Abortion is murder?

A law was passed in New York, "safeguarding rights laid out in Roe v. Wade and other court rulings, including a provision permitting late-term abortions when a woman's health is endangered". I believe this is a good thing. I believe this is NOT about "murdering babies".

I am Christian, from an Evangelical background, and I know many of my friends will have a knee-jerk reaction to this. So, please, friends, consider this.

I am a woman. I had two miscarriages, causing me deep emotional pain as well as physical pain. I am now 5 months pregnant and I thank God every day that my baby is alive and healthy so far. My point is, I know how it feels to have a baby grow inside of me.

I cannot believe, not for one second, that any woman would carry a baby in her womb for so long and then suddenly, out of the blue, decide to get rid of it for reasons of convenience. Serious health complications can and do arise later in pregnancy that leave a (heartbroken) woman no other choice but to abort. It's not only her life that can be in danger, it can be a fetus that is not viable. An acquaintance of mine found out during a second-term ultrasound scan that her baby's brain had failed to develop. We are not even talking about a brain problem that would result in severe physical or learning disabilities, but about an issue that would make the baby unable to survive once it is born. The lady had to abort. What else could she do?

Someone on Facebook shared a story about a fetus with an undeveloped heart which was detected late in the pregnancy. The mother was past 24 weeks, carrying a dying baby.

Babies can and do die in the womb for various reasons. What happens when a human dies? The body starts decaying. What happens if dead tissue starts decaying inside a person's (the mother's) body? You die of septic shock. So it is necessary to abort the dead fetus.

Those are the cases that make allowing late-term abortions necessary. I will not rejoice over abortions, but I am aware that in some cases, there is no other choice.

Dawkins and disabilities: what makes a life worthwhile?

Unless you've been living under a rock, or - like my mother - are blissfully unaware of what's going on in social media, you've probably heard about Richard Dawkins' infamous advice on Twitter to people expecting a child with Down's syndrome: abort it and try again. He later qualified his statement, but still insists that bringing such a child into the world is immoral, " based upon his own moral philosophy which in turn is based on a desire to increase happiness and reduce suffering."

This story strikes a nerve with me for two reasons.

For a start, I have a disability myself. I have Asperger's syndrome, which is an autistic spectrum disorder. Yes, it does make my life more difficult or even more painful at times. Does that mean I would rather not be alive? Of course not. Besides, happiness is not necessarily the absence of suffering. Of course, circumstances affect our happiness, but they do not necessarily crush it: if it were the case, people who are poor or ill would never be happy, yet this is simply not true (I'm not going to discuss how the pursuit of pleasure can actually impair our capacity for happiness today, though). And I know my parents love me just as I am, despite the difficulties they've had with me over the years.

Actually, I'm not the only person with an autistic spectrum disorder who's responded to Dawkins. The lady who mentioned the dilemma posed by learning your unborn child has Down's syndrome asked him where he'd draw the line, since she has an ASD. He replied "People on that spectrum have a great deal to contribute, Maybe even an enhanced ability in some respects."

I think that argument is flawed. Firstly, someone's contribution to society does not determine the worth of their lives, and that is very fortunate. How do you decide whose contribution is worth keeping? Besides, you cannot possibly know what contribution a child will make (or not) before they're even born. This guy has Down's syndrome and his contribution is pretty amazing, and he is only one example of the many things people like him are capable of. Moreover, people with ASD do not necessarily have enhanced skills. Some of us are highly intelligent, other of average intelligence, and other stills have severe developmental delay. Some have incredible intelligence but their autism is so severe that they cannot unlock their potential. None of this, however, is a criteria for the worth of our lives.

Which brings me to my second point. I used to work with children and teenagers who had various learning disabilities, including Down's syndrome - and some disabilities that are a lot more profound. Many of them had severe and complex developmental disabilities. They could not feed themselves, they could not talk, they could not walk. Does this mean their lives were not worth living?

Each one of them had a personality and a smile. A smile, do you understand what that means? A smile that says "I am happy to be here with you", "I am happy to see you". They had their likes and dislikes; they responded to people and situations in different ways. They felt the same emotions you and I do.They expressed happiness, fear, or frustration and cause people around them happiness, sadness, or frustration, just like we do. Who are we to say that their lives are not worth living? Since they can show enjoyment of certain things, dislike or distress of others, it demonstrates they feel the same emotions we do, even if they can't articulate them like we can.

Let me tell you about Gary (named changed). Gary was one of those children. I was blessed to be his key worker for 4 weeks. I got to know him and Gary had the happiest, liveliest personality you could imagine. When he smiled, it looks like the sun was radiating through his face. He would clap his hands in mine and laugh quietly. I could tell he was happy to see me. Gary passed away when he was 15. I miss him. I loved that boy very much. He was a human being and he had just as much a right to live as anyone else.

Mr Dawkins' statement leans towards eugenism, and that's evil in my books. I don't think we have the right to decide for another human being whether their life is worth living or not.