Fetus represents new life, not merely a lump of cells

Editor,

I did not want to be pulled into the issue of abortion. But I believe I need to make several important points about it.

First and foremost, I am a virgin because I am not ready to be a husband or a father. Raising children is a huge responsibility, a responsibility that I am not ready to bear. If two people are not ready to have children, then why do they even have unplanned sex in the first place?

David Martinez, in his letter published in the Daily Lobo on Tuesday, referred to abortion as destroying a lump of cells. But a fetus with a developing brain and internal organs is not merely a lump of cells. I believe that life begins at conception, and Psalm 139 is a good description of conception.

In a premedical class I took in high school, our teacher told us the purpose of a doctor is to prolong life, not to end it. According to the Elliot Institute, many women suffer psychological and physical consequences of abortion, such as an increased risk of breast cancer, ovarian cancer and other fatal side effects.

A fetus is not only the woman's choice, because it has 46 chromosomes - 23 from the father and 23 from the mother. The father is also entitled to decide the fate of the unborn child. If a woman is raped, then the coward who did that to her needs to be brought to justice under the full extent of the law. In this case, the woman should just have the baby. For all these reasons, I oppose abortion.

Andres Saenz

UNM student