On August 6, 1945, a United States Army Plane dropped a single atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The bomb destroyed five square miles, killed between seventy-thousand and one-hundred thousand people, and many more people died later from the effects of radiation. As we see from this scenario, not only did this atomic bomb have a devastating immediate effect, but it also left a devastating aftermath that took more lives.

Abortion, in some ways, can be compared to that atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. In 1973, the Supreme Court of the United States said that state laws could not forbid a woman to have an abortion. This precedent was established in the landmark case Roe v. Wade. Roe v. Wade was the first abortion bomb to be dropped on the United States. That year, an estimate of 744,000 people died from the result of this bomb. But unlike the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, the bomb called abortion drops annually. In 1974, abortion killed 898,600 and in 1975 the number jumped to a staggering 1,034,200. These lost lives are just one of the immediate effects of this bomb called abortion. Ninety-seven percent of women who have abortions feel pain despite local anesthesia and more than one-third describe the pain as severe. Other common complications that arise from the abortion are bleeding, hemorrhaging, laceration of the cervix, menstrual disturbance, inflammation of the reproductive organs, bladder or bowel perforation, and serious infection. Since 1973, hundreds of women have died from abortion. Some long-term effects of abortion could range from permanent infertility to an increased risk of ectopic pregnancy. Also, a study conducted by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in 1994 presented strong evidence that abortion increases the risk of getting breast cancer before forty-five by fifty percent. Furthermore, for women under eighteen with no previous pregnancies, having an abortion after the eighth week increases the risk of breast cancer by eight-hundred percent. Although the mother’s physical state can be compromised during abortion, it’s her emotional state that will probably have the most lasting effect. Just like a bomb survivor can replay the event in their mind, women who have abortions are haunted by the memories of the day they had their abortion. Some women celebrate the birthdays of their child who never was. They are often plagued by the “what ifs” of “could have been” about their aborted child. Family members who did not agree with the decision will sometimes withdraw themselves from the mother in her greatest hour of need. When she will be looking for comfort, she will oftentimes only find loneliness. This can bring about depression or despair in the mother.

When the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, it was a military action against another country. It was a defense against Japan and its allies. By dropping that bomb America, as a whole, profited. Who profits from the abortion bomb that has been dropping on the country since 1973? At an estimated cost of between two-hundred to five-hundred dollars per abortion, abortion doctors are the only ones who end up profiting from the procedure. Not me, not you, and definitely not America. Who does the abortion bomb defend? No one; in fact it just leaves us more vulnerable to the attacks of Satan and his allies.

But just like a bomb, the long-term effects of abortion can be just as devastating as the immediate effects. Since the bomb of abortion has dropped, a potential life-saving doctor or fireman is dead. Since the bomb of abortion has dropped, millions of teenage girls have lied to their parents. Since the bomb of abortion has dropped, a future President lies dead with a trash bag for a grave. Since the bomb of abortion has dropped, millions of women litter the counselor’s couch and down tons of antidepressant pills in an attempt to rid themselves of the guilt they harbor in their hearts. Since the bomb of abortion has dropped, hundreds of women are left with empty wombs incapable of bearing any more children. Since the bomb of abortion has dropped, millions of children are without their brothers and sisters. Since the bomb of abortion has dropped, women have lost their lives due to complications during the procedures. Since the bomb of abortion has dropped, listen . . . it’s still dropping today.

Published in VSHL Lifesaver, June 2002