ABORTION Abortion – means the spontaneous or

induced termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of a embryo or a fetus.

The practice of abortion dates back to the ancient Egyptian times. Although methods and techniques used varies from the present times.

In the U. S. from 18th to 19th centuries various doctors, clerics, and social reformers successfully pushed for an all-out ban on abortion.

However, in the 20th century various women’s rights groups, doctors and social reformers successfully repealed abortion bans.

While abortion remains legal in many Western countries, it is regularly subjected to legal challenges by pro-life groups.

Feminists and abortion rights organizations claimed that safe and effective birth control, adequate sex education, available health care, and the ability to support children adequately are just the few of the many reasons given by these Anti-life groups.

All the while, these so called feminists and abortion rights organizations didn’t know that in just the span of three short decades (from 1960 to 1991) these sexual revolution in the US society established the following:

**1. Abortion has increased 800

percent.2. The illegitimate birth has

increased 457 percent. 3. Child abuse has increased more

than 500 percent.4. Divorce rate has increased 133

percent.5. Percentage of single-parent

families has increased 214 percent.

6. “Living together” has increased 279 percent.

7. Incidence of venereal diseases has increased 245 percent.

8. Teen suicide rate has increased 214 percent.

9. Juvenile violent crime rate has increased 295 percent.

That is why in 1965, all fifty US states banned abortion with some exceptions which varied from state to state.

A major event happened in 1973, when the Supreme Court came up with the ruling of the case of Roe vs. Wade, which declared second, and third trimesters abortions which are existing state abortion laws - unconstitutional.

However, this decision ruled out any legislative interference in the FIRST TRIMESTER OF PREGNANCY.

** Source: “Facts of Life,” Human Life International; 1997

While many celebrated the decision, others, especially in the Roman Catholic Church and in theologically conservative Christian groups, opposed the change.

The two groups “Pro-Choice" whose objective is to eliminate most legislative restrictions on abortions, and the "Pro-life" whose tasks is to outlaw abortion, has its latest major conflict over termination of late pregnancies, termed "partial birth abortions" by those who oppose them. Pro-choice advocates maintain that such abortions are to save the life or health of the mother or terminate pregnancies where the fetus cannot survive birth or cannot survive much after birth.

Pro-life advocates maintain that the fetuses may be saved and that many of these abortions are done in cases that are NOT HOPELESS.

Sample of this case is the story of the Armas couple who fought against all odds to save the life of their first child, which others will consider aborting the fetus.

The picture you see is that of a 21-week-old unborn baby named Samuel Alexander Armas, who was operated on by a surgeon named Dr. Joseph Bruner. The baby was diagnosed with spina bifida. (The birth defect, in which the developing spine fails to close around the spinal cord. ) If detected, unborn children with spina bifida are usually aborted.

During the procedure, the doctor removed the uterus via C-section and made a small incision to operate on the baby. During the surgery, little Samuel reached his tiny but fully developed hand, through the incision and firmly grasped the surgeon's finger; as if thanking the doctor for the gift of life. “ Little Samuel's mother said they "wept for days" when they saw the picture.

Remember this –Only God has the sole power to give and take

life.

The COMMISSION

ON FAMILY LIFE through this Presentor, would like you to give you the

TRUTH.

So, please listen intently.

• God made mankind only in his image and likeness. (Genesis 1:26-27)

• We are uniquely singled out bearing the image of God above any other creature. We are the sole object of Christ's redemptive love.

Christ went to the trouble of dying for our transgressions against God the Father, by becoming a human first.

God said to Noah “He who sheds the blood of man shall have his blood shed by man for in in the image of God has God made man." (Gen. 9:6)

Jesus Christ (without sin) also came from the womb and He too followed the same process of growing inside the womb of the Blessed Mother Mary for nine months, just like you and me.

God points out that man is unique, and he is worth more than animals. Nothing pleases God more than the crown of His

creation – that is man and woman.

We must always remember that, “Marriage must be

respected by all . . . God will punish the immoral and the adulterous.” (Hebrews 13:4)

It is only here in Marriage that God allows the act of love and its fruits –Children (Psalm 127:3) - to be physically and spiritually acceptable in the eyes of God.

So when God unites both man and woman into one, it is called “Marriage”. Marriage is a grace that grows into a union of heart and soul”; a lifelong commitment of genuine self-surrender. It also calls for humility, fortitude, a spirit of sacrifice, and meekness to the graces which God always grants when they are asked for with simplicity.

MARRIAGE

LIFE BEFORE BIRTH: THE FIRST TRIMESTER OF PREGNANCY

The ovum (Egg) is the female reproductive cell that is meant to unite with its male counterpart, the sperm cell, in the process of fertilization.

It is produced in a woman's ovaries.

THE OVUM

Sperm is the male sexual reproductive cell that fuses with the ovum in the process of fertilization.

Each sperm contains the husband's genetic information to be contributed during fertilization. It also initiates the development of the ovum.

A sperm may be only 1/195,000 the size of an ovum but has a wide range of shapes and sizes.

THE SPERM

An ovum surrounded by sperm. Only the best 50 to 100 may be able to reach the ovum.

Of these, only one can penetrate the ovum to deliver the other half of the chromosomes needed to complete a human cell.

DAY 1

CONCEPTION Fertilization begins when a sperm

successfully penetrates the outer layer of the ovum.

Conception is that stage of the fertilization process wherein the 23 chromosomes of the sperm pair off with the 23 chromosomes of the ovum.

At this crucial moment, it is certain that at least one new human being has been created!

Cell Division In the first two weeks of rapid cell division, biologists call this new human being a "zygote". Imagine that! Once upon a time, you were a zygote!

What biologists call a human fertilized ovum is also in fact a human being with a single-celled body.

Thirty hours after conception, this basic human body quickly begins to divide into two and keeps on duplicating, growing at a very fast rate.

When the first duplication or "mitosis" is complete, the result is a human being with a two-celled body -- a body which will double rapidly to become 4, 8, 16, 32 cells and so on in the weeks that lay ahead.

Every resulting cell contains a complete set of the original 46 chromosomes from the sperm and ovum.

This human being is no longer just a fertilized ovum or zygote.

Biologists call the daughter cells of the zygote "blastomeres".

While it keeps on duplicating, the fertilized egg is brushed by hairlike cilia and journeys down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where the soft lining has been prepared for its arrival and implantation.

DAY 3-4

DAYS 5-9: IMPLANTATION

DAY 10-14DAY 10-14During this second week, the placenta begins to form, nourishing a developing baby now composed of the three primary types of tissue: endoderm, ectoderm, and mesoderm.

Up to now, the mother has no reason to suspect that she is pregnant. By the time she misses her period, the baby would have been alive for at least two weeks (about four weeks after the first day of her last normal period).

After the first two weeks, biologists call the new human being an "embryo".

DAY 21-DAY 21-2323

The third week sees the formation of the neural tube, precursor to the central nervous system; muscle tissue from which major organs and glands will arise; blood vessels; beginnings of the digestive cavity.

On the 21st day, another tube folds on itself and develops into a basic tubular heart which begins to undulate.

Although the embryo does not appear to be human, the humanity of this living organism was complete since Day 1.

This human embryo is now about 1/16 of an inch. This human embryo is now about 1/16 of an inch.

• By the end of the first month, the human embryo has a head and a trunk and all major

organs have begun their development. • Structures that will become arms and legs,

called limb buds, begin to appear. The heart which had been beating since the 21st day now has four chambers.

• The backbone and muscles are forming. Eyes and ears have begun to show. DAY 28 DAY 28 WEEK WEEK

44

DAY 34-36 DAY 34-36 WEEK 5WEEK 5

• At one month old, the baby is 10,000 times larger than the original fertilized egg and is developing rapidly.

• The heart is pumping increasing quantities of blood through the circulatory system.

• The placenta forms a unique barrier that keeps the mother's blood separate while allowing food and oxygen to pass through to her baby.

This human embryo is about This human embryo is about one-sixth (1/6) of an inch long.one-sixth (1/6) of an inch long.

• At 1/2 inches long, electrical activity begins in the developing brain and nervous system. The fingers begin to develop and the human embryo has nostrils. The eyes darken as pigment is produced. The liver is now taking over the production of blood cells, and the brain begins to control movement of muscles and organs. The heart has four chambers and is beating rapidly.

• The mother is about to miss her second period and has probably confirmed that she is pregnant.

DAY 40-42 DAY 40-42 WEEK 6WEEK 6

DAY 44-46 WEEK 7• The baby begins to move spontaneously. The jaw forms, including teeth buds in the gums.

• Soon the eyelids will seal to protect the baby during this light-sensitive month.

• At this time, gonads begin the production of the sex hormones, testosterone and estrogen.

• In the next weeks, the calibration of these hormones will cause the brain to be wired as masculine or feminine.

• This baby already has ears, fingers, and toes. Everything is now present that will be found in a developed adult.

• The heart has been beating for more than a month, the stomach produces digestive juices and the kidneys have begun functioning. Forty muscle sets begin to operate in conjunction with the nervous system. The baby's body responds to touch.

The baby is about 1 1/5 inches long. The head is about half that length. From the eighth week onward, doctors call the unborn baby a "fetus" -- Latin for "young one" or "offspring".

WEEK 8WEEK 8

WEEK 9 - WEEK 9 - 2 MONTHS2 MONTHS

Fingerprints are already evident in the skin. The young one will curve its fingers around an object placed in the palm of its hand.

• The baby is about two and one-half (2 1/2) inches from head to rump. It has doubled in size since Week 7. The fingernails are developing. Between 8 and 10 weeks, the baby begins small, random movements, though they are too slight to be felt yet.

• The baby’s heartbeat can be detected electronically.

• The mother’s womb has now doubled in size. The baby can squint, swallow and wrinkle its forehead.

WEEK 10WEEK 10

WEEK 11WEEK 11

• At this time, the baby is about 2 3/4 inches long.• The baby’s face has assumed a more humanlike

profile, and muscle movements are becoming more coordinated, and he (or she) begins to pee.

• The “little feet” you see in this picture is the symbol of the Pro-Life movement.

The baby is able to swallow, and the kidneys are able to make urine. In the 11th or 12th week the external genitals become evident. Blood begins to form in the bone marrow. The baby now sleeps, awakens and exercises its muscles -- energetically turning its head, curling its toes, and opening and closing its mouth. The palm, when stroked, will make a tight fist. The baby breathes amniotic fluid to help develop its respiratory system.

WEEK WEEK 1212

The baby is about three and one-half (3 1/2) inches from head to rump.

WEEK 14 - 3 months

Fine hair has begun to grow on the head, and sexual differentiation has become apparent. The young one is about four and three-fourths (4 3/4) inches from head to rump. The head is erect and the legs are developed.

The growing process of a child goes on until nine months when the child is fully develop and ready to be born.

The infant inside the mother’s womb relies all her/his nutrition and food through the mother. Whether it is first trimester, second or third trimester of pregnancy, the child inside the womb relies on the mother for survival.

Force separation of the infant from the mother’s womb will result in the death of the infant. Thus, this process is called Abortion or infanticide (the killing of an infant)

That is why this process is a crime , because you are murdering the child.

Any discrimination based on the various stages of life is no more justified than any other discrimination.

The right to live fully remains in ourselves.

In reality respect for human life is called for from the time the process of generation begins

From the time the egg is fertilized, a life starts to live, not of the father, or the mother, but a life of another human being.

It will not be a human being if it did not come from the source which are human beings.

Life at 2 weeks.

Life at 8 weeks.

In the United States there were 1,310,000 (or 1.3 Million)who died from Legal Abortion in 2002, and it is estimated that the 1.3 Million figure was attained every year thereafter up to the present.

Likewise, no woman, doctor or hospital will admit that they committed this crime for fear that they will be imprisoned.

In Metro Manila it is estimated that one out of four pregnancies ended up in Abortion.

While, one out of six mothers had undergone Abortion.

In the Philippines, however, there is no dependable statistics regarding Abortion because it is illegal.

In 1981, Father Paul Marx, OSB, PhD, a Benedictine monk founded the world’s largest pro-life and pro-family organization called Human Life International. Its aim is to protect, preserve and promote the sanctity of Life and the dignity of the family, while exposing modern day threats to life and family.

In 1986, Fr. Paul Marx came to Manila for a conference, and in that conference he mentioned that Philippines have reached a staggering One (1) million Abortion a year, or 2,500 Abortions a day.

Recent studies showed that 17% of women in Metro Manila had undergone Abortion. It also showed that it is rampant in

Cebu

Davao

and Tuguegarao.

While, 40 % of women who were treated by the same hospital of complications from Abortion are students ages 15 to 19 years of age.

There was one case where a 13 year old Elementary student had Abortion.

Most of these women died due to complications arising from hemorrhage and infection. Statistics coming from the Department of Health (DOH) showed that in 1986 alone, abortion related cases ranked number 3 out of 10.

The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecologists of Baguio General Hospital came out with a study stating that Baguio has the second highest Abortion rate in the country. Davao City remains the highest incidence of Abortion.

According to Dr. Jesse Diaz, Gynecologists and head of Baguio General Hospital Reproductive Clinic that 55% of women in Baguio ages 20 to 24 years were treated due to Abortion related complications.

Studies further revealed that out of 100 pregnancies, 33 babies are killed through Abortion.

There are doctors who swore in their profession that they will protect the life of a human being but now has become agents of death. Here is the testimony of one of those doctors that testified that they went out of their objectives.Aside from doctors, there are also midwives performing Abortion in secrecy.

Around the country, there are hospitals and clinics which are known to be Slaughter-houses for the unborn babies.

We conveniently forgot that Abortion is against our Civil Law, yet it is promoted, taught and pass on to the public with the help of our officials, especially those in the Barangays.

We allow expensive pills and other deceitful means , such as IUD, vaccines, and other injectable substances that can cause Abortion to enter our country.

And some of these deceitful drugs are sold in the market disguised as women’s health and care related products.

Mothers who are using these methods (pills, IUD, injectable drugs, health & care products, etc. ) are putting their lives at a greater risk because of its side-effects.

Some who can’t afford the methods mentioned above opted to perform Abortion by women using clothes hanger or sharp objects.

These health and care products are part of a scheme to kill a life that has already started in the mother’s womb, without the mother’s knowledge.

They don’t know that these objects are dangerous because it can puncture the uterus. The Uterus at a young age is very delicate. And if the uterus is punctured bleeding follows, thus, bleeding will lead to hemorrhage, hemorrhage will lead to death.

Abortion is the cruelest way of taking a life of a helpless human being. More so, because it is her own flesh and blood.

Being a Christian, it is our duty to do everything in our capacity to end this terrible slaughter of the innocents.

The innocent child cannot do anything to defend himself, that is the reason why this act is a grave sin.

It is expected that as parents, the love for a child should be present and not the one who is after the life of a child.

That is why the Catholic Church does not only condemn Abortion, but also penalizes the abortionist and all

guilty parties through “Excommunication”

How about United Nations-where do they stand?

In May 23, 1988 the Pontifical Commission on Authentic Interpretation on the Code of Canon Law, confirms that Abortion is the -

“ intentional killing of a fetus with any method or time of pregnancy from the moment of conception. ”

After declaring 1979 as the “Year of the Child”, organizations such as the United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) and the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), did not only turn their backs on universal principles of human rights, but also betrayed their own charters.

These organizations spoke proudly of voluntarism and the rights of parents to decide for themselves the number and spacing of their children, and then turned right around and supported coercion (compulsion or force) for China.

That same year, UNPF gave $50 Million dollars -the first of three five-year programmes of assistance to China for population activities and family planning in exchange for a highly coercive one-child policy.

United Nations declares 1979 as the “Year Of The Child.”

Endnotes1 John Aird, Slaughter of the

Innocents (AEI Press, 1990)88-89.

China

• The United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) has repeatedly been caught promoting abortion and sterilization under circumstances where informed consent is lacking, and even outright coercion is involved.• Over the past two years, Population Research Institute (PRI)has obtained evidence that: • 1) UNPF supports and funds coercive abortion, coercive sterilization. The PRI team was told by victims and witnesses of coercion that, contrary to claims made by UNPF, Chinese law forbids women from freely determining the timing and spacing of pregnancies. UNPF-supported program included age requirements for pregnancy, birth permits, mandatory and coercive use of IUDs, coercive abortion, coercive sterilization, fines, imprisonment, and the destruction of homes and property for non-compliance.

2) UNPF supports coercive sterilizations in Peru, and seeks to cover up these abuses. In January 1998, PRI investigators in Peru documented widespread abuses of forced sterilization in so-called “ligation festivals”.

3) UNPF promotes chemical and manual suction abortions in Kosovo refugee camps, at the expense of the health and informed consent rights of Kosovar women, and sought to cover up this promotion of abortion;

4) UNPF promotes chemical and manual suction abortions in Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan at the expense of the health and rights of traumatized refugees.

Peru Capitol

Afghan Refugees camp

While here in the Philippines there are unseen forces that are pushing our Legislators to pass a bill obliging us to accept those lethal drugs and other devices sold by foreign companies, and if not, but to force both sexes to be sterilized.

At the same time Mass Media in our country has become an instrument in making the public accept that Abortion is not dangerous. This mentality, has made women fearless in killing their own babies. It has also made mothers believe that it is a normal thing for women today to choose to use contraceptives & other abortifacients.

What is frightening here is that, the majority of Filipinos are either not aware that Abortion is murder, or are ambivalent about their stand.

Anti-Life Groups, some Medical Doctors, and believers of Abortion including those in the Government that promote anti-life are saying

that:

A fetus is not a child !

A fetus is not human !

It will not be a human being if it did not come from the source which are human beings !

Why does it suck its thumb? Why does it kick and move?Let us listen to the testimony of Dr. Halpern.

"When does human life begin?"

1. MOORE & PERSAUD which states that, "Human development begins at fertilization, the process during which a male gamete or sperm . . . unites with a female gamete or oocyte . . . to form a single cell called a zygote.

2. Langman, Medical Embryology, p. 3 (1963): 'The development of a new individual commences with fertilization;'

3. Thomas, Introduction to Human Embryology, p. 52 (1968); 'Fertilization is significant in that new life is created . . .

4. 'O'Rahilly, Developmental Stages in human Embryos, p. 9 n. 1; 'the initiation of new life occurs at that moment when fertilization is completed by fusion of the two sets of chromosomes.‘

Prof. Dr. DIANNE NUTWELL IRVING, M.D., M.A., Ph. D. of the United States, wrote "The major issue concerns when a new living human being begins to exist. Scientifically, there is no question whatsoever that this occurs at fertilization - in vivo, or in vitro. By the time of implantation, the living human embryo is approximately already 5-7 days old.

In the Medical textbooks of:

Prof. Dr. DIANNE NUTWELL IRVING, further state that, “This is not a 'religious', 'prolife', or subjective 'belief' or 'opinion', but rather it is an objective scientific fact that has been known scientifically for over a hundred years, e.g., with the publication of Wilhelm His' (the 'Father of Human Embryology'), Anatomie menschlicher Embryonen (Leipzig: Vogel, 1880-1885).

LARSEN, Human Embryology (1997), "In this text, we begin our description of the developing human with the formation and differentiation of the male and female sex cells or gametes, which will unite at fertilization to initiate the embryonic development of a new individual . . ."

O'RAHILLY & MULLER, HUMAN EMBRYOLOGY & TERATOLOGY, "Fertilization is an important landmark because, under ordinary circumstances, a new, genetically distinct human organism is thereby formed. The ill-defined and inaccurate term pre-embryo . . . is not used in this book"

CARLSON, HUMAN EMBRYOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY, (1994) which states in particular that, "Human pregnancy begins with the fusion of an egg and a sperm."

The Child and Youth Welfare Code

Article 1: Declaration of Policy.

The State declares and I quote, “The Child is one of the most important assets of the nation, every effort should be exerted to promote his welfare and enhance his opportunities for a useful and happy life.”

Is the Child protected by our Constitution?

The answer is YES !!

1987 Constitution, Constitutional Commission (Vol. 4, p. 668), states that: "The State . . . shall equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception . . . " (Article II, Sec. 12), thus, expressly recognizing the right to life from the moment of conception.

According to noted Constitutional authority, FR. JOAQUIN BERNAS, S.J. who was part of the 1986 Constitutional Convention:

"The intention is to protect life from its beginning, and the assumption is that human life begins at conception, that conception takes place at fertilization." (IV RECORD of the Constitutional Commission 799, Fr. Bernas, J., The 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines, Manila: 1996 ed., p. 78)

In Article 3: Number (1) Rights of the Child- Every child is endowed (gifted) with the dignity and worth of human being from the moment of his conception, as generally accepted in medical parlance, and therefore, the right to be born well.

The principle behind the right to life must be respected by all.

Abortion must not be legalized whether it is accepted by all or by many because Abortion will always be a crime against humanity and against God’s commandments.

Thou shall not kill.

Let’s listen to the testimony of Two Abortionist Doctors regarding their experiences in performing Abortion.

She is a major contributor to the breaking-up of Families.

“The most merciful thing that the large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it.”

Margaret Sanger, Woman and the new race

‘Back in 1930, the infamous founder of the Planned Parenthood Margaret Sanger in the United States wrote: ‘Birth control …. Is calculated to undermine the authority of the Christian churches.’

According to the New Age Movement

Save the Whales!

Save the Forest!

Protect the Environment!

Conserve Energy!Conserve Water!

But Kill the Babies?

“ If a mother can kill her own child, how can we tell others not to kill? ”

STOP ABORTION ! Stop killing the innocent child!

Mother Theresa of Calcutta

“The devil arranges the murder of God’s children and calls it Choice.”

While, other Anti-life Groups are saying that, it is one’s choice to have an abortion since Children are expensive to raise –

“It seems that only the poor can afford to raise them.”

These photos reminds us that pregnancy is not a choice, but rather it is a gift from God. It is God who gives life and it is not right to take away the life of a helpless child because it is your choice to make him/her live or not. An infant is not an animal it is a little person.

Samuel Armas at age 3

Samuel Armas at age 1

Abortion will always be a crime against humanity and against GOD.

Do not love the world or what is in it. If anyone loves the word, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world-the craving of the flesh, the greed of eyes and men boasting superiority-all belongs not to the Father but to the world. 1st John 2:15-16

In the 4 corners of the world there are 52 million Abortions happening a year or one (1) million a week.

such as floods, volcanic eruption, famine, fire, world wars, earthquake, Tsunami, etc., the slaughter of innocent lives, is far greater than the Holocaust and all disasters combined.

If we add up all the calamities from the beginning of time,

In this present generation, the life of a child has no meaning. Corrupt ways of people allow this to exist. This crisis is called

“ Culture of Deaths”,

HAS THE RIGHT TO LIVE !!

Whatever the reasons might be, “The right to live is the highest among all the rights.”

The child, The elderly,

Even the sick,

Pope Paul VI once said, “The world is sick! Now we look up at God to heal us.”

I came that they may

have life and have it more abundantly.

This is a Child not a choice

Remember what the Lord said-

In John 10:10

Pope Paul VIAuthor of Humanae Vitae

In the Population Research Institute Review it states and I quote, “perhaps it has reached Two Billion babies who have been killed, both surgically and chemically, by Abortion since Humanae Vitae was issued in 1968.”January-February Issue, Volume 18, Number .

Pope John Paul II, Letter to Families

The Family has a big responsibility in the history and salvation of mankind, and is now placed at the center of the great struggle between good and evil, between life and death, between love and all that is opposed to love. The family has the task in unleashing the forces of good, the source of which is found in Christ, the redeemer of man.

Vision - The Archdiocese of Jaro

A family of disciples, renewed, alive, participative, evangelized and evangelizing, and modeled after the communion of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. (brief version)

We must stand up against the evil of Abortion not just by saying that we are against it, but being pro-active. We should tell our parents, our relatives, even our friends to stand firm and watch that this evil act committed by others stop permanently. Let us not forget that in the end we will be accountable to GOD.