal than they do for the pain of the unborn child. Are our views upside down?

I am pro-life, but I understand abortion sometimes is necessary. In my opinion, lawmakers should leave the abortion issue alone. I wish they would busy themselves with other matters, such as inflation, the national debt and border security. Give the abortion question a rest.

Whether planned or accidental, for most women, the loss of a child produces a horrendous sadness. As I face the loss of a daughter who grows sicker each day with early-onset dementia, I realize the measure of this grief.

If I had known what lay ahead for her at this date, would I have aborted her to spare her this unbearable disease? Would I rob her of the delights she had in life before her illness? Should I have robbed myself of the joys of being her mom? Fortunately, I didn’t know the future, and I didn’t know the agony of making such a choice.

Should humanity condone abortion? Allow it willy-nilly? I pose questions I have no answer for. The debate seems to have started shortly after the Garden of Eden days, and I suspect it will continue until the end of time.