Abortion debate

I am writing in response to the article ‘‘Abortion, Facts and Fiction’’ that appeared in the Waikato Times on November 20. Let’s have some real facts and dispense with the fiction.

Fact: Every abortion kills a baby and harms the child’s mother; baby has been a living human being since the moment it was conceived.

Fact: Baby does feel pain, just Google the video ‘‘The Silent Scream’’ and see how the baby recoils from the abortion instruments, tries to escape, and experiences fear. It may be instinctive but is no less real.

Fact: The statement that the baby is not awake to feel pain is a load of nonsense. Baby sleeps and wakes just like the rest of us. It is very good at finding the most comfortable position to nestle down to sleep, and when awake will kick, stretch and roll over. Later in pregnancy the baby will suck its thumb, yawn and practice breathing.

In New Zealand we are rightly concerned about the levels of child abuse and domestic violence; abortion is an extreme example of both. By continuing to find abortion acceptable we deny the child and its mother the right to live in a violence-free environment. There are a number of organisations ready and willing to help women through difficult or untimely pregnancies. Abortion counsellors are supposed to tell mothers about them but mostly they don’t. Wake up, folks, don’t be fooled by the fiction being fed to us that abortion is good for women. It’s not. The only people to benefit from abortion are those who get paid, rather large sums of money, to authorise abortions and/or carry them out.

Lyn Hopkins, Thames