Abortion has been legal in the United States since 1973, but that doesn’t mean most Americans approve of abortion.
According to a national Marist University survey released this year, the vast majority of Americans are very uncomfortable with abortion. Eighty-four percent said that laws should protect both the well-being of a woman and the life of the unborn child. The poll revealed that a majority of Americans say abortion is morally wrong (60 percent).
Want abortion restrictions
The survey also found support for abortion restrictions among both “pro-life” and “pro-choice” supporters, according to an article on www.lifenews.com
The article reported on the Marist University poll taken in January of 2015. According to this national survey, 84 percent of Americans said they want significant restrictions on abortion and would limit abortions to — at most — the first three months of pregnancy.
This included almost seven in 10 (69 percent) who identify themselves as “pro-choice” and who support abortion limits and oppose late-term abortions.
Other national polls have shown strong support for the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act and for stopping late-term abortions.
Abortion ban after 20 weeks
On July 20, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed a law banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, which is close to the time when unborn babies are viable and can survive outside the womb. Wisconsin is the 15th state to ban abortions after 20 weeks.
In the U.S. Congress, the House of Representatives has already approved a 20-week ban and the Senate is expected to vote on it this fall.
In Wisconsin, other measures have been passed in recent years to restrict abortions. In 2013, Governor Walker signed a bill into law (also known as Sonja’s Law) which requires that women seeking abortions are given the opportunity to see their unborn children through ultrasounds.
The law also required abortionists to have hospital admitting privileges within 30 miles of their facility. In March of 2015, a federal judge struck down that portion of the law. In April, Wisconsin’s attorney general filed the legal papers asking the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals to review the case.
Sale of baby body parts
And now, there may be more reasons for people to be concerned about abortion and the abortion industry. A video has been released which shows a Planned Parenthood physician describing how she keeps fetal organs intact during an abortion so that body parts can be sold to research companies.
This is not something new. I was cleaning my office before this video was released and came upon an article I saved from the National Right to Life News from November of 1999. The article was called “A New Growth Industry in Baby Body Parts.”
Back in 1999, evidence was given that fetal body parts were being “harvested” in abortion clinics and sold to research companies. The descriptions of dissecting fetuses were gruesome. Some of the unborn babies were up to 30 weeks’ gestation and organs were harvested even before the babies died.
In 1999, there were concerns that some abortionists were doing abortions under general anesthesia and using techniques that took up to four times longer than usual in order to extract fresh organs and even fetal brain tissue. This could increase the likelihood of the woman’s pain and infection.
There was also the fear that women might agree to abortions more readily because their aborted children might allegedly further research to find a cure for a debilitating disease.
A federal law passed in 2000 forbids trafficking in baby body parts. Members of Congress have said they will investigate Planned Parenthood’s abortion practices.
Promote culture of life
Having this grisly practice come to light again hopefully may help even more people say, “Enough is enough!” Abortion — far from being “health care” in most cases — is harming women and killing babies. We have to support life-giving alternatives for women and their babies.
We know that prayer is a powerful tool to promote the culture of life. One suggestion is to join the National Prayer Campaign sponsored by Priests for Life (www.priestsforlife.org), which includes a prayer to St. John Paul II, the “pope of life.” Let’s pray for his intercession to bring a greater appreciation for the gift of life and an end to abortion.