Life worth choosing

On Monday, my husband's sister found out she is going go have a baby girl. She sent us a picture (via cell phone) of the ultrasound and I couldn't help but gaze in wonderment. At barely four months old, her little body is already so developed ... her teeny arms, her tiny heart. It's amazing what technology allows us to see. I am so excited to meet her.

Then yesterday — ironically — I was reading National Review Online and came across an article that I originally thought was on Obama's faith. It instead mentioned that he had kicked off a "Faith and Family Values Tour" in late September. One part of this outreach has been to insist that the Democratic candidate would promote "abortion reduction" policies, or those that would reduce the number of abortions performed. The article's author, Douglas Johnson, says — and I agree — that Obama is actually "firmly committed to an agenda of sweeping pro-abortion policy changes that could be expected to drastically increase the numbers of abortions performed." See: the Freedom of Choice Act. It's a bill that "would establish a federal abortion 'right' broader than Roe v. Wade and, in the words of the National Organization for Women, “sweep away hundreds of anti-abortion laws [and] policies.” And, at a Planned Parenthood event in July 2007, Obama said, "The first thing I’d do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That’s the first thing that I’d do.”

Now, before I go any further, let me preface: I'm going to be bold here, because lately so many things have been weighing on my heart, and I think God has been putting them there.

I came across a blog a few weeks ago by a young woman, married and trying for four years to get pregnant. And there are many others like her — linked from her page — all in their 20's and in the same boat. They've spent thousands of dollars, praying and hoping for a miracle. They worry about every move they make, every suspicious feeling ... it breaks my heart. Each year, thousands and thousands of women discover they can't conceive. And each year, millions of women dispose of their unborn babies, 95 percent as a means of birth control (only 1 percent are performed because of rape or incest; another 1 percent because of fetal abnormalities; and 3 percent are due to the mother's health problems).

I don't think Roe v. Wade will ever be overturned — if it is, it should go to states to figure out — and maybe that's best so women aren't hiding out in an alley with a coat hanger.

But I also think that FOCA is a radical piece of legislature. It would do the following: 1)It will be impenetrable, even if Roe v. Wade goes away 2) it creates a 'fundamental right' to abortion throughout the nine months of pregnancy, including a right to abort a fully developed child in the final weeks for undefined health reasons; 3) it would permit the public funding (i.e. tax-payer dollars) of abortion care for poor women or counseling and referrals for abortion services; and 4) It would take away the need for minors to provide parental consent. The NOW's own Web site says "Parental consent or notification statutes have been used as a tool to deny access to abortion services for minors. When such laws deny or interfere with the ability of minors to access abortion services, they would violate FOCA."

Fabulous.
Of course, Obama doesn't have a problem with the last two issues:

He already voted once to block a bill to require that at least one parent be notified if a minor had an abortion in another state.

He told a group in April that he doesn't want his two daughters, if they "make a mistake," to be "punished with a baby." First off, we're all taught to learn from our mistakes — it builds character. And if they ever make a "mistake," he'll likely never know about it. The girls will know what's expected of them. Secondly, if Obama says he's a Christian and believes that God is the creator of all things, isn't he basically slapping Him in the face?

In July 2007, Obama made a controversial pledge to require private insurers to cover abortions: "In my mind reproductive care is essential care. It is basic care, and so it is at the center, the heart of the plan that I propose ... we’re going to set up a public plan that all persons and all women can access if they don’t have health insurance. It’ll be a plan that will provide all essential services, including reproductive services ... We also will subsidize those who prefer to stay in the private insurance market except the insurers are going to have to abide by the same rules in terms of providing comprehensive care, including reproductive care." After the speech, an Obama spokesman said that included abortions.

Also, he voted three times in the Illinois Legislature to stymie legislation designed to keep alive newborn survivors of abortions.


Just think about this: We cannot reduce abortions by promoting abortion, or by insisting that every program supporting women in childbirth and child care support it, or by making it easier, especially for teenagers.

I realize there are many important issues in the election — health care, social security, energy, family safety — and I hope we are all doing our research on the candidate's stance on them. But I still think that there are core issues that deserve attention ... core issues that could lead to a snowballing effect of others. The president will be appointing at least one new Supreme Court justice and could be appointing another three. I don't want such radical changes in FOCA to lead to even more, like taking God out of the Pledge or redefining marriage. I mean, is there something wrong with protecting values ... for future generations?

I think that we should have a deep love for anyone struggling with anything — and that would be each of us. I'm not talking about the nowhere-in-Scripture "love the sinner, hate the sin" concept, but rather the idea being compassionate, full of mercy and love. I don't think women who want abortions should be condemned. I also don't think women (or men) who don't agree with abortions should be condemned. However, I also don't think that the issue of abortion should be brushed aside or so plainly accepted.

I commend my sister-in-law for choosing to have her baby. The pregnancy hasn't happened at the most opportune time, but in the few years I've known her, she's never seemed so happy, so responsible, so driven to care for another. I know that God has a plan in all of it, something that we are just beginning to see.

I'll end with this.

Norma McCorvey gave birth to a baby girl in the early 70s, claiming the pregnancy was the result of rape. She gave the baby up for adoption, later confessing the rape wasn't true. She gave birth to two more children years later. In her book, "Won by Love," McCorvey reveals that she became a Christian in 1994 and came to the realization one day that "Abortion wasn't about "products of conception." It wasn't about "missed periods." It was about children being killed in their mother's wombs. All those years I was wrong. Signing that affidavit, I was wrong. Working in an abortion clinic, I was wrong. No more of this first trimester, second trimester, third trimester stuff. Abortion–at any point–was wrong. It was so clear. Painfully clear."

McCovery is also known as Jane Roe.