If I Could Change The World


by Megan Polak

Editor's Note: Megan was twelve years old when she wrote this essay for an essay contest, "How I Would Change The World," at her school. While her essay didn't win the competition, it's a remarkable piece from such a young mind. I am thankful that her mother sent it to me.


If I could change the world, I would do it by putting an end to abortion.

About 4,000 babies die a day in the United States. About 120,000 babies die each day in the world. That's in only one day, and that is a lot of babies. More babies are killed a day by choice than the total men killed in World War II. 545,108 men were killed in World War II and since the year 1995, 34,000,000 babies have been killed by abortion.

Dr. Jean Garton once said that we would have to be quiet for 10,000 hours if we were quiet a second for each baby that was killed by abortion. That is over a year. That is a long time to be quiet. I don't know if you could do it, but I know I couldn't be quiet that long.

Did you ever wonder why we don't have a cure for AIDS or a cure for cancer? With all the babies that have been killed maybe one would have grown up and found a cure. Think about how many famous athletes, musicians, scientists, and teachers must have been killed. How many Michael Jordans, Beethovens, or Albert Einsteins have been killed?

A life starts inside a woman's body. This life will grow, and if allowed to be born, will become a person like you and me. As early as 3 weeks or 18 days you can hear the baby's heartbeat inside its mother. To find out if someone is alive or dead, a doctor listens for a heartbeat. Why doesn't the heartbeat inside the mother mean that there is life?

Another way a doctor checks a person to see if they are alive is to check for brain waves. A baby's brain waves are present at 6 weeks or 40 days. If brain waves indicate life, then why doesn't a baby's brain waves mean that there is life inside the mother? What kind of people are we to kill our own babies?

In the state of Ohio, there is a law that says if an "unborn member of the species homo sapiens, who is or was carried in the womb of another is killed, it is considered a form of murder or manslaughter." That means that in Ohio if you get in your car and have an accident, and an unborn child dies, you can be charged with a form of murder. But, a pregnant woman can get in a car and get an abortion killing the life inside her, and it is not considered murder.

I can't go to the mall and get my ears pierced without my parents signed permission. But I could go to an Abortion Clinic and have an abortion without my parents' permission. It seems to me that what they are saying is that getting my ears pierced is more important than a life of a child.

What would make a woman consider abortion? Could it be FEAR?

Women have abortions because they are afraid their lives will change: they are afraid they can't afford a baby, and they are afraid they will have to raise the baby alone. If you become pregnant, don't be afraid, and don't choose murder. There is help out there! You can choose to give the baby up for adoption to people who want to have children or you can have your parents help you raise the baby. But don't kill the baby.

Just imagine if you couldn't buy a Wendy's cheeseburger, a hot cheesy slice of Dominoes Pizza, or type e-mail to a friend on an Apple Computer. The people who created all of these were adopted. If Dave Thomas's mother had considered abortion there wouldn't be any cheeseburgers from Wendy's. If Tom Monaghan's mother had considered abortion, there wouldn't be any Domino's Pizza. If Steve Jobs's mother chose abortion, you would not be able to type on an Apple computer. What would our world be like without all these great contributions?

About 57% of Americans believe that abortion is murder. What do you believe? Do you believe that abortion is murder? Remember that if your heart beats or if you have brain waves, you are alive. Why shouldn't a baby be given the same right? The fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution says that "The State shall not deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law." Where are the rights of the baby?

Three things that we can do to reduce the numbers of abortions are to educate ourselves, and others, write letters, and vote. We could write letters to the media about how we feel, and visit your elected officials telling them how we feel. You could also collect signatures to change the law about abortion. If you are old enough to vote, you could vote for those candidates who are against abortion. There are a lot of different ways that you could help.

Because of abortion we are losing valuable human beings who could make endless contributions to our world. Maybe by raising my voice, I could change the world by putting an end to abortion!

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