If we save only one life...

There has been a tremendous amount of talk, debate and arguing about the gun control issue and the importance of "saving one life". I am in favor of leaving gun control alone as it is currently regulated for mentally healthy and law-abiding citizens. I would put the emphasis on changes to restrict guns from mentally ill and those with a criminal intent or background. The mentally ill would have to be reported somehow and have those taking certain medications restricted from possession or ownership of guns. For the criminals, a criminal background forfeits your rights for gun ownership and we should impose very harsh penalties for the use of a gun in a crime other than accident, involving guns. But I would like to talk about how we save just one life. Our children are very important and deserve every logical and effective effort we can come up with to protect them from violence. None of our children should be subjected to violence. It is our duty as a society to protect them. Is there anyone that would disagree with me? If you do, then you obviously cannot participate in any discussions especially ones that include the argument of "if we only save one life." With that stated, I would propose discussion and changes that will show our purpose of saving our children. We should start with changes that will save the lives of over 1,200,000 children every year in this country. If we save only one life, then we have made an improvement. Forty years ago, our country started into the darkest period we have ever been in. A period of violence unheard of in the history of the world. We began taking the lives of children before they could defend themselves. And we did this with law set down by the Supreme Court; Roe v. Wade, January 22, 1973. Since that dark day in history, we have eliminated over 55,000,000 children by abortion in the United States of America. That is the equivalent of 17.45% of the current population of the country today!

The Allan Guttmacher Institute 1973 - 2011 2009-2011 are estimates of 1,212,400 annually. One baby is aborted every 26 seconds 137 every hour 3,304 every day 23,196 every week 100,516 every month 1.206,192 every year in the United States alone. Why are we making such a huge issue about guns and the laws that pertain to them when we are slaughtering over 1,200,000 children per year in this country? Are we really interested in saving but one life? No. A 2004 study by the Guttmacher Institute reported that women listed the following amongst their reasons for choosing to have an abortion: • 74% Having a baby would dramatically change my life • 73% Cannot afford a baby now • 48% Do not want to be a single mother or having relationship problems • 38% Have completed my childbearing • 32% Not ready for a(nother) child • 25% Do not want people to know I had sex or got pregnant • 22% Do not feel mature enough to raise a(nother) child • 14% Husband or partner wants me to have an abortion • 13% Possible problems affecting the health of the fetus • 12% Concerns about my health • 6% Parents want me to have an abortion • 1% Was a victim of rape • less than 0.5% Became pregnant as a result of incest Source: The Alan Guttmacher Institute, Perspective on Sexual & Reproductive Health, Sept. 2005 Many will argue that they are not children, they are fetuses. I don't believe that and a good portion of the country agrees with me. So if you don't want to count them as children, I will adjust the numbers to a level that very few could argue about, 16 weeks. There is a lot of argument about "When does life begin". It would seem to be pretty hard for anyone to argue that a baby at 16 weeks gestation is just a mass of tissue or just a fetus based on what the scientific community knows today about the development of a baby at 16 weeks: - The body is fully formed, the fingers and toes have fingerprints & nails. - Is about 5 inches long and weighs about 3 ounces. - The baby is moving about: may grasp for the umbilical cord , suck it's thumb, and make facial expressions - The heart & circulatory system and the urinary tract are fully functioning. and the blood is pumping through these tiny veins - The baby is inhaling and exhaling the amniotic fluid through the lungs. -The eyes are in the proper position, and the baby can see straight ahead & blink his/her eyelids. - The genitals have formed. In the case of a girl, the uterus has already developed and the ovaries are in the proper place. - Umberto Castiello, University of Padova, Italy reported unborn babies have the ability to interact as early as 14 weeks into the pregnancy: "We conclude that performance of movements towards the co-twin is not accidental: already starting from the 14th week of gestation twin fetuses execute movements specifically aimed at the co-twin." Approximately 64,000 babies will have their lives terminated after 16 weeks gestation this year in the U.S.A., 5.3% of all abortions. This is the equivalent of killing all of the residents of Portland, ME or Palo Alto, CA every year. "If we only save one life." Americans’ views concerning abortion: •79% do not support the current abortion-on-demand policy, saying abortion should be legal only in some circumstances (68%), or illegal in all circumstances (11%). Marist Poll, December 2011 •78% believe that women who have abortions commonly experience moderately severe to very severe negative emotional reactions to abortion. Medical Science Monitor, 2003 •95% of women want to be informed of all risks of a medical procedure; 69% want to be informed of all alternatives. Journal of Medical Ethics, July 2006 •64% of women who experienced one or more abortions “felt pressured by others” to have the abortion. Medical Science Monitor, Oct. 2004 I would suggest that we as a country have lost our souls. We engage in arguments about guns, while we have wholesale slaughter going on at the same time at the rate of 1,200,000 children per year, 100,500 per month, 23,000 per week, 3,300 per day, 137 per hour and 1 per 26 seconds. During the time that I have been writing this post, over 200 babies have been killed. Until we become a truly concerned and civilized people, don't you dare say "if we can only save one life" while we have our backs turned to the slaughter going on with the approval and in many cases, the funding of the government we elected. May God Bless us and America... But I wonder how he could when we do this. We wonder how God lets things like the shootings happen, yet we have obviously removed God from our lives, our schools, our communities our society and our country. In our prayers during the next few days, I think we should seek forgiveness for letting this happen and ask for help in restoring our society and country to a place where "ending killings" begins with the beginning of life. We need to work at being a society that values life in words and deeds and not just from the public pulpit. If you were able to read this post without shedding tears, may I suggest you look deep within your soul and see what has become of it. Thank you for listening and May God Bless each of you and our country.