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(Editor's note: Theresa, 13, wrote this research paper for her eighth-grade English class at Ballston Spa Middle School. She is an altar server at St. Mary's parish in Ballston Spa and peacefully protests in front of Planned Parenthood in Schenectady.)

When does a child in the womb become a living human being? Does the child have to go through an imaginary line in the birth canal to suddenly become a living human being?

The preborn baby is a living human being from the first moment of conception and when the first cell is fertilized and starts to divide. We have no right to take the life of an innocent human being without being charged with murder.

Abortion harms society and hurts women physically and emotionally. It has so many

effects on us. More than 62,445,858 women have had an abortion since its legalization in 1973, which means more than 62 million preborn babies have been killed. If this rate continues, our population will decrease, causing economic stress. If 234 babies are aborted for every 1,000 births, how long until our population is so low that there are not enough workers to replenish our current generation?

If the adoption rate increased from one in every 392 aborted to a higher rate, there would eventually be more consumers buying toys, food and so on, which would create more jobs and a much stronger economy.

One argument regarding abortion is women's health. Abortion affects women physically, emotionally and spiritually. Most are told it is not a big deal to have an abortion, but women who have an abortion are 140 percent more likely to have breast cancer and die from it. The majority of women experience sadness, depression, guilt, anxiety, numbness and shame.

About four out of 10 girls under age 18 do not tell their parents either before or after they have an abortion and try to cope with the guilt by themselves. The girls who are hurt the most do not fully understand the procedure until after the fact. Most girls who try to keep it a secret need counseling later in life, because it is tearing them apart inside.

It is important to help a young woman understand the devastation of having an abortion. Unfortunately, many organizations that perform abortions do not fully let the young woman know what is in store for her physically and emotionally.

Many people claim that abortion is not killing a human being, but is abortion really murder? If a drunk driver kills a pregnant woman, he or she is charged with two murders, because the preborn baby is said to be a living human being - but if a women chooses to abort her baby, she is not charged with murder. How does that make sense?

If we do not do anything about this type of murder, other types may become more acceptable and may not be punishable by our laws in the future. Then what happens to our society? Every life is precious; this includes babies' right to life. It is a baby from the first moment of conception and continues as a living being inside the mother throughout the pregnancy. The Bible states, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb" (Psalm 139:13-16).

If you do not think the preborn baby is a living being, then why do you have to kill the preborn baby during an abortion? In one case, it was only after an abortionist lost his own child that he realized he was actually killing other people's babies with each abortion he performed.

Abortions happen every day, everywhere: 3,288 preborn babies are aborted each day, or one every 26 seconds. This is a greater rate of death than during any war in history. At this alarming rate, almost everyone has been affected by an abortion in some way.

Preborn babies are being killed helplessly because our society chooses not to care about them and acknowledge them as human beings. What would the world be like today if George Washington's, Thomas Edison's, Albert Einstein's, Mother Teresa's and Madame Curie's mothers had aborted them? What if the baby who was aborted yesterday could have changed the world?[[In-content Ad]]

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