Meet the Winners of TFC 2007 Essay Contest
Ranking
Name Topic School
5th prize Reuben Cash Abortion Home schooled
"I am a high school senior, home schooled for all twelve grades. I am looking forward to attending college, and I hope to attend Ouachita Baptist University or Lipscomb University. I plan to major in accounting because I enjoy mathematics, analyzing problems, and working in business. My GPA is 3.91 and I scored a 34 on my ACT, so I hope to keep my academics strong at college.
I also enjoy serving Jesus Christ, and He has called me to work against induced abortion in the U.S. I have learned how to do crisis pregnancy counseling in front of the local abortion clinic in Nashville, which is unlicensed and unregulated under state law. I travel with the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform’s Genocide Awareness Project to college campuses to educate about how abortion is similar to genocide disasters like the Holocaust. I am also active with my local Right to Life chapter, and I speak at area churches and groups from time to time about Right to Life’s work and about abortion generally.
I also volunteer at a local hospital in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, where I have seen how life is meant to enter this world, and how hospitals and doctors should treat infants.
In high school, my achievements include traveling to Washington, D.C. through a short story contest offered by my local electric cooperative, where I was privileged to appreciate better our nation’s government. I am a First Tee Scholar, which is an award given to a few high school seniors nationwide in the First Tee organization. I have also participated and placed in several debate competitions.
I am honored to have been awarded Fifth Place in the Traditional Family Coalition’s essay contest."
My essay:
In 1973, nine men reached for the stars—and made legal, judicial, and social history. The Supreme Court, in Roe v. Wade, ruled that the Constitution’s right to privacy gives American women the unlimited right to abortion. If you have read the Constitution, you know that our nation’s founders mentioned nothing at all about a “right to privacy,” much less a “right to abortion.” The Supreme Court found these rights in “Penumbras, formed by emanations,” coming from the Bill of Rights. Surprisingly, these are not legal terms, they are terms pertaining to astronomy-- yes, astronomy. When the sun produces light, that light is reflected from, or emanates from, the moon. When a solar eclipse occurs, a primary shadow, or umbra, of the moon is cast upon the earth, which in turn causes secondary shadows called penumbras. Seven of nine Supreme Court justices claimed that the Bill of Rights mysteriously emanates more unnamed rights, and that in the shadows of shadows of these secondary rights, there a “right to privacy” is found. This tale would be humorous if some 50+ million children had not lost their lives behind the curtains of these mystical legal shadow lands. So how serious is the problem of induced abortion in the United States?
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-The seriousness of the problem of abortion-
What is the legal extent of abortion? Why has our government condoned, even promoted, the murder of its own citizens? There was much confusion, trickery, and outright deceit around the original 1973 ruling. As we saw earlier, the High Court based its decision that the then-current restrictive abortion laws of 46 states were unconstitutional on an almost laughable, and most certainly not stellar, Constitutional basis. In fact, Chief Justice Blackmun knew that there would be so much controversy when the decision was made public that he purposefully delayed its release until after President Nixon’s inauguration. The research presented during the hearing of the case seemed very impressive at the time. The National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws (NARAL, now the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League) told the Supreme Court that 5,000 to 10,000 women were dying yearly from botched illegal abortions. Dr. Bernard Nathanson, cofounder of NARAL, later said, “I confess that I knew the(se) figures were totally false… But in the ‘morality’ of our revolution, it was a useful figure, widely accepted, so why go out of the way to correct it with honest statistics?” NARAL also fabricated polls saying that 60% of Americans supported legalized abortion, and they staged a marketing campaign with a Madison Avenue marketing firm to sell abortion to the United States with slogans like “Pro-choice” and “Women must have control over their own bodies.”
What could possibly cause our nation’s highest court, the supposedly most educated, enlightened, and discerning of our nation, to fall for these exaggerations and verisimilitudes? Simply turn to a brief history of Supreme Court cases, and a pattern becomes evident. 1947: Supreme Court misquotes Jefferson to erect a “High and impregnable…wall of separation between church and state.” 1962: Engel v. Vitale removes prayer from public schools. 1963: Bible reading banned as well. 1971: Supreme Court rules abortion to protect a woman’s “health” is permissible. Is there not a thread of declining morality in all these events? To sum up, the political causes of the legalization of abortion involve, more than anything, an acceptance of a gigantic lie--a lack of public and official morality that led to susceptibility to a scheme to deceive us into believing murdering our own children would provide economic prosperity, physical health, and a ‘liberated’ lifestyle.
Second, let us examine some of the personal aspects and consequences of abortion: the factors that could compel a woman in crisis to resort to killing her own child. Obviously, a woman must have little moral background to see her own child as a ‘choice’ and not a child, to see murder as a viable option to solve her problems. Many other women succumb to lies: how being a mother is a burden, and how career, stuff, and ‘freedom’ come before children. Also important is the aspect of sexual amorality. Only 1/3 or less of women seeking abortions are married. Doubtless, many of those who do have a husband did not conceive the child with him. Sexual promiscuity is an undeniable cause of unexpected pregnancy, and unexpected pregnancies are highly likely to end in abortions. Indeed, the issue of “choice” and unexpected pregnancy are, according even to the pro-life viewpoint, inextricably intertwined. The pro-life side agrees that every woman should have a choice not to become pregnant, but that if she declines this responsibility, she should remain abstinent—not agree to have sex and then later demand a right she has already forfeited. It is incredible how, right in the midst of the so-called “sexual revolution” of the 1960’s through 1970’s, the loathing of abortion as a despicable perversion faded away, and gave rise to the acceptance of legalized abortion-on-demand. Clearly, lack of a personal moral foundation, both sexually and in the area of respect for life and parenting, are glaring causes of abortion on a personal level.
So we in America, both individually and nationally, have traded in our moral values for the promises of abortion: freedom, choice, economic prosperity, sex and fun, and avoidance of shame. How have these promises materialized? What are the effects of abortion on demand, for any reason, during any stage of pregnancy, on both our nation and our citizens?
Considering the collective effects of abortion on our nation, one promise of abortion on demand was that if abortion were made legal, multitudes of women would no longer die from unsafe, back-alley illegal abortions. As we have already seen, the studies showing that multitudes were dying were complete lies. So how fatal is illegal abortion? Instead of NARAL’s made-up 10,000 yearly deaths, the actual number was about 250 yearly. Is legal abortion safer than its illegal counterpart? Consider the Women’s Center, an abortion clinic in Nashville that opens its doors for abortions four days weekly. This clinic is entirely legal. However, it is also entirely unlicensed, uninspected, and unregulated by the Health Department. The clinic failed to renew its ambulatory surgical treatment center license with the Tennessee Health Department for several years, and was eventually sued over operating without a license. The judge, however, ruled that to require the facility to obtain a license and go through an inspection routine would unduly obstruct the right to choice in Tennessee. The clinic has now operated for years with no supervision whatsoever. This instance shows that legal abortion merely allows the abortionists to let customers in through the front door rather than the back alley entrance. However, many more women (as many as 15 times more) are having abortions now that murder is encouraged by their government. Since abortion is still dangerous, even fatal, that means many more women overall are dying at the hands of legal abortionists, and certainly many times as many babies are being slaughtered. Can we really say legalized murder is necessary to save lives?
We have been told that abortion is necessary to control the population of our planet. But in America, the current birth rate is not enough to sustain the present population. The average birth rate per woman has been 1.8 since 1972, and a rate of 2.1 is necessary to maintain a stable population. Any population increases are the pure result of immigration, not an excess of births. This lack of young people continually replenishing the population has a wide array of potential social consequences: lack of workers to sustain the economy, social security deficits, and lack of young men for potential military service. Worldwide, the situation is similar in many countries, such as Russia. The result of the philosophy as using abortion as a means of population control is seen in China, where a families are only allowed one child and sex-selection allows them to choose between a boy and a girl (sex selection is also permitted in the U.S.) In China, male births are 14% more common than female births. In rural areas, boys outnumber girls by as much as 4 to 1. Isn’t it a cold world that requires that new members be done away with in order to maintain someone’s arbitrary, unscientific ideal of a ‘stable population?’
What are the consequences of abortion for individuals—for the women having abortions, their families, and their babies? The effects of abortion on the baby are fatal, and this fact is ultimately undeniable. With all the slogans about ‘it’ being a ‘choice,’ a ‘product of conception,’ or a ‘blob of tissue,’ the preborn babies of the United States have been dehumanized in much the same way Jews in Nazi Germany were called ‘parasites,’ and African-Americans of the 1960’s were called ‘inferior.’ However, the biological and scientific facts speak for themselves. From the moment of conception, the unborn has its own unique genetic code. It also could have its own sex and blood type, proving that it is not merely part of the mother. Neither is the unborn some type of subhuman form—it has the full genetic code of a human, the full appearance of a human at its stage of development, and the unique cell or cells of a human being. If it is neither a part of something else, nor a subhuman life form such as a fish or frog as some evolutionists have unscientifically implied, then the only alternative is that it is fully human from the moment of conception. Countless doctors and biologists, and even abortion clinic owners under oath, have testified that life begins at conception. At only 3 weeks, the heart begins to beat. At 8 weeks, all organs are present, and by 12 weeks, all are functioning. Babies at as early as 8 weeks or so will recoil from the abortionist’s instruments when he invades the womb and will vehemently attempt to avoid impending death Any pictures of babies at even these early stages of development will show that they are fully identifiable human young.
Many claim that we should use in this debate some totally arbitrary criterion to define life to designedly exclude the unborn from being defined as human. They say that until the child is implanted in the uterus, or has a beating heart, or has measurable brain waves, we should not define him or her as human. However, these are plainly arbitrary criterion. Take, for example, the brain waves = life heuristic. If we define only those who have a particular type of brain wave as ‘alive,’ then what about mentally deficient persons? If only those who feel pain are ‘alive,’ what about lepers? We cannot arbitrarily define life without excluding obvious persons from our definition. There are, in the end, only four ways the unborn differ from any other human being. Size: the unborn are smaller than other persons, but does that make them less human? Level of Development: The unborn are less developed than their grown counterparts, but does that relegate them to second-class human status? Does a toddler, or a teenager, possess less personhood than an adult? Environment: The unborn are in the womb, an environment different than that which born humans inhabit, but does that make them less alive? Does living in the harsh climate of the Arctic make Eskimos less human than those who live in Hawaii? Degree of Dependency: The unborn are dependent on special factors for survival, but so is everyone else. We require oxygen to breathe, food to eat, and a habitation of a certain temperature to live. The only logical conclusion to which we can arrive is that the preborn is indeed fully human, and that to cause its human life to end is to murder an innocent person. Abortion is murder. The effects of abortion on the unborn are clear—abortion takes the very right most fundamental to the unborn, the right to life.
Let us now consider the effects of abortion on the mother. Pregnant women are often ‘counseled’ by Planned Parenthood and other abortion agencies that abortion will free them from experiencing the consequences of an ‘unwanted’ pregnancy, while options like adoption and parenting are not even considered. So how ‘freeing’ is abortion? In reality, abortion has significant psychological and health consequences for women. Abortion is 2.95 times more fatal than childbearing. Often, deaths from abortion are never reported, since reporting of abortion deaths is left entirely up to abortion clinics. The physical complications of abortion months, and years, after the procedure are also noteworthy. “The single most avoidable risk factor for breast cancer is induced abortion,” according to Dr. Joel Brind, a Professor of Endocrinology at the City University of New York. After even just one abortion, a woman’s uterus and reproductive organs are often irreparably damaged by unsupervised, incompetent physicians who will never see the patient again and have too many abortions scheduled every day to give proper care. Post-abortive women have doubled their likelihood of having a later premature birth. Later children are more likely to be malformed. Death for later infants born to post-abortive mothers increases by two to four times. Cerebral palsy in later children increases. Ectopic pregnancies increase by more than 500%. Pelvic inflammatory disease, placenta previa, cervical cancer, ovarian and liver cancers, and sterility are all complications of abortion. Abortion also has psychological consequences for women. Post abortion syndrome is recognized by psychologists as a mental disorder. After abortion, according to one study, 44% of women complained of nervous disorders, 36% of lost sleep, 31% had regrets, 11% has been prescribed psychotropic medicine. 45% had suicidal thoughts after the abortion. With all the ramifications of abortion, one would think that women choosing an abortion should be given all the information to make an informed choice. However, over 90% of women in one poll felt uninformed when making the abortion decision. How many of these women were never even told that abortion is not the only way out, as many ‘counselors’ at abortion clinics are known to indicate? How many were not told that 1.3 million couples are waiting to adopt in the U.S., while only 50,000 children are made available to them yearly? That there are now more women-helping pregnancy resource centers in the U.S. than abortion clinics? How tragic that abortion has so many consequences for women and for babies that are hidden from mothers in crisis, all in the name of “pro-choice.”
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-What the government is doing for the problem-
Legalized abortion in the U.S. has directly affected 43% of U.S. women of childbearing age, and around 50 million babies. So what is being done by the government and by our society to put an end to this tragedy, this holocaust? In short, the answer is composed of three verbs: ignore, permit, and promote. Most average citizens in the U.S. fit into the “ignore” category. They do not want to face abortion directly—sure, they know about it, probably have an opinion about it, and maybe even vote based on that opinion. But they are not campaigning for the end of this catastrophe, as moral conscience dictates they should. Edmund Burke said, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Yet again, lack of a moral foundation is an apparent reason for the continued abortion holocaust in our land.
Meanwhile, the government works in the last two categories: “permit,” and “promote.” Government permits the slaughter through legal decisions like Roe v. Wade that protect crooked murderers. Many states go beyond the stipulations of Roe v. Wade, allowing abortions without parental consent or notification for minors, second-trimester abortions without hospitalization requirements, and no waiting periods. Government also promotes abortion. 30% of Planned Parenthood’s revenue comes from government grants. Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider in the U.S., and they also promote sexual promiscuity and a latent racist agenda. Government also regularly sides with the pro-abortion viewpoint. One example is the Freedom to Access Clinic Entrance bill, which makes peaceful protesting a felony. Clearly, our society and our government are doing nothing to stop abortion—indeed, in many cases they are perpetuating it. So what can be done? What can we do to help end the deceit, the treachery, the slaughter, the evil?
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-The solution to the problem of abortion-
Abortion, as said earlier, has a collective aspect and a personal aspect. We can work through both to help end the tragedy. We can work through legislation and lobbying to awaken government officials to the evil they are condoning, often intentionally, and often for other reasons such as money and ignorance. We can call or write our representatives when pertinent bills come up. We can educate ourselves on legislation to let our friends and neighbors know when important bills and cases are being considered. We can support organizations like Right to Life, who work in the government to encourage change. And most of all, we can exhibit and promote Christian morals. Abortion is a moral issue, and as such it must also have a moral solution.
On a personal level, there are also many unique opportunities. One of the most important is for pro-lifers to stand outside the abortion clinics when babies are being killed. It is entirely legal for citizens to peacefully pray, counsel, discuss, and speak to clinic clients. This method is very effective. In Chattanooga, Tennessee one man singlehandedly spearheaded an effort to have people present at his local clinic. After years of persistence, his efforts paid off. Pro-lifers were lined up around the block, holding signs, praying, and counseling. So many customers experienced a change of heart and canceled their appointments that the clinic lost so much business it went into bankruptcy and shut down! Pro-lifers bought the repossessed clinic property and turned it into a memorial for the unborn. There are many other ways you can oppose abortion on a personal level. Educate yourself, and be prepared to discuss the issue and help everyone you can make a true choice based on logic and facts. Find out about pro-life rallies and events in your area, and attend. Remember, abortion hurts individual women, children, and families. You can help stop the wickedness by touching one heart at a time!
To conclude, I submit to you: What is the crux of the abortion issue? Is abortion a matter of some distant court of the past, some far-off clinic in a liberal state, or a remote doctor gone off the deep end? No. The evil of abortion resides right here in our own states--right here in our own cities, our own communities. 43% of U.S. women either have had or will have an abortion in their lifetime. One-fourth of a generation is missing because of abortion. How many of the people you meet in Wal-Mart, how many of the neighbors on your street, how many of your friends and relatives, have been directly affected by abortion? Abortion is not a distant issue-- it is a sin that has impacted every American locally.
We cannot ignore abortion-- we must oppose it. Abortion is, as James Dobson said, the defining moral issue of our time. Since abortion is sin, ultimately, we can only alleviate it by changing one heart at a time through the power of Christ. Jesus Christ came to earth, was once a preborn baby, and ministered to children. Finally, He died a brutal death so that sinners, including those sinning through abortion, could be reconciled to God. Truly, Jesus Christ, from birth to death to resurrection, is the perfect solution to abortion! How can we carry this solution to the lost and dying?
The Bible declares of Jesus, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” The Supreme Court, on the other hand, declared that the ‘legal light’ of liberties reflected from the Bill of Rights into the shadows, or penumbras, of the right to privacy made abortion permissible. How can we refute this? The moral, the ethical, the Christian solution can declare that the gospel light of Jesus Christ reflected in the lives of His Church illumines the shadowy penumbras of sin and dispels the darkness of abortion! As Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” Let us follow in our Master’s steps that our country, our state, our county, and our city may be transformed from a culture of death, of darkness, to the culture of life, of light!
Works Cited
Constitutional Law, by Michael P. Farris. See Roe v. Wade decision, “Roe v. Wade: Death. by Penumbra.”
Politics in America, Lance T. Leloup. Page 396.
Pro-life Answers to Pro-choice Arguments, Randy Alcorn.
“Innocent Blood: How Lying Marketers Sold Roe v. Wade to America,” David Kupelian.
“America’s Godly Heritage,” David Barton
See The Myth of Separation by David Barton.
Why Pro-Life, Randy Alcorn
Abortion Rites, Marvin Olasky
TN Court of Appeals M2001-01738-COA-R3-CV- Filed Dec. 19, 2002. See also Health.state.TN.US/Facilities.
“Just the Facts,” a pamphlet published by Right to Life.
“Why Abortion Is Genocide,” Greg Cunningham.
Silent Scream, with Dr. Bernard Nathanson, a video of an actual abortion taking place, shows this clearly.
Planned Parenthood’s Services to Women diagram in Planned Parenthood America 1997 Report.
The 2004 American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Help for Your Family, by Harvesttime Books, “Abortion and You,” Pages 274-280, 304.
See “Major Psychological Sequelae of Abortion” by David Reardon.
blackgenocide.org’s Negro Project.
American Rights Coalition, Chattanooga, TN.
