In Teachings of Russell M. Nelson, our prophet's conviction and teachings on the topic of abortion have been compiled into one source. Here are a few of his powerful statements that ring true with my feelings toward abortion:
"A heavy toll on life is included among the evils of war. Data from all nations are appalling. . . . Regrettable as is the loss of loved ones from war, these figures are dwarfed by the toll of a new war that annually claims more casualties than the total number of fatalities from all the wars of this nation.
"It is a war on the defenseless—and the voiceless. It is a war on the unborn. This war, labeled 'abortion,' is of epidemic proportion and is waged globally.
"Yet society professes reverence for human life. We weep for those who die, pray and work for those whose lives are in jeopardy. For years I have labored with other doctors here and abroad, struggling to prolong life. It is impossible to describe the grief a physician feels when the life of a patient is lost. Can anyone imagine how we feel when life is destroyed at its roots, as though it were a thing of naught?
"What sense of inconsistency can allow people to grieve for their dead, yet be calloused to this baleful war being waged on life at the time of its silent development? What logic would encourage efforts to preserve the life of a critically ill twelve-week-old infant, but countenance the termination of another life twelve weeks after inception? More attention is seemingly focused on the fate of a life at some penitentiary’s death row than on the millions totally deprived of life’s opportunity through such odious carnage before birth...
"[One] contention raised [regarding abortion] is that a woman is free to choose what she does with her own body. To a certain extent this is true for all of us. We are free to think. We are free to plan. And then we are free to do. But once an action has been taken, we are never free from its consequences. Those considering abortion have already exercised certain choices...
"The woman’s choice for her own body does not validate choice for the body of another. The expression 'terminate the pregnancy' applies literally only to the woman. The consequence of terminating the fetus therein involves the body and very life of another. These two individuals have separate brains, separate hearts, and separate circulatory systems. To pretend that there is no child and no life there is to deny reality."
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