By Cindy Toh
Allow me to preface my words by saying that no person is inherently immoral due to their views on abortion. I have dear friends and family members on both sides of this issue and everything in between. They are some of the kindest and most compassionate people I know and hold their views out of good intent.
My name is Cindy Toh. I am a Buddhist above all else. I am a pro-life feminist and survivor of abuse. I believe in the sanctity of life from womb to tomb. My faith and experiences guide my views on abortion, as they do for my positions on various other issues and the manner in which I approach life. But the issue of abortion is not a matter of faith. It is a matter of science and human rights. It is a matter of life and death. To put it in simple terms, I would still be pro-life even if I were not a Buddhist.
I also want to clarify my position by declaring that I oppose the overturning of Roe v. Wade, based on the extreme laws that it has fueled and established in various states. Yet simultaneously, I firmly believe that life begins at conception. Researchers at Princeton University[2] have found major biology textbooks to reaffirm the fact that human development begins with the formation of an embryo. Just because an embryo is not as developed as a newborn, it is not less human. It serves as evidence of human life.
Not only does abortion harm the human life taken, but it also harms the women undergoing the procedure. 65% of women who have had an abortion have PTSD and are at high risk of clinical depression due to their trauma; they are four times more likely to die and six times more likely to commit suicide.[1]
I do not believe these women are people of ill-will, nor do I minimize their circumstances. But one can’t deny that the aftermath of abortion encapsulates the pain they have endured. It dispels the preconceived notion that the so-called choice of getting an abortion is empowering. The fact that women are left to bear the brunt of the trauma imposed by abortion underscores that the odds have only become more stacked against them in a world already rife with sexism and misogyny.
Beyond the hurt abortion providers have inflicted upon women, they have only proven that their advocacy has never been about choice. If it were, why would 84% of the women at the receiving end assert that they were inadequately counseled by providers prior to getting the abortion[3]? Why would 79% of them maintain that providers hid critical information or deceived them about available resources? Choice means transparency, and the abortion lobby has provided none.
The scientific evidence proving life begins at conception, the ethical implications of abortion, and the true motives of the abortion lobby are why I am unapologetically pro-life. Let’s create a world in which we empower women and make abortion become unthinkable.
*References are linked to the Op-Ed Abortion Section