Abort or aspire?

The teaching of Hinduism clearly points that jiva hatya (killing of the soul) is a maha paap (a great sin). It has been said that killing of the child in the womb is a bigger sin than Brahm hatya (murder of a priest). There are many interesting and beautiful references to the subject of procreation, progeny, pregnancy, motherhood, etc, in the Vedas and the later religious literature. The scriptural commandment is there, of course, clear and plain. The Taittreya Upanishad states specifically: Prajathanthum Ma Vyavathchethsehi - “Do not cut the thread of progeny!” (HT August 1986). This view has been previously articulated in the this column.

The Inter Religious Organisation finally decided to make a public position against abortion known, therefore bringing all the traditional religious belief systems against the agents of abortion. However these aspiring agents of abortion appear to only have the Roman Catholic Church in their gun sights, as only the Catholic position and advocates have been challenged publicly. The IRO and indeed this Hindu columnist have aggressively spoken out against the sin of abortion as advocated by those with that aspiration. Therefore one has to conclude that there is perhaps another agenda unknown in play. The role of funding from family planning international organisations perhaps sees only this religious tradition as an obstacle in their pathway. Whatever the agenda it is clear that not the entire gruesome picture on abortion is being presented to the nation.

Aspiring abortion advocates have gone as far as to state that it is the Catholic Church that is “preventing the sovereign government from engaging in a dialogue about the reform of the law of abortion.” This is not true. The Prime Minister made it clear in his post-Cabinet meeting with the media in 2003 that his Government is pro-life. What could be clearer than that? The Government is not fooled by aspiring persons who claim that their agenda is pro-life. All they wish to do is perpetuate the culture of death that pervades our land. These persons also state that “Facts have shown that where abortion laws were liberalised the actual abortion rate took a nosedive. These are facts that can be proven if requested and this situation applies even to some countries in the Caribbean.” This is a however is yet another lie to the people of Trinidad and Tobago. These persons keep quoting places like Romania. Why don’t they quote the UK, USA etc. In the USA abortion has increased dramatically since Roe v Wade in 1976 with about 1.5 million abortions per annum, plus since then there have been over 432 million chemical abortions. So the idea that legalising abortion will reduce abortions is certainly not true.

At a recent seminar a doctor from Guyana made it clear that since they legalised abortion in 1995, abortions have risen and back street abortions continue as many women do not wish to be stigmatised by being ‘found out’ when they go for abortions. These persons also throw out the rape card to moblise sympathy to their cause. They have said openly there should be “no hesitation in advising a woman who was raped and gets pregnant as a result not to bring that child into this world.” Yet what is often not told (or the sin of omission) but it is important for the public to know that only 1 percent of abortions are done because of rape and incest. They keep missing the issue that where two people’s lives are involved, the foetus and the mother, both have a right to life. A recent government-funded study in Finland shows that women who abort are approximately four times more likely to die in the following year than women who carry their pregnancies to term. In addition, women who carry to term are only half as likely to die as women who were not pregnant.

“This is an impeccable, record-based study,” said David C Reardon, PhD, who authored a review of the Finland study and other related studies in the latest issue of The Post-Abortion Review. “It proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that abortion is not safer than childbirth.” Researchers from the statistical analysis unit of Finland’s National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health examined death certificate records for all women of reproductive age (15-49) who died between 1987 and 1994 - a total of 9,129 women. They then examined the national health care database to identify any pregnancy-related events for the women in the 12 months prior to their deaths. The researchers found that compared to women who carried to term, women who aborted in the year prior to their deaths were 60 percent more likely to die of natural causes, seven times more likely to die of suicide, four times more likely to die of injuries related to accidents, and 14 times more likely to die from homicide. Researchers believe the higher rate of deaths related to accidents and homicide may be linked to higher rates of suicidal or risk-taking behavior.

“Even though this important study was published in the top Scandinavian obstetrics journal, it has been completely ignored by the American press,” Reardon said. “Even worse, abortion counselors continue to lie to American women. They are telling women that abortion is safer than childbirth, when this and other irrefutable studies prove exactly the opposite. The entire body of medical literature clearly shows that abortion contributes to a decline in women’s physical and mental health. Women aren’t hearing this. Nor are they being told that giving birth actually contributes to women’s overall health, not only in comparison to those who abort but also in comparison to women who have not been pregnant.” Reardon believes that abortion providers are collaborating with population control zealots to conceal the risks of abortion in order to advance their own financial and social engineering agendas. “If they were really pro-choice, they would want women to know about abortion’s true risks,” he said. “Instead, they are offering women a bundle of half-truths and complete fabrications.”