“Humanize” Abortion

In an interview with Fox News, Nikki Haley, former U.N. ambassador and South Carolina governor and current GOP presidential candidate, was recently quoted as saying this about abortion, “I think that we have to humanize this issue. We’ve got to stop demonizing this issue.” Haley is trying to thread the needle and appeal to female voters without offending those women who have had an abortion or support a woman’s “right” to kill her child.

In another act of cowardice and spineless political spin, she also stated, “So while I’m unapologetically pro-life, I don’t judge anyone for being pro-choice.” In my mind, you are either for something or against it. There is no grey area. It’s like saying you promote peace but don’t judge those who wage war. It makes absolutely no sense.

However, let’s take Haley up on her suggestion and humanize not only abortion but also the miracle of conception and a child’s development in the womb.  If people understood what was happening and who they were harming this barbaric practice might end.

At the moment of conception, a genetically unique individual is created. According to the American College of Pediatricians, “At fertilization, the human being emerges as a whole, genetically distinct, individuated zygotic living human organism, a member of the species Homo sapiens, needing only the proper environment in order to grow and develop. The difference between the individual and its zygotic stage is one of form, not nature.” This unique human embryo is not just some random clump of cells, as many pro-choice advocates seem to think.

At 4 weeks, the heart is beating; at 6 weeks, eyes begin to form; at 8 weeks, all organs are in place and developing; at ten weeks, a thumb can be sucked, and pain can be felt; at 12 weeks there is movement within the womb; at 14 weeks hair is visible on the scalp; at 18 weeks the voice of the mother can be heard; at 21 weeks blood cells are produced; at 24 weeks a baby can survive outside the womb. These various milestones have been scientifically established as a human baby grows and develops.

To humanize abortion, we need to fully comprehend what these procedures do to a living, developing baby. Let’s start first with chemical abortions. According to the USCCB, a chemical abortion is completed by taking two drugs. The first one, Mifepristone, blocks progesterone, which “leads to the breakdown of the uterine lining and cuts off the child’s supply of oxygen and nutrients.” A second pill, misoprostol, “is taken 24-48 hours later to complete the abortion by inducing uterine contractions strong enough to expel the embryo and placenta.” So basically, the unborn human child is suffocated, denied nutrition, dies in utero, and discarded.  

Abortions performed in the first trimester are no better. Using a suction aspiration tool called a cannula, the unborn child is vacuumed out of the womb in dismembered pieces.  Another procedure called a D & C “cuts the baby’s body into pieces and cuts the placenta from the uterine wall.” In the second trimester, a D & E is performed. To perform a D & E, forceps are inserted into the cervix to twist and crush the baby’s limbs, body, and skull.

Abortions that occur after 20 weeks of gestation, known as late-term, are even more brutal. According to the Charlotte Lozier Institute, “These particularly gruesome surgical techniques involve crushing, dismemberment and removal of a fetal body from a woman’s uterus, mere weeks before, or even after, the fetus reaches a developmental age of potential viability outside the mother.” 

How can one look at the very nature and consequences of these various abortion methods and not demonize them? To demonize something means to portray it as evil or wicked. Abortion is both evil and wicked as it not only harms the unborn child but does lasting psychological and physical harm to the mother. We cannot keep skirting around and sanitizing this issue as a society. People need to come to grips with the dreadful reality that abortion is murder, and deep down, everyone knows it.

This does not mean we cannot help and support those who have had or are contemplating an abortion. Chances are a parent or boyfriend coerced them to terminate the pregnancy. Perhaps they were scared and felt alone, unable to deal with the demands of motherhood. These women and girls deserve to know the truth of their actions, even if it deeply hurts their feelings. They must face their deed with humility and repentance if they are ever to be healed. The God of mercy always offers His outstretched hands to those in need. And yes, Nikki Haley, let’s all humanize abortion, and by doing so, we will let everyone know how truly horrible it is.