On Abortion: The Thin Line Between Right and Moral Obligation

Abortion. Just a word. Just an eight-letter word. Just a word - yet, so lethal.
A word that puts a period to a life.

I could recall the great writer Sidney Sheldon writing something about abortion.
In his novel "Rage of Angels," there was a part where the protagonist Jennifer Parker went to a doctor to have an abortion. The doctor asked her to think about, and after thinking about it, re-think about it ONCE again. This is just the author's way of showing his objection with this act. To quote the doctor's exact words about abortion -

"The thing with abortion is it is so final."

Yes. That is the ugly truth - It is indeed final.

One could decide to do it.
Then, one could do it.
But once it is done, it could never be undone.
ABORTION IS FINAL.

There was one article I read years and years back - one woman wrote about her personal experience, and she said:
"They say that the things that we will regret later on in life are not the things we DO, but the things we DIDN'T do. I just had an abortion and I am not quite certain if it is something I DID or something I DIDN'T DO."

I was so touched by her words that they still echo in my consciousness - reverberating through years that passed. Judging from her statement, one could say that she did regret it - and it is evident that she, herself, knows that it is something she DIDN'T DO. It is something that she regrets and will continue to regret until the end of time.

I will reiterate. . . ABORTION is final.
No rewinds. No pause. No nothing.
Once it is done, it is done.
Not a million "sorry's",
not a thousand remorse,
not a hundred regrets,
not an ocean of tears could ever bring a life back.

Let's discuss the main defense of women who do such act (I am not saying "despicable" act, nor "brilliant" act for I am trying to be neutral). They say that it is their body, and they have the right to do whatever they want. It is their right - nobody could question it. Fine argument - it is our body, and we have every right to do whatever we want to do with it.

I cannot help but nod with agreement. It is indeed our body. And we have all the right to it.

BUT  ----- there is a big, enormous, daunting BUT in this statement:
But is it our life that we are taking?

It is indeed our body, but it is NOT our life that we are ending with an abortion.
It is someone else life.
It is the life of a child - our own flesh and blood.

From this point, nobody has the right - for nobody has the right to take a life.

The right to live- that is the right of each and everyone.
Every single human being has the right of life.
And no woman should decide to end one.

If it is cosmetic surgery- breast augmentation, rhinoplasty, or collagen injection - no one could argue with one's freedom of choice.
With cosmetic surgery, one is harming no one.
Nobody has to die for a woman to exercise her freedom of choice.
But with abortion, it is utterly different.

Everybody has the right to choose. That is everyone's natural born right.
But we must not forget that every right comes with a responsibility: the responsibility to uphold others right of life. We could exercise our rights as long as we are harming no one.

Just like the freedom of expression.
We have the right to say whatever we want to say -
Whenever we want to say it . . .
Wherever we want to say it . . .
That is prevalent now in all free countries.
BUT . . . We must make sure that we are not damaging someone else's reputation, or else we will be legally liable for libel (written) or slander (oral).

I am not condemning them - I am not them.
If I would put myself in their shoes, I would not know what I would do, too.

It is just so sad to know that this practice is so widespread, and women are merely shrugging their shoulders nonchalantly and uncaringly.

The worse thing is, some women repeat the same sick cycle over and over again:
getting pregnant unprepared,
having abortion,
getting pregnant again,
then getting abortion again,
getting pregnant again,
committing abortion again. . .
Ad infinitum.

There are some of them who think abortion is just like taking shower: getting dirty, then getting rid of unwanted residues.

It is a scientific fact that some animals, mostly reptiles, eat their young (like snakes, spiders, fish, etc).

When I was young, I read somewhere that mammals (that includes human) have mammary glands that make them care for their young. This characteristic is unique only to mammals - reptiles lack this feature.

Its relevance to our topic is I find human's abortion and animals' filial infanticide similar.
Think about it - if these animals have the human intellect, and they advance in a civilization and live in a society, they would probably commit abortion rather than eat their young, right? ;)

For example, most snakes have no parental care at all. So those who have no parental care and commit repeated abortion should start doubting their "humanity" and ask themselves: "Am I still human?"

Let's go back to the argument of man's right to choose.
Well, I will reiterate my retort for that - How about others' right to live?

There is a thin line between right and moral obligation - that we must not forget.
Before we open our mouths and shout, "it is my right," we should make sure that we do our obligation first.
I know everyone agrees with my conviction:
Our moral obligation comes first - our right follows.