Pro-life speaker Bruce Coleman (Choices Of Life) spoke in our school this week, regarding the value of life and the Christian response to abortion. Several students expressed thanks for the informative and practical presentation, which also prompted me to do some research.
Some online statistics I gathered:
- Australia’s abortion rate is high in comparison to other developed nations.
- There are around 90,000 abortions in Australia each year, or two aborted lives for every five live births.
- There are 800 abortions each week in NSW.
- A woman seeking abortion is most likely to be aged in her 20s, single, childless, well educated and employed.
- The vast majority of abortions relate to convenience, not to medical purposes, rape or foetal deformities.
- According to one survey of around 4000 Australians, over 80% believed abortion is a right. In the same survey, over 75% of Australians with religious views supported the right to abortion. Even among evangelical Protestants surveyed, over 50% were pro-abortion. (2003 Australian Survey of Social Attitudes)
If you are pro-life, you are in the minority. If you actually participate in promoting the right to life, you belong to an even smaller minority. One thing is certain: it’s hard to face these statistics without wanting to do something.
About Ben Kwok
Ben is part of a church plant team establishing the Rouse Hill Church. He holds a Master of Divinity degree. Ben and his wife Diahanna live in Sydney, Australia with their four young children.
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Wow. Very sobering. Hard to imagine a “Christianity” in which abortion is ok…
It most definetly is not okay. Could I suggest you watch the film/documentary 180. It will answer all your questions about Abortion and Christianity.
That’s so sad! How could anyone justify the killing of a baby because it’s just not convenient?! Let alone those who are supposed to be Christians!!
im doing a project on this at school. when i saw the stats i couldnt believe people could just kill a baby because if they had it, it would somehow “get in the way” of their life!!
To all the people that say abortion is wrong, i agree. Though after finding out I was pregnant at 4 weeks at 24 yers of age, Still studying, living out of home with all the bills and medical costs i already have for my type one diabeties, Yes i have a loving and supportive partner, though he is still at uni and we currently between us live on less then 500 dollars a week . answer me this, how is it fair to bring a baby in to the world when you find it hard just looking after your self? A baby deserves a mum and dad that can support that baby easily with out having to deny them things because they dont have enough money to buy nappies, formula and food, what about a good education clothes and other thing that come along when a child grows up. The queensland goverenment does not give enough money ,and they should not have to, in order for someone to be able to keep a baby. If your going to have a baby you have to be ready to take reponsibility and have the financial means to be able to look after a baby.
Amanda, I know that this must be tough for you, but there is no such thing as the perfect time to raise a child. Think about all of the women in Africa who live on less than a dollar a day and manage to raise a child. Abortion is never the answer. The problem today is that people look at conceiving as an issue. They see it as an inconvenience. This child is going to love you no matter what. You don’t need to give it toys, the best clothing or ‘things’ to be able to love, support and raise this child. There are so many organisations out there that provide funding and supplies for people in your situation!! You are obviously an intelligent woman, so in reality when you finish UNI you will be able to get a job and provide those extra things for this child. You only have a few years of sacrificing those luxuries in life and then you will be fine!! All a child needs is love and parents to provide that. The money and support will come with that :) Hope this helps!!
Amanda,
I am sorry you’ve found yourself in this difficult situation. It’s never easy to have to struggle to pay the bills.
To answer your question, if someone doesn’t want to bring a child into the world, they must avoid conception. Once a child is conceived, he/she has already been brought into the world for better or for worse.
There is the option of putting a child out for adoption from birth. Though I cannot imagine how hard it would be to feel like that was the only option, I know that there are many couples that would love and care for the child. I have cousins who were adopted at birth and am so thankful that they were allowed to live.
But I guess the main thing I would want to do would be to encourage you that while it is normal and appropriate for a parent to want to give their child nice things and good opportunities, it is so important to remember that this is not what the child needs most. What a child needs most is a loving home where they are cared for and protected, where they are taught how to live well, and where they are taught their need of the Saviour, Jesus Christ. None of these things costs a lot of money.
Children are resilient and adaptable. They can enjoy life with money or without it. The standard of living provided by even a low Queensland income (which will include a sizeable baby bonus and child support payments) is more than enough to give the child what he/she needs because mostly what he/she really needs is you and her father: his/her parents.
I pray that you will have wisdom moving forward and please drop me an email (tojasonharris@yahoo.com) if there’s anything I can do to help.
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Wow! I am pro-life. It’s hard to believe that 80% of our population are pro- abortive. (I’m Aussie) This has just rocked me to my core!
Oh dear. These statistics compel me to say something and it is this: pro life christians are in the minority for a good reason. Only the person concerned can make the decision over her fate and body, no one else has the right to impose their religious views on others. Thats why we have a seperation of church and state, so religious minorities dont decide its ok to have child brides, or impose clitorectomies on girls, or force women to have children when they dont want them. Not everyone views the foetus as a human life, the concept of a soul at conception is a christian one.
I had a miscarriage of a wanted pregnancy at ten weeks in utero. My mum who is pro life suffered a similar situation at around the same age… I was deeply disappointed but had my son so didnt have that fear i couldnt carry to term. A lot of pro life people think its callous to use science to describe a foetus, but for me it was comforting. The foetus did not have the neurological capacity to feel pain, let alone emotion. Science helps us keep perspective. Was it a tragedy? Maybe, but not a huge one. Many, many pregnancies end in miscarriage and i now have two healthy great kids. Did i grieve as if i had lost a baby? No. It would have been far, far more of a tragedy for me losing my 18 month old son at the time, or having a baby die of cot death or even having a still birth.
Do i even remember the date of the miscarriage? No. Dont you think i would if it was a real loss of human life? And guess what? My pro life mother doesnt recall the date of her miscarriage either… in fact i doubt many people who have miscarriages do, and this is because it simply is not the tragic loss of human life the anti choice brigade carry on about.
Do you really want to know what upsets the majority of pro choice people about christians who are anti choice? Its your dismissive claims unwanted pregnancies are just an “inconvenience” that fail to appreciate how enormous a decision having a child is, and being a parent is…and your efforts to prevent women having control over this choice is all you seem to worry about. Do you worry about the child once its born? if you put all that effort into improving a womans choices rather than restricting them- improving access to childcare, contraception, education around reproduction, child health, improving womens wages… i would be happy to bet you would be far more successful at reducing or ending abortions than simoly taking that choice away.
But thats the thing isnt it? Its not about improving the lives of women and children for you, its about restricting women.
Teresa, There’s nothing new or thoughtful in this. The answers are obvious. Your body may be your choice. Your child’s body is not. You have a lot of options what you do with your body. You don’t get to kill another person just because they live inside you temporarily. Same with the whole choice about having a child or not. You have a choice. Of course. But once you’ve conceived a child, you’ve made your choice and it is now the responsibility of the law to protect the basic human rights of that person.
This is, quite simply, a liberal, progressive issue. You’re the conservative bent on violating human rights because it’s inconvenient not to. But you can’t stop progress.
Recognising the basic human rights of the unborn is the right thing to do. Just like so many civil rights movements before it, prolonged and peaceful protest will eventually lead to victory. And future generations will look back on this generation with the same horror with which we look back on slavery.