In March, I posted some observations on Planned Parenthood. At the same time I invited any readers to contact their senator with a request not to fund PP with tax dollars. Yesterday, I received a comment on my post. The gentleman wrote:
“I noticed the religious overtone to your perspective on the issue of abortion. You have every right to your views and ideologies, but consider an “abortion” is no longer specifically a medical procedure. It is most commonly a prescription of two pills. It is now an induced miscarriage. Your life may be stable, as your health may be, but not everyone shares the experience of your comforts and bliss life. These induced miscarriages save lives. There is no regard for the living breathing woman from PP opponents.” Mike.
Compelled to respond, I began writing. I clicked a key and my text disappeared. I started in again. Once more, the text disappeared. Still compelled, I started in again, saying:
Mike… It is because I have “regard for the living breathing women” that I warn against abortion That I cannot endorse the profiteering of Planned Parenthood. Thirty some years out and about across this big country have taught me valuable lessons. I may have been the one invited to speak, but I also became a listener. I have yet to meet a woman who wanted an abortion. Instead, women tell me that they felt “trapped,” alone, and without support during a very vulnerable time in their lives. They knew other choices had been made in their lives which led to pregnancy. Sex is not recreational; it is, rather, procreational. A woman who has an abortion is no different from me. In a moment of temptation, she chooses to become her own “god” and decide for herself what is right or wrong. I am guilty, far too many times in a difficult situation, of trying to take control and be my own “god.” But, I am a believer in Hope after my wrong and hurtful choice. Yes, you recognized the “religious overtone” correctly. My hope is in Jesus Christ. Without Him, I’m left to despair in my own miserable mess.
A last count, 24 of my friends, relatives, or acquaintances have shared their abortions with me. They asked me to speak up. To warn. To help other women avoid what they experienced following their abortion choice. It is precisely because of “living breathing” women that I became a part of a “hope and healing” ministry for post-abortive women called Word of Hope. It is because of “living breathing” women that I co-founded a caring pregnancy center where we walk with women throught their pregnancy and offer help to them and their families during the months following birth. It is because of “living breathing” women that I started a small, but caring ministry called Titus 2 for Life in order to help older women confront the mistakes of their past and help mentor younger women to avoid similar life-changing mistakes.
Abortion is not an “induced miscarriage.” It is not natural. It is the intentional choice to end the life of a fetus (Latin: “young one”). The “common prescription of two pills” as you mention, reveals that action is being taken on the part of the doctor and mother to intentionally end a pregnancy or, more honestly, the life of a “young one.” Miscarriage is very, very different. It is not the choice of the mother. It is something that happens beyond the mother’s control.
You are correct that I, as you, have “every right to [my] views and ideologies.” That’s the beauty of living in a land where freedoms of religion and speech are protected. It is because I believe in the God who creates, loves, and redeems life that I speak up. Warn. Help and support others in times of difficulty. Because, you see, I believe I am more than body and mind. I am also soul. My soul, and therefore my relationship to the Creator of my soul, matters. All may not be well with my physical life or with my emotional life (after all, it’s a hard and sinful world), but I most certainly desire that all be well with my soul. I desire this, also, for every “living breathing woman” and man. Our souls become right because of Jesus.
I appreciate the fact that you cared enough to comment, Mike. Thank you.
Word of Hope — The Lighthouse Center of Hope — Titus 2 for Life
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