We, the people of Cyprus, petition the President of Cyprus, Mr. Nicos Anastasiades, to ban abortions on the island. 

Abortion in Cyprus got legalized in 2018. It is legal to perform this horrific operation on request until the 12th week of pregnancy and until the 19th week in rape cases. Scientifically, in the 12th and 19th week, it is a human life that we must respect.

The third week after conception, all the baby's organs are already starting to develop, including the baby's heart and brain. The baby has a heartbeat at five weeks, and the first electrical brain activity begins. As so, ending a life in the 12th and 19th week is murder, legally and ethically, and those who carry out abortions kill. 

Sadly, the most common excuse to justify abortion is, "Yes, but it's my body." No, it's not your body; otherwise, you would die. It's the baby's body; that's why the baby dies. We must not excuse or justify murder.

Babies should have the chance to determine their destiny rather than be sentenced to death for being an inconvenience. What freedom does the child have if it is robbed of life because people think murder should be allowed to be an acceptable choice for irresponsible people?

Sadly, 99% of the time, abortion is the solution to poor decision-making. Historically, abortion was a means of birth control due to a lack of reliable contraception, education, the fact that childbirth was incredibly dangerous, and other reasons. However, better options are available today, linking 99% of abortions to poor-decision making. Today, we have multiple options such as:

. Access to health insurance to pay for contraceptives
. Contraceptive cap
. Morning after pill
. Condoms
. Contraceptive implants
. Contraceptive injection
. Contraceptive patch
. Diaphragm
. Sex education to prevent unwanted pregnancies
. Female condoms, etc. 

A responsible woman can tell her sex partner to wear a condom instead of relying on abortion as a final choice. Any woman who does not want to keep her baby can always choose adoption. A woman can have a vasectomy or tubal ligation to prevent pregnancy. There are many alternatives other than abortion. Murder is not an option. Everything mentioned above can lead to fewer pregnancies, making abortion unnecessary.

And so, banning abortion does not strip women of their freedom of choice. Instead, it awakens women to more responsible alternatives than murder. We must understand that sex is how babies get made. To have sex when one is not ready to have a child is irresponsible and selfish, especially when people think they can 'fix' it with murder. Sadly, that murder stains their soul, making their mental state twisted and corrupt. 

Abortion represents a failure to recognize the sanctity of human life and promotes a culture in which people perceive the most vulnerable human life as disposable. Abortion in Cyprus is the brutalization of the Cyprus Heart. It is dehumanization. Abortion, like racism, is a symptom of a fundamental human error. The error is thinking that when someone stands in the way of our wants, we can justify getting that person out of our lives. Abortion and racism stem from the same poisonous root - selfishness. 

People sometimes use abortion to eliminate children with unwanted characteristics, such as particular sex or disability. Thus, creating the deception that the other person is less important, less worthy, or less human. Please understand that we are all fully human. When we face this truth, there is no justification for treating those who look different than us as lesser beings. If we treat other people the way we'd like to get treated, then abortion and other forms of inhumanity will be things of the past.

You may say, what about rape pregnancies? Rapes in Cyprus are roughly 1.7 cases per 100,000 population. More than half of these women 'do not' conceive, dropping the percentage to less than 0.85%. It is foolish to permit 8,500 abortions in Cyprus annually due to less than 0.85% of conceived rapes. We must understand that abortion is the intentional killing of a human being. We cannot solve the problem of injustice against women with more injustice. We need solutions that support women without killing fetuses.

Ending a life is murder, legally and ethically. It promotes a culture where life is disposable, and those who carry abortions kill. Abortion is not the will of God.

"You shall not murder" (Exodus 20:13). 

God does not kill. The devil kills.