Abortion Questions & Answers
1. When does the unborn baby’s heart first begin to beat?
The heartbeat begins between the eighteenth and twenty-fifth day.
2. When does the brain begin to function?
Electrical brain waves have been recorded as early as forty days.
3. When does the baby first begin to move?
Spontaneous movement by the baby begins around 45 days.
4. How early can a baby survive outside the mother’s womb?
Currently, twenty weeks is considered the accepted minimum. However, this time is continually reduced as medical technology continues to improve.
5. What about cases of rape and incest?
Pregnancy from rape is extremely rare. A study of one thousand rape victims who were treated after the rape reported no pregnancies. There are no known studies of incest cases. Medically, we know pregnancy in these cases would be rare. Rape and incest are terrible crimes that should be punished to the full extent of the law. But it is unfair and unjust to kill an innocent child for the crimes of another person.
6. But what about the child with disease who will die a slow death or live his life as a burden to his family?
Do you believe the new “ethic” should be that we kill the suffering or burdensome? Some of these cases are tragic, some are also inspirational. We cannot assume the responsibility for killing an unborn child simply because the child has not yet been seen in public. The child’s place of residence does not change what abortion does - kill a human being.
7. What about the population boom? We can hardly feed the people of the world now!
True, the population of the world is growing, but population is not a problem in the United States. According to the most recent statistics of the Centers for Disease Control. National Center for Health Statistics, the birthrate is 13.9/1000 (2002) and the death rate (2001) is nearly equal at 8.54/1000. In addition, the birth rate has been falling substantially for a decade and is now at its lowest rate since it was first monitored. By comparison, according to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, the abortion rate in 2000 was 21/1000 and is not counted in the national death rate.
8. How can a girl place her own baby for adoption and go through life never knowing what is happening to her child?
Which is better to remember, “I gave my baby life. And because I loved him, I gave him into the arms of a loving couple” - or to remember, “I selfishly ended my baby’s life?”
Questions an unborn baby may be asking:
1. If I am not alive, why am I growing?
2. If I am not a human being, what kind of being am I?
3. If I am not a child, why am I sucking my thumb?
4. If I am a living, human child, why is it legal to kill me?