I've been in a funk lately, brought on by thoughts I can't chase from my head. They came about because of my reaction to the O family stance on abortion: I literally felt the need to shield myself and my daughter from B & M - to protect us from the violence that they think is okay. Of course I know that B & M would never perform an abortion themselves, but that they would condone one is enough. I am especially disturbed by M, a mother herself, and I wonder if while she was pregnant she was being healthy to take care of her fetus or her baby. I actually cried when I wondered what she would think of my miscarried son. Would she feel empathy or think that I was a silly girl. Both reactions seem wrong to me.
Jennifer at Conversion Diary, a former athiest and firm pro-choicer, wrote a post last week where she gives the litmus test to know if what is happening in your society is wrong or right as she made a comparison between the horror of the Holocaust and abortion:
Every decade or so, take a look around the society in which you live, and ask yourself if there is any group of human beings who are seen as something less than human. A big tipoff is if dehumanizing words -- terms other than "man," "woman," "child," "baby," or "person" -- are used to describe any category of people.
And if you ever see that going on, you might be in the midst of something gravely evil.
She acknowledges that the comparison is not apples to apples, and tries to be fair with the parallels. This week she has another post on the subject, going into further detail on how she had her change of heart and how she sees the subject now. She offers an abundance of links so you can "see for yourself" although they can be pretty gruesome.
Her statement, copied below, is what makes me so bewildered when women who speak of the sacredness of the womb and birth, especially those who are mothers themselves, support abortion.
Yet I noticed that when I became pregnant with my first child, I wasn't terrified of losing the "fetus" to miscarriage; I was terrified of losing the baby. When I was 10 weeks pregnant I didn't buy a handheld Doppler so that I could lie in bed and listen to the "clump of tissue"'s heartbeat; I was listening to my child's heartbeat.
I'm writing this post hoping it will make me feel better, but I feel like I need to do more. Perhaps I should channel my feelings into Elizabeth Ministry. What do you, my pro-life friends, do with your feelings on this subject?
6 comments:
I had never really thought much about abortion. I didn't like the idea (I believe it's a live soul at the moment of conception) but had never really been face to face with someone who was going to do it. Then I had a 13 year old girl who was pregnant come into my office and tell me that she was planning on getting an abortion. She didn't even refer to the baby as a baby, but as a problem that she needed to get "taken care of". It took everything in me to remain professional and not shake her and ask her what in the world she was doing. I even had thoughts of telling her that I would adopt the baby if she carried it full term. Obviously that would be stepping over some important legal bounds. I was glad when she stopped coming because I don't think I could have remained impartial. I thinking knowing that I might never be able to get pregnant has woken something up in me. Here she was, throwing away a precious gift that I might never get.
I just trust that God will make his will done eventually. And I know all those little babies are with him in heaven where these cruel people can't hurt them anymore.
I don't know if the people who support abortion are cruel, and they definately don't see themselves as cruel, I think they just don't get it.
I know that my views on the subject are greatly formed by my religion. ex - When people talk about having an abortion for the health of the mother I think of Gianna Beretta Molla who sacrificed her life for her unborn daughter.
I'm not saying it's not easy to have an unwanted pregnancy. And I'm quite aware that my strong feelings aimed at B & M are a little silly and very misplaced.
I guess what I am saying is that I just recently "got" what they mean when they say that women deserve better than abortion and that it is a poverty that a child must die so you may live as you wish.
I just learned about Saint Gianna this weekend. Amazing!!
You know, I think I can safely say that pro-lifers typically focus only on the baby in their discussion about abortion. And pro-choicers focus only on the women.
The secret to compassion on both sides is to focus on both baby and woman.
The reality is that little tiny baby in need of protection is connected to a real, live human female who probably is in the moment of greatest crisis in her life. Pro-lifers forget this.
And the pro-choice side, in their desire to support the female, completely forgets that the tiny baby is in need of some human love and protection!
If we support the female, we support the baby! Feminists for Life is the only pro-life group that I know of that actually focuses on the mother's needs.
well, i love being part of the Elizabeth Ministry at Epiphany, so I vote for that! I love it because we do so many different things to help not only babies, but women and mothers and families. From mourning every miscarriage to supporting any and every pregnant mother, we try and do as much as we can to promote the culture of life. I also have to do my internship next summer and am trying to do it at Birthright in Bloomington, which does a TON for pregnant mothers in need and those who are contemplating abortion. It is a wonderful organization and was actually started by one of my best friends' mother-in-law, from Epiphany as well. They run all on volunteers (well, almost all I think), so they are always in need of help. I'm sure if you really feel in need to do some pro-life stuff, that you could call them and maybe see what they need. Maybe you could even do something from home for them, and not even have to come to bloomington.
~Veronica
You seem so fixated on the death of unborn children, don't forget about the ones who are alive and struggling in poverty. Abortions will happen with or without the law. If you are so against women having abortions, why not support young women who are thinking about abortions? There are organizations and churches that spend money and time assisting young and impoverished women to make it possible for them to give birth and care for a child. That seems like a much more positive use of energy and I have a lot more respect for such actions as it takes a lot more effort, energy, LOVE, and care than condemning anyone who has ever considered (or had) an abortion.
I for one am glad that we will have a president who wants to stop killing people in Iraq- soldiers and civilians alike.
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