I read this book recently. Timely, in light of our current political state.
I would encourage you to read it for yourself. It’s graphic. It’s honest. It’s vulnerable. A real first-person account of working in the world of Planned Parenthood. In all honesty, it’s startling and eye-opening. But worth the read.
I’ve been thinking about abortion quite a lot recently. Maybe it’s the current climate. Maybe it’s just getting older, and considering how precious life is. Maybe because I don’t recall the pro-life/pro-choice debate ever being so hotly contested in my lifetime.
Please, don’t misunderstand. This isn’t about democratic v. republican ideology. This is about life and death. This isn’t about condemnation. Honestly, I think the issue of abortion is far more spiritual than it is political.
But we’ve really convinced ourselves of the value, the need, the importance of abortion.
Don’t you think it’s funny that the primary verbiage we use is “Women’s Choice” and not abortion? Interesting, isn’t it. Is it possible we don't want to own up to what that really means? Just a thought.
We’ve conditioned ourselves to really believe that the first priority is Women’s Choice. Not life.
Let’s be honest. It’s utterly ridiculous to say that a baby (“fetus”) isn’t a baby from conception on. Consider the logic of that for a moment. How can something that is "not a baby", magically become a baby at some point? I don't believe a form of logic exists wherein that makes sense.
I’m bothered by the tone and attitude with which we discuss this issue. Maybe I could take it better if we could be honest about what this is. Abortion IS murder. It’s not pretty, but there it is. It’s not a righteous cause. Let’s be honest and discuss why we’re ok with murdering innocent babies in the name of women’s lib.
The most recent estimates* I can find show that nearly 60 MILLION babies have been aborted since the approval of Roe v. Wade in 1973. That number staggers me. It guts me. I can’t fathom it. 60 MILLION.
Consider for a moment how many people are missing from the world that should be here. Husbands and wives, sons and daughters. Friends, cousins, co-workers. These are PEOPLE we’re talking about.
Because- make no mistake, they are people. We can make ourselves feel good by saying it’s about women’s rights. We can expunge ourselves of any responsibility by saying “it’s a fetus, not a baby.” But those are just words, and frankly, they’re untrue.
It IS a baby. And it’s devastating.
We could talk about the 7 characteristics that are generally used to determine life in any organism. I could tell you that growth is one of the chief characteristics. Just so we’re clear- a heartbeat is not one of the 7 characteristics. But again, so we’re clear, even a “fetus” is growing. From conception on, growth is happening.
For example. A tree is living organism. It grows, yet it doesn’t have a heartbeat. But we KNOW that a tree is living thing. Interesting, don’t you think?
We could talk about how life is so much more than 9 months in a womb, or the decades following. We could talk about how life is eternal. How, as Psalm 139 says, God knit us together in our mother's womb and wrote every day of our lives before we ever took a breath. Life is precious, and eternal.
But I digress.
We could talk about how life is so much more than 9 months in a womb, or the decades following. We could talk about how life is eternal. How, as Psalm 139 says, God knit us together in our mother's womb and wrote every day of our lives before we ever took a breath. Life is precious, and eternal.
But I digress.
Please take a moment, and really consider how serious the issue of abortion is. For me, this is paramount. This is the issue I can’t see past. And believe me, there are lots of other issues. But this is the one that keeps me up at night. And spiritually speaking, I think this is the issue that will speak for us in eternity.
Forgive me if you feel that I’m attacking your right to choose. That’s not my intention. And the truth is, you matter. I respect you and your voice, even if your belief differs from mine. You and I both got to live to express our opinions and beliefs. 60 million others didn’t.
Simply put, life is precious. It’s irreplaceable. There are no duplicates in people. Every single life is significant and immeasurably valuable. And I value life more than choice.
Sources:
http://www.abbyjohnson.org (UnPlanned by Abby Johnson)
More resources:
All too true and more devastating than I can articulate.
ReplyDeleteIt's all very true and sad to think about. But it has to be thought about. By the way, you write beautifully.
ReplyDeleteIt's all very true and sad to think about. But it has to be thought about. By the way, you write beautifully.
ReplyDelete