Wendy Godsoe is 16 years of age, a grade 11 student at Malvern Collegiate Institute in Toronto. The following is the text of a speech given by Wendy to her Level 5 English class. She accompanied her presentation with graphic photographs of the results of types of abortion she describes, together with a fact sheet detailing fetal development. Wendy’s speech opened many of her classmates’ eyes – she gave them facts never before heard in their public school environment. Wendy received 37 out of a possible 40 marks for her speech.
Have you ever stopped to think how lucky you are that you were conceived before 1969? If you have been conceived after 1969, you may have been denied the gift of life, for it was at that time that abortion became legal in Canada.
It was not until 5 years ago that I realized how terrible abortion really is. I had always been taught that abortion was wrong, but when my mother was pregnant 5 years ago, I made up my mind.
Some doctors my mother went to told her she should have an abortion because of her age and her health condition. There was no way either my mother or the baby would survive. But when they both did, all the doctors could say was “you were lucky!”
Some of those doctors wanted to take the most precious gift away from an innocent human being, the gift of life.
So, today, I am going to talk to you on the topic of abortion.
What is abortion?
Abortion is the killing of a human being. It stops a pregnancy and ends the life of an innocent member of the human family.
Even if the baby is only 11/2 inches long when aborted, he/she is still perfectly formed. The heart beats, he/she can kick his/her feet, and he/she even has his/her own distinctive fingerprints. Being a tiny human being also gives the baby the right to live.
Scientists all over the world say that life begins at conception. When the male sperm joins the female ovum, there’s enough information to create a unique human being.
Only 25 days after conception, the baby’s heart begins to beat, by the 6th week, brain activity can be measured, by the 9th week, the child can make a tiny fist, get hiccups, and suck his/her thumb. All organs can function by the 11th week. The child inhales, exhales, swallows, digests and urinates.
How can anyone say that an unborn baby is not a human being? It is a fact that there have been babies born just 9 weeks after conception that have lived. A baby just doesn’t suddenly some to life when it’s being born, it’s already alive in the mother before birth.
Many people justify abortion with excuses. However, excuses are what they are because abortion will never be justifies.
Is rape a reason for abortion?
Rape is not a reason for abortion. Rape and abortion are both crimes of violence. It is actually very rare for rape victims to become pregnant. If this should happen, society should offer loving and supporting care to both victims, mother and child. To use abortion as an after-the-fact solution to rape is just causing a larger problem.
Why should the innocent child be punished for his or her father’s crime?
Abortion does not reduce child abuse
There are many after-effects of abortion. Anything from abdominal cramps, to depression, to bearing stillborn children later. (Here is a sheet with known problems caused by abortion.)
People think that abortion will reduce child abuse. This, however, is not true. A 7 year study of 764 battered children by a doctor at the University of California showed that 90% of those battered children were wanted at the time of conception. Other factors and “unwantedness” – such as unrealistic expectations for the child and inadequate parenting skills – accounted for the battering.
Abortion is “battering” in the womb, the earliest and most violent form of child abuse.
Pro-abortion counseling is given
When a woman goes for abortion, she receives pro-abortion counseling. This assures the woman of a quick, safe, painless procedure with a few possible complications. No words such as baby or fetus are used during the counseling. She is told that the “contents” to be removed from the uterus are nothing more than bloody tissue.
After an abortion the immediate reaction can be no more fear, relief that there is no more unwanted pregnancy. But, what about later?
What happens when a woman sees pictures of a tiny developing fetus she thought of as just tissue, or when she carries to term an unwanted child and feels the similarities to her earlier pregnancy?
Taxpayers’ money is spent every year to destroy over 60,000 unborn Canadian children.
Some statistics
According to Statistics Canada, 1980:
30% of abortions are performed on women 19 years of age and under.
51% of abortions are performed on women 20 to 29 years of age.
19% of abortions are performed on women 30 years of age and over.
65% of women having abortions are single.
62% of women having abortions have no children.
91% of women having abortions have 2 or fewer children.
Look at these figures of accidental deaths:
30 years of drowning (1950-1980) – total: 39,931.
30 years of road deaths (1950-1980) – total: 141,934.
80 years of warfare in the Boer War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War – total: 99,449
In just 11 years of abortion (1969-1980), the total number of deaths of the Canadian unborn is 527,214.
Three different methods of abortion
The suction method. In this, a powerful suction tube is inserted into the mother’s womb. This tears apart the body of the developing baby, sucking the parts into a container.
The saline method. This is done after 16 weeks. A long needle is inserted through the mother’s abdomen into the baby’s sac and a solution of concentrated salt is injected into the womb. The baby breathes the salt and is poisoned by it. The outer layer of skin is burned. It takes the baby over an hour to slowly die. About a day later, the mother delivers a dead baby.
The hysterotomy method. This is exactly like a Caesarian Section and is performed when the baby may be too developed for other methods. After the baby is delivered, the umbilical cord is cut and the baby is left to die. At this age, while waiting to die, the baby moves, breathes and some will even cry.
With all these methods, after the babies are aborted, they are put in garbage bags.
The Ballad of the Unborn
As I end my speech, I would like to read you the Ballad of the Unborn.
My shining feet will never run on an early morning lawn;
My feet were crushed before they had a chance to greet the dawn.
My fingers now will never stretch to touch the winning tape.
My race was done before I learned the smallest steps to take.
My growing height will never be recorded on the wall;
My growth was stopped when I was still unseen, and very small.
My lips and tongue will never taste the good fruits of the earth;
For I, myself, was judged to be a fruit of little worth.
My eyes will never scan the sky for my high-flying kite;
For when still blind, destroyed were they in the black womb night.
I’ll never stand upon a hill, Springs’ winds in my hair;
Aborted winds of thoughts closed on motherhood’s despair.
I’ll never walk the shores of life or know the tides of time;
For I was coming but unloved, and that my only crime.
Nameless am I, a grain of sand, one of the countless dead;
But the deed that make me ashed grey, floats on seas of red.
Our future is unborn – let’s save it!