Womb - or tomb (Part 4)

This is the last of the four posts on the topic of abortion that that, due to the current controversy in the USA, I am repeating from August 2014. 

This final part of this mini-series is one for which a warning must be issued.  The following post contains information that some will find distressing.  In this post, I wish to look at the methods that are used by the abortion industry.

The pregnancy may be about one-third of the way through its course - it may, of course, be even further on!  The mother is probably lying on a gynaecological examination table.  The abortionist uses a syringe with a four-inch needle to extract about 60cc of the amniotic fluid from the womb. This is then replaced with 200cc of a strong saline solution.

Immediately, that little human being who already has all of the organs of any other human, and even has the fingerprints that make that child unique in the whole history of humankind, begins to suffer violent convulsions.  Instead of the pleasant, and beneficial, swallows of the amniotic fluid, the unborn child now experiences the bitter taste of a lethal poison.  Caustic salt burns that little throat; the delicate skin; the unopened eyes; the ears that will never hear.  Vainly the child tries to escape, throwing him/herself from side to side in violent contortions - an agony that may last for hours, and which the mother will follow by those pointless movements of self-defence.

When death does arrive, the tragic drama may still have several hours to play out - until the the child, looking like the victim of napalm bombing, is finally expelled from what should have been the safest of environments. 

However, that is only one of the methods used in this murderous trade.  If the abortion takes place early enough in the pregnancy, the method used is more likely to be that of vacuum aspiration.  This involves the use of a vacuum machine that is almost thirty times more powerful than a domestic cleaner.  As an aside, I do wonder if the current decision of the European Union to ban the sale of all vacuum cleaners with motors stronger than 1600 watts will apply to abortion clinics!  I think that I know the answer!  Such powerful machines are necessary - as a special tube, inserted through the mother's vagina, sucks the baby from the womb; tearing it, violently, from the walls of the uterus. Death, at least, comes quickly, as the little unique individual is totally dismembered.

Depending on the stage of the pregnancy, another method may be used.  This is D&C (Dilation and Curettage).  This involves cutting the placenta, and slicing up the body of the unborn child within the uterus, using special surgical instruments called curettes, before finally sucking it out.  This is a method that requires very careful follow-up.  In order to ensure that no foetal part that could cause a life-threatening infection in the womb, the body of that helpless, unborn, child has to be carefully put together again - like some grotesque human jigsaw puzzle.  It is then disposed of in whatever way the clinic/hospital sees fit.

Of course, if the unborn child is more than three months old, the bones will already have calcified (hardened).  The procedure then available is D&E (Dilation and Evacuation).  In this case, tongs are used to separate the bones - first of the legs; then the arms; then the back.  Finally, the head must be crushed before all is sucked out.

Please note that, in all of these methods, the unborn child is not even anaesthetised!  In spite of overwhelming medical and scientific evidence, the abortion industry refuses to accept the sentience of the unborn child.  In other words, it refuses to accept that those little bodies are capable of feeling pain!

Just two other methods may be used, as far as I know, both for late abortions.  One involves the injection of a chemical that induces premature delivery; the other involves a hysterotomy - simply a Caesarean procedure that aims, not to save the child's life, but to destroy it.  In each of these cases, the infant dies outside the womb - and it is after such abortions that children have been discovered alive, in black bin-bags, ready to be thrown into the incinerator.

Abortion - the murder of a helpless human being, at a very early stage of its development, in the place in which it should be safest - its mother's womb.  It is a terrible indictment on humankind that, for so many, that womb becomes, temporarily, a tomb.

The Ten Words (6)

The sixth of the Ten Words/Commandments is one of the shortest.  It reads, quite simply: "You shall not kill." (Ex 20:13).  However, it might be, more accurately, translated - as is the case in some of the more modern versions - "You shall not commit murder."  In other words, this commandment has to do with the deliberate, and malicious, taking of the life of another human being.

Life, of course, is a gift from God.  This is why we speak of the process of conceiving children as "procreation" - from the Latin pro =  "in place of, on behalf of" (proconsul, pronoun) + creare  = "to make, bring forth, produce, beget".   In the act of sexual intercourse, a man and a woman are working with Almighty God in the bringing into being of a new human life.  Because life is a gift from God, only He may legitimately take it away.

Of course, this does not include a situation of self-defence; defence of the realm; or the judicial execution of the death penalty.  Indeed, Ex.21:12ff expressly states that there are occasions on which a man must die!   Even before the giving of the Decalogue, we read that God said to Noah that "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed ; for God made man in His own image." (Gen 9:6).

This is also one of the commandments specifically referred to by the Lord Jesus.  In that collection of His teaching that we know as The Sermon on the Mount, He says: "You have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be liable to the hell of fire." (Matt 5:21-22).  In other words, although I may be able to say that I have never been responsible for the deliberate taking of the life of a fellow human being, that is not enough.   I would need to be able to claim, with absolute honesty, that I have never (as in 'not ever'!) been angry with anyone!   From a personal point of view, having spent a total of 25 years teaching Secondary School pupils (aged 11-18) I have to confess that, in Jesus' terms, I was a serial killer!

So, where does that leave us?   Well, we are also exhorted, in the New Testament: "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Rom 12:21).  Writing to the Galatian believers, Paul says: "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ." (Gal 6:2).     Jesus, again in the Sermon on the Mount, says: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." (Matt 5:9); and "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'  But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ..." (Matt 5:43-44).

What that would seem to suggest is that Father God wants us to go far beyond not committing murder.  He wants us to actively treat even those who choose to hate us as respectfully as possible, and do all within our power to live in peace and harmony with them.  "Strive for peace with all men , and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord." (Heb 12:14).

To accomplish this we must respect this wonderful gift of the precious possession of human life.

Womb - or tomb? (Part 4)

This final part of this mini-series is one for which a warning must be issued.  The following post contains information that some will find distressing.  In this post, I wish to look at the methods that are used by the abortion industry.

The pregnancy may be about one-third of the way through its course - it may, of course, be even further on!  The mother is probably lying on a gynaecological examination table.  The abortionist uses a syringe with a four-inch needle to extract about 60cc of the amniotic fluid from the womb. This is then replaced with 200cc of a strong saline solution.

Immediately, that little human being who already has all of the organs of any other human, and even has the fingerprints that make that child unique in the whole history of humankind, begins to suffer violent convulsions.  Instead of the pleasant, and beneficial, swallows of the amniotic fluid, the unborn child now experiences the bitter taste of a lethal poison.  Caustic salt burns that little throat; the delicate skin; the unopened eyes; the ears that will never hear.  Vainly the child tries to escape, throwing him/herself from side to side in violent contortions - an agony that may last for hours, and which the mother will follow by those pointless movements of self-defence.

When death does arrive, the tragic drama may still have several hours to play out - until the the child, looking like the victim of napalm bombing, is finally expelled from what should have been the safest of environments.

However, that is only one of the methods used in this murderous trade.  If the abortion takes place early enough in the pregnancy, the method used is more likely to be that of vacuum aspiration.  This involves the use of a vacuum machine that is almost thirty times more powerful than a domestic cleaner.  As an aside, I do wonder if the current decision of the European Union to ban the sale of all vacuum cleaners with motors stronger than 1600 watts will apply to abortion clinics!  I think that I know the answer!  Such powerful machines are necessary - as a special tube, inserted through the mother's vagina, sucks the baby from the womb; tearing it, violently, from the walls of the uterus. Death, at least, comes quickly, as the little unique individual is totally dismembered.

Depending on the stage of the pregnancy, another method may be used.  This is D&C (Dilation and Curettage).  This involves cutting the placenta, and slicing up the body of the unborn child within the uterus, using special surgical instruments called curettes, before finally sucking it out.  This is a method that requires very careful follow-up.  In order to ensure that no foetal part that could cause a life-threatening infection in the womb, the body of that helpless, unborn, child has to be carefully put together again - like some grotesque human jigsaw puzzle.  It is then disposed of in whatever way the clinic/hospital sees fit.

Of course, if the unborn child is more than three months old, the bones will already have calcified (hardened).  The procedure then available is D&E (Dilation and Evacuation).  In this case, tongs are used to separate the bones - first of the legs; then the arms; then the back.  Finally, the head must be crushed before all is sucked out.

Please note that, in all of these methods, the unborn child is not even anaesthetised!  In spite of overwhelming medical and scientific evidence, the abortion industry refuses to accept the sentience of the unborn child.  In other words, it refuses to accept that those little bodies are capable of feeling pain!

Just two other methods may be used, as far as I know, both for late abortions.  One involves the injection of a chemical that induces premature delivery; the other involves a hysterotomy - simply a Caesarean procedure that aims, not to save the child's life, but to destroy it.  In each of these cases, the infant dies outside the womb - and it is after such abortions that children have been discovered alive, in black bin-bags, ready to be thrown into the incinerator.

Abortion - the murder of a helpless human being, at a very early stage of its development, in the place in which it should be safest - its mother's womb.  It is a terrible indictment on humankind that, for so many, that womb becomes, temporarily, a tomb.