Things I'd Like to Ask
By
Dennis Fischer
Print“When we look to the unborn child, the real issue is not
when life begins, but when love begins.”
Robert Casey
Former Governor of Pennsylvania
On October 20,1999 a heated exchange between Rick Santorum (R PA.) and Barbara Boxer (D CA.) erupted on the floor of the United States Senate. The issue at hand was partial birth abortions and whether this type of medical procedure should be banned. Senator Santorum was sponsoring legislation favoring the ban, while Senator Boxer was staunchly defending Roe vs. Wade, which up until then permitted this practice.
For a transcript of this debate clickHERE
A “Partial Birth” abortion takes place while a live baby is partially out of its mother’s womb. At this point scissors are plunged into its head at the nape of the neck and spread open to enlarge the wound. A suction tip is then inserted and the baby's brain is removed. Once this is done the skull collapses and the baby is delivered. Sharp and suction curettage is continued until the walls of the womb are clean. This horrific procedure was actually a medical practice in the United States until President Bush signed legislation banning it in 2003.
For a description of “Partial Birth” and other abortion techniques,
clickHERE
It is hard to imagine why anyone would favor this procedure under any circumstances let alone under every circumstance the mother chooses. But that is exactly what Senator Boxer was arguing. Furthermore, she continues to argue for it to this very day.
The issue in this war of words centered around the definition of the term “born.” According to Ms. Boxer, a baby is not born until it is completely out of the mother. Prior to that moment, a child is still a fetus. It is not a person. Nor is it human. The senator even argued that there is no such thing as partial birth. “You are either born or you are not, period.” Under this stream of logic the child although only seconds away from his entrance into the outside world has absolutely no constitutional liberties. Until fully separated from its mother, this baby is nothing other than a part of its mother’s body. Therefore all the rights go to the woman carrying it.
With this said, I have some questions to ask the good Senator from California, or to anyone else who holds her pro-abortion position. I realize these questions will not likely change anybody’s mind, but they would add clarity concerning when a fetus becomes human. Here they are.
1. According to your statements on the floor of the United States Senate, birth does not officially take place until the child is completely out of the mother. If this is the case, is a child officially born prior to the discharge of the placenta, which tethers the baby to its mother, by an umbilical cord? Or, is the child still part of its mother’s body because its tether is still inside the “host”? After all it is still a part of the mother isn’t it? And if not, why?
2. When you were going through labor, was the child inside of you a cognitive being? Could it think? Did it have the capacity to reason?
Today virtually all the scientific data testifies to the fact that the pre-born are little learning machines. The world inside their mother is filled with discoveries. Science now understands what common sense has long understood to be true. The wonderful being you carried participated in a variety of activities. Did you know that the pre-born kicks, cries, sucks his thumb, feels, dreams, learns, exercises and even assists his mother with his entrance into our world. For more information we encourage you to read An Improved View of Little People.
3. During the last week of your pregnancy, could your child emote feelings? Could it experience fear? Could your pre-born baby dream? Was it curious? Or, was it just a fetus?
Today the vast majority of medical research cries out that the child (fetus) you carried manifested every one of these qualities
4. At anytime during your pregnancy could your pre-born child dream? Was it ever curious? Or, was it just a fetus?
5. Did your unborn child ever kick? Did it ever grasp things like its fingers, toes or perhaps the umbilical cord? Did this little marvel ever have the hiccups? Or, was it just a fetus?
Once again, medical science affirms that these activities which mother’s to be celebrate, are more than just reflexes. They bear witness of the humanity of the child you once carried.
6. Did your unborn child ever experience pleasure? Did it ever suck its thumb? Did it ever smile? Or, was it just a fetus?
It is a medical fact that at 14 weeks the fetus can experience pleasure and happiness or displeasure and fear. Fetuses at this age are also startled, and their heart rates increase, by loud unpleasant noises. And what about the intelligence and feelings of the unborn baby? He or she appears to "seek out the receptive environment of the womb's lining" -- longing for a mutually advantageous union -- at age three days, while still a round ball of cells called the "blastula". While still weighing an ounce the unborn baby "can grimace as if crying".
7. Could your unborn child ever detect mood changes in you? Or, was it just a fetus?
Medical science now views the pre-born in a vastly different light than those who try to portray these precious lives as non-human. According to David Chamberlain, Ph.D., president of the Pre- and Peri-Natal Psychology Association of North America, "They are not what we thought…We have not given fetuses enough credit.” Dr. Chamberlain went on to say that There is no doubt that seven month old unborn babies "hear, cry, dream, learn, and feel pain and pleasure just as infants do".
8. At anytime during your pregnancy, did your unborn child recognize your voice? Or, was it just a fetus?
You may not have realized this wonderful truth, but the answer to this question is a miraculous “YES!” According to medical science the pre-born child can show a preference for their mother's voice and can even discriminate between two languages, preferring their 'mother tongue'".
9. Did your unborn child have a beating heart? Did you ever hear it beat? And if so, what did you feel when you first heard that sound? Or, was it just a fetus?
10. On a more personal note, did you ever talk to your baby while it was inside of you? Did you ever sing to it? Or, read to it? Or, did you believe it was just a blob of tissue or, perhaps only a fetus?
11. Could your unborn child ever experience pain? Could it be hurt? Or, was it just a fetus?
Today even “pro-choice” organizations have reluctantly conceded that the unborn feel pain. Frances Kissling, of Catholics for a Free Choice, is on record as supporting the concept of offering fetal anesthesia during some abortions. According to Kessling, "abortion should be a humane and compassionate procedure," Our question to you is this: Do you agree with Ms. Kissling? And if so, who is to receive this “humane and compassionate” treatment? And how is this compassion given? What form does it take?
12. Did you ever consciously do things to safeguard your unborn child or was it just a fetus? Furthermore, do you believe it should be a crime to place an unborn child in danger?
13. Did you ever worry about your unborn child? And if so what did you worry about? Or, was it just a fetus?
14. Did you ever dream about your unborn child or was it just a fetus?
15. Did you ever wonder what the future held for your unborn child or was it just a fetus?
16. This is just a thought, but when you were going through transition labor, were you in the process of giving birth? In other words was there a point when you were partially through the process? Or, did that not come until the fetus was out of you and now officially born--and thus human?
17. Did you love your unborn baby less than your 5-minute-old baby? When did you first love the life you carried inside of you? Was it a real person to you at that moment? Or, was it just a fetus?
18. When you were pregnant, did you think you were you “with child”? Or, were you just carrying a fetus?
19. Did you ever pray for your unborn child? Or, was it just a fetus?
20. Did you ever think of the miracle you carried as anything other than human? Or, did that not come until after it was “born”?
I actually have hundreds of other questions to ask but I think I will stop here. Anyway, pro-choice advocates would probably just think I’m being unsophisticated. Even Jocelyn Elders, the Surgeon General during the Clinton administration once said, “We need to get over our obsession with a fetus.” Well Ms. Elders, that is a little difficult for me. You see, I once was a fetus.