"Кохання заради життя"

   Teacher:  Dear students!

    Today we are going to speak about you, I mean teenagers.

    The topic of our meeting is: "Choose Life". But before we start I want you to see a short video. (Pro-life video “Choose Life” 1,38min)

    1^st narrator: You know that children's health is one of the most important tasks in our state. Teenagers' health needs special care as it is a time of a fertile age. This is the period of life when physical and sexual development is being finished.

   2^nd narrator:  It isn’t a secret that a lot of teenagers start their sexual life before the age of 14 and some of them get pregnant. We cannot say that this didn’t happen before. It did. But lately the situation has changed greatly.

   1^st narrator:  Nowadays we happen to have cases of teenagers` pregnancy more often as it has been before. Among them 75% of girls are not married. Besides they have their first periods at the age of 10-12 years old. Annually there are 50 million abortions in the world, and 10% are among teenagers.

2^nd narrator: Let’s explain the meaning of the word «abortion». Abortion is the medical operation to end the pregnancy so that the baby is not born alive.

 1^st narrator:  But we are not going to speak about death, we`re going to speak about life, about future. Because every human has a right to live. And to violate this right, to kill the life of the man at any age is considered to be a great sin, a great crime against the Lord and mankind.

 Teacher:   I want you never make this crime. That’s why our talk is devoted to this burning issue. We have prepared some information for you and want to prove that an unborn child is also a human being and that it’s a great sin and crime to kill it (by tracing its internal development).

The 1^st pupil: Really an unborn child is a human being, because even during the first month of its internal development the small bumps show the beginnings of arms and legs. Cell multiplication begins. Internal organs begin to form. The heart begins to beat.

The 2^nd pupil: At the beginning of the second month the embryo is 6 mm long. The face, eyes, ears and limbs take shape. Bones begin to form. Internal organs begin to develop.

 The 3^rd pupil: During the third month it is 25 mm long, nostrils, mouth, lips, teeth buds and eyelids form. Fingers and toes are almost complete. All organs are present, although immature. (A short video “The First Trimester” 1.38min)

 The 4^th pupil: There is no doubt that an unborn child is a human being. At the beginning of the 4th month the fetus is 77 mm. It can suck his thumb, swallow, hiccup and move around. Facial features become clearer.

 The 5^th pupil: During the 5th month the fetus is 16-18 cm. It continues to develop. Organs are improving and perfecting. The fetus becomes more active.

At the beginning of the 6th month, the fetus is 21-25 cm, 340 grams. Fat is being deposited under the skin, but fetus is still wrinkled. Breathing movements begin. (A short video “The Second Trimester” 2.15min)

It goes without saying that an unborn child is a human being. During the 7th month the fetus is 25-30 cm, 680-900 gr. Periods of fetal activity are followed by periods of rest and quiet.

The 6^th pupil: During the 8th month a fetus is 1-1.5 kg.  and 36-41 cm long. It may react to loud noises with reflex-jerking action. Usually moves into head down positions.

At the beginning of the 9th month a fetus is 36-46 cm. Skin becomes smooth as fat deposits continue. Fetal movements decrease as the baby has less room to move around. (A short video “The Third Trimester” 1.40 min)

Teacher: Thus we have come to the conclusion that from the moment of conception a tiny embryo is a human being and to kill it is a great sin and crime.

    It won’t  be any exaggeration to say that children are the flowers of life, of mankind. They are admired, they are waited for, moreover, they are looked forward to. They are the triumph of love, the guarantee in the future. And if there is any value on the Earth, of course it is a child.

        But sometimes it so happens that they are not desires, not wanted to appear in this world for different reasons. I'm sure you're adult enough to know what these reasons may be, don’t you?

 1^st narrator: For these and many other reason an alarming number of women make this crime, which has name of abortion.

They are legalized in our country and in majority of others. The research among teenagers in our country showed that in 1970 only 14% of boys and 5% of girls had sexual relationships and in 2000 48% of boys and 54% of girls.

2^nd narrator:  Every tenth girl starts her sexual life before she is 14, and 80% of teenagers have a certain sexual experience.

Having analyzed the frequency of abortions, we can confirm the worst situation is in Odessa, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Khmelnytsky regions.

    Besides abortion is a murder, it is dangerous as well. Why?

• The 1^st pupil:You must take into consideration that it leads to decreasing of birth rate;
•  The 2^nd pupil: Causes the dying out of nation;
• The 3^rd pupil: Leads to poor-health and severe complications, to such desperate diseases as cancer, etc . To having no chances of another pregnancy;
• The 4^th pupil: Immoral, negative phenomenon.
•  The 5^th pupil: Abortions are forbidden by many leading religions. For example, God the Law says, "DO not kill."
•  The 6^th pupil: Besides abortions violate the Hippocratic Oath, which runs: "I will deeply respect human life from the moment of conception."

Teacher: It is interesting to know that there are many  anti-abortion organizations which have many supporters among people of different professions, but mainly among doctors and representatives of church.

    Their standpoints are different, but they are all followers of the Hippocratic Oath.

1^st narrator: One of the largest organizations is the World Federation of Physicians Who Respect Human Life.

In its work, the federation is guided by the "Declaration of Human Rights" of 1948 and the "Declaration of the Rights of the Child" of 1959.

What are their standpoints?

1^st narrator: 1. Abortion is inhuman, unjust and uncivilized;

2^nd narrator: 2. Abortion should be performed only as a last resort.

1^st narrator:  3. Abortion leads to severe (physical and mental) health complications.

2^nd narrator:  4. Merciless and horrific experiments on an embryo, fetus or child who has had an abortion should be stopped.

Teacher:  Now imagine that you are a member of this federation. You met to explain and work out the basics.

The 1^st pupil: I suggest we start with the Hippocratic oath. "We will have a deep respect for human life from conception." It goes without saying that every doctor should abide by this. There is another important thing. From my point of view, doctors should not decide whether a person should live or die. We doctors are only trained to decide whether the treatment will be beneficial to the patient or not. Otherwise it is inhuman. And it’s my final decision.

The 2^nd pupil: I support you. Abortion is inhuman, unjust and uncivilized. No wonder, because it kills a person in the embryo. And we know very well that even at an early stage of its development, the embryo has a heart that begins to beat. It is the only organ that begins to function primarily from all other internal organs. I am convinced that no one has the right to kill a human life, even in its infancy. That is why I consider it inhuman and unjust.

The 3^rd pupil: I would like to add that abortion is also uncivilized, because there are many ways to prevent pregnancy. Modern medicine provides the population with various contraceptives.

The 4^th pupil:  You must take into consideration that except of physical an abortion leads to different mental complications. In particular - to total depression, in many cases even to suicide. Besides many relationships disintegrate as a result of abortion and such women lose any interest in life. And no less horrible is that some women resort to alcohol or drug dependency.

The 5^th pupil:  You are quite right. But there are much more terrible things. I mean merciless experiments on embryos or babies which survived abortions. As far as I know from the newborns are abused as sources of transplant. To my mind such experiments must be stopped. They should be put up on one level with the deeds of Nazis.

The 6^th pupil:  Besides it should be noted that abortions are forbidden by many leading religions. It’s quite clear because the God Law runs:  "Do not kill." That’s why I consider that abortions are also immoral.

Teacher: I’d like to add one more thing. If the pregnancy is due to rape or there are some other reasons (I mean the threat to mother’s life) an abortion should be performed in such case.

     Unfortunately too many people view abortion as an acceptable means of birth control, but we think that abortion doesn’t make a woman not pregnant. It makes her the mother of a dead baby.

     According to the legend when the star appears in the sky, it means that a human-being is born; and when it falls – somebody dies. I wish you the starlit full of starts and pretty children in your future life. The pupils listen to the song «Every baby needs a mama».