Tuesday 19 July 2011

4th Trimester Abortion.

Pregnancy usually lasts 9 months and based on this fact, it has been traditionally divided into three trimesters, each comprising of 3 months. Trimester comes from Latin Trimestris meaning “of three months”. It is also used by some Universities if their academic year is divided into three parts.

Abortion has been legalised in many countries, with each country vaguely or clearly defining when (time and circumstance) it is permissible to procure abortions. Initially it was only permitted in cases of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is in danger. Gradually the trend started changing; people began asking for abortion for any ‘unwanted’ pregnancies – abortion on demand. ‘Unwanted’ is a broad term can mean a teenage pregnancy, a case of a baby with some disability or even a case of a baby with an unwanted gender. There are also cases of women who think they’ve had enough children.

 They say: “Another one of these is not invited!” Or maybe I should put it more humanely: “So sorry baby but it seems we don’t have enough room for you in our home, finances and hearts.”
Reminds me of the sad case of the Titanic where many died because the life-boats were not filled to capacity.

Again the stage of pregnancy in which a woman can procure abortions has also gradually been adjusted. In some countries it is possible to terminate a pregnancy at 9 months. In essence you can kill your baby anytime before the onset of labour. So if after buying your baby clothes and play-things you suddenly think you don’t want him/her anymore, well it’s your ‘choice’; you go ahead and dispatch ‘it’. It’s your choice, isn’t it? Nobody will arrest you for murder; the laws of the State protect you. And as for your conscience, it had better mind its own business, which funnily happens to be you.

If pregnancies usually last 9 months or less, why the 4th Trimester? Can they stay for three more months? Well, it would be extraordinary for that to happen. By 4th T.A., I am referring to the act of allowing babies who survive abortions to die. Since there are cases of babies who come out of abortions alive, following the same reasoning that they are not worth being alive in the first place, they are left to die. So for the people who practice this, the argument for abortion is not really that the child in the womb is not a human being yet, but simply that he/she is not wanted. If you cannot kill it in the womb, then let it die outside.

“Oops! The product of conception (baby) is still animate (alive). Well, take it to the service room (trash can). It would probably have passed on when the men (trash collectors) come tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, I have to freshen-up. All this work is killing me.”

I ran into this concept of 4th T.A. (Infanticide), when I read an interview with Jill Stanek, a registered nurse in the US, who discovered a baby of about 22 weeks that was left to die in a dirty utility room after an induced-labour abortion. The baby had Down syndrome. She held the baby in her hands and rocked him so he would not die unloved. She couldn’t have saved his life because he was forced out of the womb when it was impossible to keep him alive outside. She eventually started a protest that led to the signing of the ‘Born-Alive Infants Protection Act’ by President George Bush protecting babies who had come out of an abortion alive.

The fact that humans can be as inhuman as to allow the barbaric practice of abortion and then infanticide should make us ask: What on earth is this abortion all about? Where is this leading us? If you’re pro-choice (pro-abortion): What the h*** am I supporting? I am of the opinion that the problem started when contraceptives (contra-conceptives) came into the scene. When man decided to determine who comes into the world that he did not make; when man decided to play God.

They tell women: “Use a pill (contraceptives) to prevent pregnancy. It’ll prevent fertilization. If that doesn’t work, it will make the womb uninhabitable for the blob of tissue (offspring) so it’ll have to pack. If that still doesn’t work, you can go to a doctor to remove the blob of tissue (offspring). These things happen, you know. Oh! And if it (the baby) comes out alive, then just let it pass on (die). You never wanted it in the first place, did you?”

The argument that the foetus (human offspring) is not really human must have reigned supreme until the advancements in medical care, making it possible for babies born at about 24 weeks (6 months) to survive. Again, ultrasound scans have been able to give us a good view of life in the womb (Temple in Japanese). With all these new developments, abortion promoters are looking for other ways to justify this evil. They raise the issue of women’s rights hiding under the fact that women are being marginalised. Is turning the person who is supposed to mother into the one who will murder, the way of solving the problem of marginalization? Is that a woman’s way of asserting her power?

Fortunately, some modern Geneticists have offered the opinion that life from conception is a continuum that if not interrupted will end in natural death at old age.  Those of us who have been through medical school will agree with this fact.

Abortion is still illegal in Nigeria. There were few attempts in recent times to legalise it under the guise of ‘Reproductive Health Bill’. Thank God the truth was revealed before it could go far. Recently I read that the UNFPA is going to invest about 6.6 billion Naira in Nigeria for the next 5 years in order to promote Maternal Health and Reproductive Health. I guess we have to expect another tsunami of pressures to legalise abortion in Nigeria. For the abortion promoters, here is an opportunity to sell your conscience and chop money. For those who promote human life and dignity, here is your chance to do more for humanity; to change hearts about abortion and make it unthinkable. For those who are indifferent, here is your chance to re-think your position because sooner or later, you will have to make a decision.    





1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What the h*** are some people supporting?

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