Abortion is not an option 

Perhaps getting pregnant was a mistake, but abortion can be a bigger one. You know now that the best solution will respect your rights and the rights of the new life growing within you. When faced with an unplanned pregnancy,

• Abortion seems like the easiest option
• Promises to turn the clock back
• Takes the pressures of difficult circumstances
• Seems to be a quick solution

When you are in an urgent and difficult situation, abortion seems like the best thing to do. But most people know very little about it. It is important for you to have all the information so that you can decide for yourself. When faced with an unplanned pregnancy, many women feel as if their head is telling them one thing and their heart another. How far are you feeling this 'split'? Abortion is not an easy thing to do. It may appear an attractive option but many women find they simply exchange one set of problems for another.

Don't make this decision alone

You don't have to make this decision alone. There are caring people who can help you understand your choices, and pick the one that works best for you. They offer friendship, understanding and complete confidentiality.

Many women who have had abortions are shattered when they later learn the truth about how developed their baby was. Most pregnancies aren't detected until the sixth week. By then your baby's heart has been beating for over 2 weeks, brain waves can be read and the nervous system has been complete for about 2 weeks. Your child is already moving, although you probably won't feel it for a few months more. By the 7the week, the foundations for all the working parts of the body are in place. Internal organs are present and working. The rapidly developing baby is becoming extremely sensitive to sound, pressure, heat light and pain. All that is needed now is nourishment and time to grow. A tiny human being is growing inside you. Your body is designed to shelter and protect this new life until her or she is old enough to be born.

Abortion is a painful and physical violation

Are you prepared to handle the long-term physical and emotional effects of abortion? Abortion is a painful, physical violation of a normal healthy process. Abortion most often is "a blind procedure. The doctor does not see what he is doing." This was admitted by a former abortionist Dr. Bernard Nathanson of New York City. And it definitely is not safe. In Abortion Practice, Warren Hern, MD, Lippincott 1990, Hern states

"there are few surgical procedures given so little attention and so underrated in its potential hazards as abortion… it is a commonly held view that complications are inevitable."

In fact, there are over 100 physical and psychological complications of abortion. Every abortion carries a risk of immediate complications such as blood clots, puncturing of vital organs (womb, bladder, bowel), infection and even death. Long term complications include damage to the lining of the uterus. This can lead to infertility. In more than 375 studies dealing with psychological impact of abortion, all show that at least a minority of women (generally 10% to 20%) have one or more negative reactions of abortion. Common reactions include: guilt, shame, anxiety, helplessness, grief, remorse and depression.

Knowing that you ended your child's life without giving her a chance can be a devastating emotional burden. Don't allow yourself to be pushed into a decision that you may regret for the rest of your life.

"Every woman has a trauma at destroying a pregnancy… This is part of her own life. When she destroys a pregnancy, she is destroying herself."

Dr. Julius Fogel, Psychiatrist/ Obstetrician who has performed over 20,000 abortions

 

The goal was 'every child a wanted child'; it should also have been 'every abortion a wanted abortion', but the two sides of the phony debate were never to meet."
Germaine Greer, The Whole Woman

 

"The more abortion has become entrenched, the more difficult it has become for women to resist the pressure to avail themselves of it."
Melinda Tankard Resit, author of Giving Sorrow Words

"...it's hopeless expecting that neutrality will occur at [an] abortion clinic."

Jenny Shipley, Prime Minister of New Zealand 1997 - 1999