36 = 49,551,703

(For those of you checking back for Part II of Angel's Story, I'll be posting it this evening. I just could not let such a sad and tragic day as today go by without mention.)


Today marks 36 years and 49,551,703* babies dying since the landmark decision of Roe vs. Wade that legalized abortion nationwide.

As our country prepares to head into a minimum of four years with the most extreme, liberal pro-choice president in the history of our nation, we mourn those deaths. We pray for the women whose lives were forever changed, many radically, leaving them barren both physically and emotionally due to abortions. How much more suffering will it take before we realize and admit what is happening?

FACTS - July 2008 :

INCIDENCE OF ABORTION

• Nearly half of pregnancies among American women are unintended, and four in 10 of these are terminated by abortion. Twenty-two percent of all pregnancies (excluding miscarriages) end in abortion.

• Forty percent of pregnancies among white women, 69% among blacks and 54% among Hispanics are unintended.

• In 2005, 1.21 million abortions were performed, down from 1.31 million in 2000. From 1973 through 2005, more than 45 million legal abortions occurred.

• Each year, about two percent of women aged 15-44 have an abortion; 47% of them have had at least one previous abortion.

• Slightly more than one in every 5 pregnancies end in abortion.

WHO HAS ABORTIONS?

• Fifty percent of U.S. women obtaining abortions are younger than 25: Women aged 20–24 obtain 33% of all abortions, and teenagers obtain 17%.

• Thirty-seven percent of abortions occur to black women, 34% to non-Hispanic white women, 22% to Hispanic women and 8% to women of other races.

• Forty-three percent of women obtaining abortions identify themselves as Protestant, and 27% as Catholic.

• Women who have never married obtain two-thirds of all abortions.

• About 60% of abortions are obtained by women who have one or more children.

• The abortion rate among women living below the federal poverty level ($9,570 for a single woman with no children) is more than four times that of women above 300% of the poverty level (44 vs. 10 abortions per 1,000 women). This is partly because the rate of unintended pregnancies among poor women (below 100% of poverty) is nearly four times that of women above 200% of poverty* (112 vs. 29 per 1,000 women

• The reasons women give for having an abortion underscore their understanding of the responsibilities of parenthood and family life. Three-fourths of women cite concern for or responsibility to other individuals; three-fourths say they cannot afford a child; three-fourths say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or the ability to care for dependents; and half say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner.

• The risk of death associated with abortion increases with the length of pregnancy, from one death for every one million abortions at or before eight weeks to one per 29,000 at 16–20 weeks—and one per 11,000 at 21 or more weeks. - (Please keep in mind that FOCA will allow minors to have abortions performed without parental consent!!)

• Teens are more likely than older women to delay having an abortion until after 15 weeks of pregnancy, when the medical risks associated with abortion are significantly higher

WHAT IS PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION?

Definition according to Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary:

Function: noun: a surgical abortion that is typically performed during the third trimester or later part of the second trimester of pregnancy when the fetus is viable and in which the uterine cervix is dilated and death of the fetus is induced after it has passed partway through the birth canal.

PROCEDURE:

• With forceps, the doctor turns the baby around in the womb to be positioned feet first. The baby’s legs are pulled out into the birth canal. The baby is alive at this point.

• The abortionist delivers the baby’s entire body, except for the head, which remains inside the birth canal.

• The abortionist stabs the scissors into the base of the baby’s skull. The scissors are spread to enlarge the opening. The suction catheter is then inserted and the brains are sucked out, causing the skull to collapse. The head slides out easily. (Again, this will be legal once FOCA is passed!!)

*statistics from Allan Guttmacher Research Institute and the National Right to Life.

Lord Jesus,

Creator and Father of life. We thank you and honor you for being in our lives, Lord. For giving us everything we have. Heavenly Father, you have created every human person, and have opened the way for each to have eternal life.

We live in the shadow of death as tens of millions of your children have been killed. Lord, have mercy upon us. Heal our land and accept our offering of prayer and penance. Allow us to stop the selfishness within our hearts and remove the veil from our eyes so that we may see life for what it really is, a gift from the most Holy, You.

Heal the scarred hearts of the millions of women that have been deceived into aborting their babies. You are a sovereign and merciful Father and you know our hearts. Lord, let each and every one of those women use those tragedies as a testimony to the evil and deceit of the enemy, but more importantly as a testimony of Your love and forgiveness. Allow them to help others who may possibly be going down that same path. Lord Jesus, we pray that you illuminate each conscience for us to be able to see the ways that we are not living in Your Will.

Grant our new President, our leaders and the people of this great country that you've blessed us with, the grace to change and the wisdom to see the sacredness of human life. Let us always put you first and foremost.

In Your Holy Name We Pray,

Amen.

"If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land." - 2 Chronicles 7:14