1) I could never abort a baby.
2) You are entitled to do what you want.
The events described below turned my "dual" opinion into one unified thought – a baby is a baby no matter its size and level of development AND abortion is murder even in the case of rape and incest. A baby is a people, a person, a human being created in the image of God from the moment of conception. It is morally wrong to kill people – big or small.
The first event that impacted me personally is that January 22 is the 16th anniversary of the death of our baby who we lost in a miscarriage. The moment we knew I was pregnant there was a baby. Of course there was a baby even before we knew I was pregnant. It was an early miscarriage, but in my heart the length of the pregnancy is irrelevant, we lost our baby.
The day of our miscarriage is so vividly planted in my mind – it was the day we buried my Grandpa.
I woke up in the morning and it was obvious that we were in trouble. We attended the funeral service and quietly slipped away to doctor’s office. He confirmed with ultrasound that our baby had died and I was miscarrying. Dave and I headed to the car to hold each other and cry. We returned to my parents and were greeted by all siblings and my parents including my mom who had just lost her dad. We had a long 24 hours ahead as my Grandpa’s internment was the following day in Grand Rapids, which was 3 hours away. We traveled 3 hours, spent a long night miscarrying in a strange place, went to the cemetery to bury my Grandpa, returned home and headed back to the doctor’s office. I have not fully grieved either loss – my Grandpa or our baby. I knew my Grandpa for many years and look forward to meeting him heaven. I never really met our baby and I can’t wait to meet him/her in heaven too!
The second event is related to the first in that we became parents through adoption a year later. We adopted Alex from Russia where abortion is even more prevalent than in the United States. We are grateful that Alex was not an abortion statistic as he easily could have been. As I wrote Alex’s lifebook (life before adoption) I had to deal with what to say to him about why he was born, who was there, what to do with the unknowns. Abortion and life were coming into my mind more and more.
The third event is really a series of meeting people. As I interact with the world of adoption I meet adults who have survived abortions, adults who were conceived rape, and families who have adopted children conceived in rape. I have realized that the circumstances of a conception doesn’t give reason to abort a child and doesn't diminish the value of that person at all. There are options – granted our society has a long way to go when it comes to adoption.
The fourth event is the opportunity to learn what it means to be pro-life as I hadn’t thought it though completely. I began to read the reasons why people are pro-life. I couldn’t disagree with them.
Finally, the most important reason is that the Holy Spirit enabled me to read with open eyes and heart what God says about life in Scripture.
"Your hands fashioned and made me,
and now you have destroyed me altogether.
Remember that you have made me like clay;
and will you return me to the dust?
Did you not pour me out like milk
and curdle me like cheese?
You clothed me with skin and flesh,
and knit me together with bones and sinews.
You have granted me life and steadfast love,
and your care has preserved my spirit." (Job 10:8-12 ESV).
" Listen to me, O coastlands,
and give attention, you peoples from afar.
The Lord called me from the womb,
from the body of my mother he named my name.
And now the Lord says,
he who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him;
and that Israel might be gathered to him—
for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord,
and my God has become my strength (Isaiah 49:1, 5 ESV).
"Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:4-5 ESV).
"For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them." (Psalm 139:13-16 ESV)
"But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine." (Isaiah 43:1)
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine." (Isaiah 43:1)
And finally….
You shall not murder. (Exodus 20:13 ESV)
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