I Am Against Abortion
 
By Kim Sang-Hyun
 
Presented at the 3rd Daejin University National English Speech Contest, November 25, 1998.

    I'm sure that you have seen debates about abortion on TV programs. These days, having an abortion seems to be one of the most serious problems in society. For example, many unwed mothers, especially young women who are in their late teens and early 20s, have an abortion because of their irresponsible acts--casual sex caused by an open sexual culture. Although the law sometimes allows abortion to be performed, I'm against having an abortion. And, now, I would like to tell you why.
    Some of the people who agree with abortion have the idea that it is the last tool to escape their difficult situations. First, for example, imagine a girl, a teen-ager, who is pregnant and looking at her boyfriend with a reproachful look. Second, imagine a woman who is surprised at the fact that she has a sixth pregnancy. Her husband has been laid off from his job for a long time. Their five hungry children cry every night. Third, a well-dressed pregnant woman wants to get a new job with a special certificate. How will these people solve their problems? They often choose an abortion as the way to escape from their difficult situations.
    However, in my opinion abortion is almost always a kind of murder, a crime against humanity. It's such a strange fact to me that killing a young child is a horrible thing, but having an abortion is socially acceptable. First of all, God gave humans a privilege, I mean having a baby, and the cute baby is a precious present. So, we have a responsibility to bring up our babies well. Of course, if the woman's health is in danger, or if an unborn baby is deformed, no way can solve these situations but an abortion for the mother's and the baby's life. Except for these reasons, having an abortion is just a convenient tool to make these women lives untroubled.
    Second, although women have unwanted pregnancies, the babies in their wombs have already received life from God. Therefore, I think, the babies, as human beings, need to be loved. Also, to keep the present alive from God, maybe, lots of people can help women with unwanted pregnancies. I have heard about a social institution, 'Haerimwon' in Daejon, which is one of the social welfare societies that offer some advice to women with unwanted pregnancies through counseling, giving them a chance to get an education and relax their complicated minds, giving them free medical service and information about adoption, etc.
    You may think the unexpected babies' lives will be unhappy afterward. But, let's suppose the babies are white papers without any ideas. And as we write and paint on the papers with warm love and gentle concern, the babies become people who love other people and enjoy life. We have to give a chance to babies in their mother's wombs to feel the warm light of the sun.
    Finally, some other people say that having an abortion or not is entirely up to the mother on libertarian grounds. At this point, I would like to tell this story concerned with an abortion that I read on the internet. A doctor met a woman who wanted to have an abortion, but she had a problem with her womb. So, she could not get the operation. The doctor wanted her to come back to the hospital after getting treatments. When the doctor met her again a week later, the couple said, "We changed our minds and decided to give birth to our baby." The doctor was glad to hear that. Several years later, the doctor saw their son playing in a pool happily. He was impressed with the couple's cheerful look, and respected their choice. Which would you choose? You have a free choice.
    I would like to emphasize once more that during the moral war between Pro-choice and Pro-life, about sixty million babies in their mother's wombs have been dying every year all over the world. So, whenever someone even thinks about an abortion, the babies in their mother's wombs maybe trembling with fear.

kimseng@hanimail.com


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