Right to Life, continued...

My dear friend Lindsay shared a story on my Facebook account about a "for the health/safety of the mother" situation, which led me to consider my position in more detail.

To be clear, I believe life is precious and the life of the unborn needs advocacy from those of us with a voice. Simply making all abortion criminal, while it may save lives, does not solve the problem that abortion has become in the world. There are situations where, for reasons unknown and often unsolvable, the life of the baby jeopardizes the life of the mother. It is for this reason that I am thankful for C-sections. Both because it enabled my mother to safely bring me into the world, and also because it enabled me to bring my own son into the world.

Choosing one life over another is never an easy decision, nor should it be. My issue with abortion in America is that it has become too emotionally detached. I am not saying that women who have abortions do not struggle with the decision--They do and should.

Abortion is always the ending of life. When that is recognized and the life lost is mourned, the world will be a better place for it. Ending one life to save another should only be an option when both lives cannot be saved. In my other post I said I would give up my life to save the life of my child. Obviously, I would have to make a more difficult choice should the life I want to save not be saveable. In early pregnancy when the baby cannot live outside the womb, ending the life of the baby--though a horrible tragedy--is better than losing the lives of both mother and baby. However, this type of abortion is not the type done in most abortion and Planned Parenthood clinics. THAT type of abortion--done more often than not for the convenience of the mother, not for sound medical reasons--should have more severe consequences.

As I said above, making abortion illegal does not completely solve the problem. Many argue we can't make it illegal because it would drive it underground where it is more dangerous for the mother. Which is essentially, "they're going to get an abortion anyway, so let's make it safer and easier for them". This reminds me of the "safe sex" argument. "Our teens are going to have sex anyway, so let's make it safer and easier for them by providing condoms and trying to rid premarital sex of the consequences". The difference is with abortion you're dealing with the lives of THREE (or more), not just one or two.

So if making abortion illegal isn't the final answer and keeping it legal is wrong, what should we do? Tell the truth to our young people. Abortion is the ending of a life, not wiping the slate clean. Ending the life of a baby should be done only for life-threatening medical reasons, not for convenience. Adoption should be the answer for unwed mothers who cannot raise a child, not abortion. The government should not fund abortions. Pro-lifers should spend more time helping women in need at pregnancy crisis centers instead of yelling outside of abortion clinics and worse. Teens in high school health class should be shown an ultrasound of a baby 8-12 weeks old. Doctors in hospitals who perform NECESSARY abortions should not sugar-coat it with scientific wording--A "fetus" is still a BABY no matter how small.

Ending a life is a serious decision with emotional and physical consequences. My heart goes out to families who have had to make the difficult choice of choosing one life over another. But I also thank them. I thank them for RECOGNIZING the LIFE. The life of our unborn. Please, be a voice for those who cannot speak for themselves.