“The suicide note read, ‘I told everyone I didn’t want to do it, even at the hospital. I was frightened, now it is too late,’” reported the London Telegraph. Hanging herself the day before her 31st birthday, Emma Beck, a British citizen living in Helston, Cornwall, was distraught about her decision to abort her twins when she was 8 weeks pregnant. Among her last words was this lament, ”I never should have had an abortion. I see now I would have been a good mum.” Her mother summed things up quite nicely: “she could not live with what she had done.”
Funny thing about death; it’s hard to undue.
Why this tragedy achieved international notice is anyone’s guess, but its publicity once again spotlights an ongoing massacre of unimaginable proportions, dwarfing the Holocaust, Rwanda, and Darfur combined. Since 1973, approximately 48,000,000 unborn children have been put to death in the United States alone. For the past 35 years, the most dangerous place for a child to be is in its mother’s womb.
Most post-abortive women do not commit suicide, but even these statistics are cause for concern. Women having abortions are 3 times more likely to commit suicide than the national average for women of similar age, and 6 times more likely than women who have recently given birth.
Much more common are the emotional struggles reported by post-abortive women. A study by the Elliot Institute found disturbingly high rates of emotional distress among the subject group. A significant percentage, approaching 50%, reported feelings of guilt, depression, anger, sorrow, grief, and regret. Admittedly, these women had sought out post-abortion counseling and therefore may not be representative of the “average” post-abortive woman. And, debates rage between pro-choice and pro-life groups about the mental health of post-abortive women. Considering that more than 30,000,000 American women have had abortions, it is no stretch to conclude that millions have experienced abortion induced mental trauma.
Ironically, millions of would-be American parents must resort to adopting children from China, Korea, and around the world. There’s a fix there somewhere.
Some victims of abortion refuse to die. One such intrepid survivor is Gianna Jessen, pictured in the accompanying video sitting behind a microphone. On April 22, 1996, Gianna appeared before the Constitution Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee. Following is part of her testimony: “My biological mother was 17 years old and seven and one-half months pregnant when she made the decision to have a saline abortion. I am the person she aborted. I lived instead of died.
“Fortunately for me the abortionist was not in the room when I arrived alive instead of dead…I am sure I would not be here today if the abortionist would have been in the clinic as his job is to take life, not sustain it. Some have said I am a ‘botched abortion,’ a result of a job not well done.
“I was diagnosed with cerebral palsy as a result of the abortion…after a total of four surgeries, I can now walk without assistance…sometimes I fall, but I have learned how to fall gracefully after falling [for] 19 years.
“I do not consider myself a by-product of conception, a clump of tissue, or any other titles given to a child in the womb. I have met other survivors of abortion. They are all thankful for life.
“Today, a baby is a baby when convenient. It is tissue or otherwise when the time is not right. A baby is a baby when miscarriage takes place at two, three, four months. A baby is called a tissue or clumps of cells when an abortion takes place at two, three, four months. Why is that?
“The best thing I can show you to defend life is my life.”
To answer Gianna’s question, babies in the womb are considered sub-human because of the enormously powerful and successful feminist movement. Reaching a fever pitch in the late 1960s and 1970s, feminism latched on to abortion as its cause celebre and cowed 7 of 9 Supreme Court justices into affirming a woman’s absolute right to choose to abort a pregnancy up to the “point at which the fetus becomes ‘viable.’” After the (approximately) 28th week of pregnancy, abortions can only be performed “to protect the woman’s health,” which the court “defined broadly.” Translation: thousands of late-term abortions are performed every year. Despite repeated attempts, pro-life groups have thus far been singularly unsuccessful in overturning the landmark decision, though many now agree Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided, including Alan Dershowitz and Laurence Tribe and other pro-choice advocates.
This year abortionists will kill another 1,200,000 or so unborn children. Before the decade is out the carnage will reach 50,000,000 dead. As Gianna Jessen told the House Representatives, “We are killing our nation’s future.” Abortion is a national outrage on the order of slavery, a blind spot for millions of good-hearted Americans who, for reasons escaping me, don’t care two hoots about the destruction of little Giannas.
If you need motivation to get involved, search for “abortion” in Google images, and brace yourself.
Both fetuses shown in today’s video are less than 8 weeks from conception, younger than Emma Beck’s twins. The only difference between those children and you is size and vulnerability.
If you or someone you know is in the midst of a crisis pregnancy, go to: www.healinghearts.org
“You formed my inward parts; You weaved me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” Psalm 139
