A Terrible Anniversary and a Joyful One

I was so happy all day today. My sister had a baby boy. My first little nephew. I'm doubly an aunt.

It was a great day to bring life into the world, because it's the 42nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade- a law that caused many, many helpless little babies to lose theirs. I feel like every mother should have her baby on this day. I feel like the hospitals should be crowded and overflowing, halls echoing with tiny cries and joyful conversations, celebrations of life.

While I'd like to write a whole post about my little nephew (even though I haven't made his acquaintance yet), I don't think his privacy-loving parents would appreciate it. So I'm going to post a couple things I wrote about abortion (on a mostly liberal writing site) a while ago, instead.
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It's Not Your Law, Jane Roe

This is a true story about a lie.

In 1969, Norma McCorvey found out that she was pregnant for the third time. She was only 21, and homeless. Her other two children had been adopted, and she knew she couldn't parent this child either.

Norma didn't have much education. She didn't even understand what abortion was. When someone told her that it was the way to stop a pregnancy, she drove to a clinic, but it had been shut down. Abortions were illegal in Texas at the time.

So, she was referred to Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee. Apparently, one of Norma's friends thought that two new lawyers would be able to help her. That's when the whole fabrication began. Sarah and Linda changed Norma's name in the affidavit they gave her to sign (to Jane Roe). They changed her story, claiming that she was raped. They made her the poster child for women who weren't allowed to abort their babies.

Norma never read the affidavit. She never appeared in court. She never even had an abortion.

In 1973, with the companion case Doe v. Bolton (which did not define the term "health" when saying that an abortion is legal in any case where the life or health of the mother is affected) Roe v. Wade made abortion accessible to any woman through the ninth month of pregnancy for ANY reason.

Norma went on to work in abortion clinics, but later, she became a Catholic and pro-life. In her book Won by Love, she describes the time when she saw a fetal development poster. She says, "It dawned on me... that's a baby." And she only has guilt over "her law."

I just want to put my arm around "Jane Roe" and tell her.. it wasn't your law. Her heart is hurting.. because she was manipulated. And this manipulation didn't stop with her.

Enslaving Right

It is, after all, the land of the free. So women must be free to lose their freedom.

They were told that they had a glorious right to "choose" and now, they only wish that they hadn't chosen. They divide their history into Before and After. They cry when they see babies on T.V.

I have been in a room with women who were talking about their abortions. Their pain, their shame. Have you? You know, you might want to actually talk to a post-abortive woman (about her abortion), before you go on and on about how liberating it is that women don't have to stay pregnant anymore. You might just want to fact-check that.

Maybe look into Planned Parenthood a little bit. Read up on their greed, on the pressure that is put on a woman to have an abortion once she first starts inquiring about it. On the way defective birth control has been distributed to high school students to create more lucrative abortions. On the women who have died because of malpractice.

Maybe consider the women who don't even have a choice.

I'm training to volunteer at a pregnancy medical center. We give women and girls accurate information and counseling about their options (unlike the abortion clinic right next door). We also offer free pregnancy tests, limited free ultrasounds, information about adoption, and referrals to an in-home nurse program when they need help caring for their babies. We help women heal from their abortions when they decide to abort their babies anyway.

In the past few days, I've heard some sad stories. Some girls (and women) don't get to choose. They have parents who don't want to take care of the babies (when the girls aren't ready to be moms). They have boyfriends who don't want to support the babies. They have other relatives who are pressuring them to abort (even when they don't want to). Or they simply feel like they have absolutely no one to help, and no other options.

They aren't told the truth about fetal development (which is a continuous process from the time of fertilization). They aren't told about adoption (a loving decision that allows a child to LIVE). They don't have a "choice".

Like Jane Roe. They're manipulated, and left with a hurting heart.

I was reading Lifenews.com a few months ago and just realized that I couldn't just talk
about abortion. I had to do something. But whatever I can do- cleaning the building, welcoming clients, counseling pregnant women- it's so small in the face of all of this.

If you're pregnant, I want you to know that abortion is not your only choice. Wherever you live, there are people who care about you, and will help you. Just Google crisis pregnancy center, or pregnancy medical center. Don't let people talk you into doing something you don't want to do.

Adoption is not shameful. If you're not ready to be a parent, it is the most loving thing you can do for your child, as well as bringing joy to the adoptive parents.

If you're not pregnant, and you just think that abortion is wonderful, I'm here to tell you that it is not. And that's not just my opinion. Do your research- I've done mine.

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It actually feels horrid to talk about this on the day my precious nephew was born. But there it is. My sister is celebrating her wonderful gift; other women are throwing theirs away. Some without understanding, some with no one to tell them the truth. Some because they're forced to. On a terrible anniversary and a joyful one, I don't know how to not talk about it.