How do you explain abortion to a child?

  • Thread starter Thread starter lewlo
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
L

lewlo

Guest
I have been worrying for some time now that one of my children (7, 5, [2]) will ask me what abortion is. I listen to Catholic radio every day. When I’m driving in the car with the kids and the subject comes up, I turn the radio down because I don’t want them to hear about it. I think my 7-year-old would especially be upset if he knew about this. I picture him laying in bed at night upset and crying. While recently working to raise money for the Crisis Pregnancy Center, he asked what they did. I told him sometimes women don’t expect to be pregnant and they’re scared and this place helps them.

I’m sure some of you out there have had to deal with this issue. Any advice?
 
I have two children ages 6 and 4. They have been with me when I pray the rosary at the abortion clinic and they have walked (actually rode in strollers) during our recent Life Walk for Kern County Right to Life.

We talk daily about God and how to live by his word. I simply say that some women choose to get rid of their babies inside their tummies. WHen asked how, I tell them some doctors do an operation to take the baby out. This may not work with every kid. But like I said before we talk often about life and death, etc. I don’t go into gore or give them too much info that I feel that they can’t handle, but at the same time I am not going to shelter them. If we want to stop abortion we need to get the next generations involved and educated.

( I have a feeling I am going to get dinged for this :ehh: )
 
I was also worried about this topic coming up with my kids. I was unsure when and what to tell them about this subject. Well, my 7 year old heard me on a rampage about Kerry supporting “killing babies” during the whole election debate and he brought it up the next day. So at that point I had to explain to him what abortion is. I still cannot get over the look of shock and horror on his face! I didn’t give him the gory details or anything, I just told him that the doctor kills the baby while it’s inside the mommy’s tummy. I guess if he’s old enough to ask, he’s old enough to know the truth…hopefully this isn’t something he will have to explain to his own kids when the time comes.
 
I just had to address this issue recently because of the election my 9 daughter over heard me talk about abortion being wrong quite a bit.

I told her it is when a Dr does a procedure that removes a baby from it’s mom tummy and it dies. She was totally shocked that that was legal. She actually blurted out “But that’s murder.”

I explained her that she was right and many people are working hard to change the law and we need to pray for end to abortion. She didn’t become very emotional, no crying or anything. She was actually pretty mad. Now she likes to point out pro-life stickers on when she see them on cars.

I actually had a harder one because last weekend after church they past out white ribbons after Mass to protest pornography. She heard the announcement about it and we did take a ribbon.
She asked what pornography was. I was kind of stumped on how to respond. I told her the white ribbons were for purity. She asked well what does that mean? I told her pornography was about things that were yucky like people looking at pictures of other naked people. I know that was not a great response but I wasn’t really prepared for the question.:o
Her reaction was “Yuck! Why would anyone want to do *that *!”
 
A few weeks ago, when I took my kids to CCD, there were a bunch of white crosses on the lawn of the parish with a sign about there being one cross for each abortion performed every hour in the US. My 9 year old asked me what abortion was and I told her that it’s when a mom doesn’t want the baby that she’s carrying and she chooses to have it killed before it’s born. She was shocked!!! As well she should be. I then told her not to go telling her friends about it because moms and dads like to be the ones to tell their kids about things like that.

Now, if my 7 year old son had asked I probably would have told him that the crosses were for babies who had died.

In Christ,
Nancy 🙂
 
jvel–

Did your children ask what happens to the baby after the “operation?” I just can’t stand the thought of telling them the baby dies.

rayne–

Thanks for giving me something new to worry about. 😃

I’m surprised my ramblings about Kerry didn’t get me in trouble, too!
 
40.png
masondoggy:
I still cannot get over the look of shock and horror on his face!
Click to expand...
I am SO dreading that.
 
40.png
lewlo:
jvel–

Did your children ask what happens to the baby after the “operation?” I just can’t stand the thought of telling them the baby dies.

No, They were just satisfied with what I have told them so far. I guess I will cross that bridge when it happens.

Too bad we even have to be discussing this topic at all.
Click to expand...
 
At the same time you talk to your child about sex, you also explain abortion and don’t sugar-coat it. Explain it involves killing a baby who did nothing wrong. I know this sounds harsh but thats how abortion became legal in the first place. People decided not to know about the gorry details and not to even think it as a baby.
 
you don’t tell them anything about abortion until you have first told them about where babies come from, the resonsibilities of mommies and daddies, and all the rest (appropriate for their age), and as with those topics, just answer their question in an aga-appropriate, honest way. You must also first have had the conversation about death, what happens to us when we die, heaven etc.
 
I don’t remember exactly what age my children were when we began dialogue about abortion. The topic comes up every election so perhaps it was in junior high when they are required to pay attention to our candidates for school classes.

I talk to my 14 yr. old son all the time about current issues. He was very interested in politics this time around in the election. He continually expresses outrage that abortion exists. He goes to a Catholic school and they pray every day for the end of abortion. He says that he believes it will end in his lifetime. I pray he is right.

My girls are older and I talk to them about it frequently because if they should ever find themselves pregnant I would like to think that they know our position on this. I would want them to know we would help them and that under no circumstances would we want them to have an abortion. All problems can be overcome.

I don’t know the perfect age, but we do need to educate our children. They are tomorrow’s leaders.
 
I want to say one thing that I emphasized with my children, which is that PP and other pro-abortion groups peddle the idea that the baby at that point (I ma not sure which point they are talking baout since they advocate the “right” to abortion throughout the pregnancy), the baby is only a cluster of cells. They spread the idea that the baby is not a human being, but more analogous to an unfertilized egg: “potential” human life.

I recently read a thread on another board about this, and the pro-abortionist refused to accept that the baby is actually a baby, even at early stages, and also on the Democratic Underground board, they were saying the same thing.

To me, this is the most important thign to empahsize when talkign with pro-abortionists, and I think helps the children to understand not only how mothers can do this, but also how the culture of death *lies. *Abortionists have gone before Congress and testified that they know it is a baby and that there is real independent life.
 
St Francis:
I want to say one thing that I emphasized with my children, which is that PP and other pro-abortion groups peddle the idea that the baby at that point (I ma not sure which point they are talking baout since they advocate the “right” to abortion throughout the pregnancy), the baby is only a cluster of cells. They spread the idea that the baby is not a human being, but more analogous to an unfertilized egg: “potential” human life.

I recently read a thread on another board about this, and the pro-abortionist refused to accept that the baby is actually a baby, even at early stages, and also on the Democratic Underground board, they were saying the same thing.

To me, this is the most important thign to empahsize when talkign with pro-abortionists, and I think helps the children to understand not only how mothers can do this, but also how the culture of death *lies. *Abortionists have gone before Congress and testified that they know it is a baby and that there is real independent life.
Click to expand...
I don’t know if any of your are following the Scott Peterson case in the paper, but every single time they talk about Lacey and Connor they refer to “Lacey Peterson and her fetus”. It drives me up the wall!!

In Christ,
Nancy 🙂
 
Me too Nancy, Laci named that little boy before he was to be born. He was a baby and nothing else. I Pray that he gets convictied of 2 counts of murder not just 1.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top