Many of us think of Planned Parenthood or seedy clinics on the wrong side of town when we hear the term "abortion." Among medical professionals, however, an abortion is defined as "the premature exit of the products of conception (the fetus, fetal membranes, and placenta) from the uterus. It is the loss of a pregnancy and does not refer to why that pregnancy was lost." https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=2091 Hence, if a woman miscarries, a doctor or nurse might refer to the event as a spontaneous abortion.
According to American Family Physician, "Spontaneous abortion, which is the loss of a pregnancy without outside intervention before 20 weeks’ gestation, affects up to 20 percent of recognized pregnancies." https://www.aafp.org/afp/2005/1001/p1243.html However, because most spontaneous abortions occur within the first twelve weeks of pregnancy, many of them go unrecognized and unreported. In fact, many of the women who miscarry during this period don't even realize that they were ever pregnant! They chalk up their experience to a late or heavy flow period. As a consequence, some researchers have suggested that the real rate for spontaneous abortions is closer to fifty percent of all pregnancies! https://www.sciencealert.com/meta-analysis-finds-majority-of-human-pregnancies-end-in-miscarriage-biorxiv
Now, according to the CDC, the therapeutic abortion rate in the United States (pregnancies terminated by doctors and reported to them) was 188 abortions per 1000 live births in 2015. https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/data_stats/abortion.htm I'll let my readers do the math, but it should be apparent to everyone that there are more spontaneous abortions in any given year than there are therapeutic abortions (even if we take the lowest possible percentage listed above)! Thus, whatever we might personally believe about the morality of therapeutic abortions, we must admit that pregnancies are terminated quite regularly by God or Nature (depending on whether you're a theist or an atheist).
According to American Family Physician, "Spontaneous abortion, which is the loss of a pregnancy without outside intervention before 20 weeks’ gestation, affects up to 20 percent of recognized pregnancies." https://www.aafp.org/afp/2005/1001/p1243.html However, because most spontaneous abortions occur within the first twelve weeks of pregnancy, many of them go unrecognized and unreported. In fact, many of the women who miscarry during this period don't even realize that they were ever pregnant! They chalk up their experience to a late or heavy flow period. As a consequence, some researchers have suggested that the real rate for spontaneous abortions is closer to fifty percent of all pregnancies! https://www.sciencealert.com/meta-analysis-finds-majority-of-human-pregnancies-end-in-miscarriage-biorxiv
Now, according to the CDC, the therapeutic abortion rate in the United States (pregnancies terminated by doctors and reported to them) was 188 abortions per 1000 live births in 2015. https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/data_stats/abortion.htm I'll let my readers do the math, but it should be apparent to everyone that there are more spontaneous abortions in any given year than there are therapeutic abortions (even if we take the lowest possible percentage listed above)! Thus, whatever we might personally believe about the morality of therapeutic abortions, we must admit that pregnancies are terminated quite regularly by God or Nature (depending on whether you're a theist or an atheist).
That is some of the most ignorant reasoning that I've ever read. So since thousands die daily of natural causes (God or nature) then euthanasia or any kind of murder should be perfectly acceptable?
ReplyDeleteDidn't say that! I am personally opposed to abortion, but I do wish folks on both sides of this issue were more circumspect about imposing their morality on each other. For those of us who are theists, we have to come to terms with the fact that this occurs in the world we believe God created. We can ignore it or get angry about anyone pointing it out, or we can attempt to resolve/incorporate it into our own belief system (be ready to give an answer).
ReplyDeleteThat's what civilized societies do, they impose their views of morality on all. That's exactly what the liberal agenda has been for decades, change societal standards by infiltrating their youth. Joe McCarthy was spot on in the 60's. The liberals are working hard to impose their views of morality on all. So which side is worse Miller?
ReplyDeleteOver the course of many years, civilized societies arrive at a consensus about what is moral and what is not. In the United Sates, a consensus has developed around the notion that we shouldn't have a state religion, and that folks of a religious bent should have the freedom to believe whatever they choose to believe. There is also a consensus that we will not tolerate someone shooting someone on Fifth Avenue (unless you're President of the United States) or that you can marry more than one person at a time. I'm sure you would agree that there is no consensus about abortion - you and I may view it as the taking of a human life, but a large portion of the country doesn't agree with us (maybe even the majority - depending on which polls you believe). So what do we do with fellow Christians who believe that human life begins when we take our first breath (Genesis 2:7)? Do we call them murderers and throw them in jail?
Delete"So what do we do with fellow Christians who believe that human life begins when we take our first breath (Genesis 2:7)? Do we call them murderers and throw them in jail?"
ReplyDeleteYes. If that is the consensus of society. There were fewer of those in the 70's before Roe vs. Wade, so we're not talking about the numbers who have been brainwashed in todays society. I'm talking societal consensus not vigilantism or religious fanaticism. Societal norms have changed drastically over the last five decades and the movers and shakers of those reforms knew exactly where to hit. The youth. In our universities and public schools. Gen. 2:7 doesn't say that life begins at the first breath, that's an assumption. One could breathe into an object all day, but if it didn't have blood and you weren't God that'd be pointless, for the life is in the blood. We could play with proof texts all day long. �� One thing that science has proven that societal norms don't like is that once a spermatozoon and an egg unite a completely different set of dna is produced, so it's not the mother's body. We're not going to solve the worlds ills here, so, just sayin'.