An abortion case study – Charlotte Dawson

There is a certain unchained melancholy that grips our nation. It becomes more and more difficult to counter the harmful effects of abortion, or even have an alternative view expressed as our nation approaches the tipping point, a precipice from which it seems only a hasty retreat is possible. However, if at this point you throw your hands up in despair, you only join that Mexican wave of human depravity. The cynic might state; “you can’t stand up against a Mexican wave, if you do you only join them” . This was also the view of a certain prophet in the 8^th Century BC who believed the nation of Nineveh was beyond redemption. Three days and three nights in the belly of a large fish was subsequently enough to cure his lethargy. What will cure ours?

Charlotte Dawson (d. 22 Feb 2014) was not lethargic in taking on the cyber bullies that she says destroyed her career. Perhaps she is reminiscent of Joan of Arch who was burnt at the stake in 1431, dying at the age of 19 years. Championing the war effort of France she was declared a martyr 25 years later by Pope Callixtus III. Perhaps dying at the age of 47 years, as a victim of cyber bullying, Charlotte Dawson will also later be counted a martyr. Certainly she has brought international attention to the “twitter trolls”. The story could end here with a declaration that any little you do will later have a larger effect- but within Charlotte’s story there is a stark account and case study of the harmful effects of abortion.

Charlotte, a fashion and television celebrity, married Scott Andrew Miller in 1999. Their marriage was to last one year, ending in 2000. In 1995 Scott become the world champion short course champion in 200m butterfly. He had previously been awarded a silver medal at the Atlantas Olympics, just behind the controversial Pankratov, the Russian who glided underwater for 35m to win the 100m butterfly. There were therefore high expectations that Scott would do well in the 2000 Sydney Olympics to be held later that year. Therefore when Charlotte became pregnant it was regarded as a distraction to Scott’s training schedule. A decision was therefore made to have Charlotte abort her baby.

When Scott did not qualify for the 2000 Olympics there was considerable blame shifted to Charlotte. This culminated in Charlotte suing Women’s Day magazine for an article they did on their divorce. Charlotte later recorded that the abortion was the turning point that started her depression.

”I was pregnant, and I was going to terminate the pregnancy so that my husband could compete in the Olympic Games.

”When I got home, I felt that something had changed. I felt a shift. Maybe it was hormonal, but I felt the early tinges of what I can now identify as my first experience with depression.”

Depression after abortion is commonly experienced but seldom discussed.

From a large sample of women who had recently had an abortion the Elliot Institute for Social Science research found the following.:-

90% suffered damage in their self esteem
50% begin or increase their consumption of alcohol and drugs.
60% reported suicidal ideation
28% actually attempt suicide
20% suffer full blown Post Trauma Stress Disorder
50% report some form of PTSD
52% reported pressure from others to have an abortion.

Tragically Charlotte eventually committed suicide on the 22^nd of February 2014. after an earlier attempt in 2012 after she had been hounded by the “twitter trolls”. A real estate agent found her body when he arrived to inspect a property in New South Wales ahead of its auction.

It is against this backdrop that the New Zealand Green Party seeks to “decriminialise” abortion laws; so that the requirement of section 29 of the Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion Act 1977 requiring the prior authorization of two consultants is negated. Abortion is currently a crime under the Crimes Act 1961. It is only legal if two consultants agree that the pregnancy would seriously harm the mother’s mental or physical health or that the foetus would have a serious disability.

“The fact that 99 percent of abortions are approved on ‘mental health’ grounds and that rape is not grounds for an abortion reveals the dishonesty of the current legal situation.”

While the Green Party make a point in this statement, they are merely conceding that the current law is not working as it was intended, Nor are they acknowledging the mental harm done to the mother through the very act of abortion itself (the true irony of this law). No one could deny however, that for some, abortion also remains financially lucrative. Could the consultants approving 99% of abortions on the grounds of ‘mental health’ also have a vested interest?

Charlotte regretted her decision to have an abortion but with the correct guidance her prognosis and that of what would have been, her only child could have been very different.

14,073 abortions were performed in New Zealand in the year ending December 2013. Without any genuine prior counseling abortion is set to continue to be harmful for both baby and Mother, the womb remaining the most dangerous place on earth to be. Should the current government consider the Human Child more valuable than the Hector’s dolphin they would be making abortion illegal just as they have made fishing in the five new West Coast marine reserves illegal. Shouldn’t the unborn child also have rights I can hear some of you say!