Tomorrow is the day. That day that has come every year for the past 41 makes its appearance on the calendar again tomorrow. 41 years of slaughtering our most defenseless under the protection of law.
Lord, have mercy.
We renew our prayers for the end of abortion in our country and in the world over. We ask God to break our hearts again for all attacks on the dignity of human life. We ask God to break our hearts for our sisters and our brothers who have been hurt by the tragedy of abortion. We pray for the courage to seek ways to reach out to the victims of abortion with compassion and charity.
It’s said that no one goes happily to the abortion clinic. It’s a decision sought out of fear, guilt, or an overall sense of hopelessness. Most agree: abortion is not a happy choice for anyone.
Wouldn’t it be something, to live in a world where this awful “choice” did not have to be made? Where life was celebrated—no matter the circumstance. Where mothers and fathers were offered real support…support to raise the child or to see him or her into a loving and stable family.
God, raise up saints to build that world. Remind us that your love is bigger than our sin…that your love has already conquered death. Draw each of us into your victory.
As a Catholic, I have always been aware of the implications of January 22. And my Catholicism is the reason I march in DC on that day, with my children and with signs saying “Trust women” and “Keep abortion legal.” And I pray every day that God has mercy and doesn’t allow these unconstitutional attacks on reproductive rights to continue. Lord, have mercy.
Peace to you, Belgianchic–it’s been a while!
I find the phrase “trust women” to fly in the face of abortion, personally. If we trust women, are we not also to trust our bodies? We were created with the magnificent capacity to form new life and to carry it within our bodies! Trust THAT! Respect THAT! Honor that.
And that’s not even taking into account the millions of babies who are aborted just for being girls. Trust women? We have to let them be born, first.
Trust women. TRUST in our ability to bring new life into this world. Trust it and don’t trample upon it.
Very, very busy. But congratulations on the baby, he looks beautiful and your Christmas post showed a very happy family. I really like your blog, but am more of a lurker because of time with two little ones, sure you understand!
Exactly, we should be trusted with our bodies. And I don’t like abortion any more than you do, it’s nobody’s first choice. But having the government outlaw abortion doesn’t do much good to prevent very dangerous abortions, and as a health care professional it’s been so distressing to see the results of botched abortions. It’s inhumane. Sex-selection is of course a travesty, but in no way justifies making abortion illegal. My Catholic faith has brought me to the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice because I care about life, as I know you do.
No worries about not commenting. I rarely comment on articles/blogs I read!
The reason I don’t like abortion is because I believe it takes the life of a child. If abortion hurts women (as I believe it does), it’s for this reason.
So I’m curious, what is your reason for not liking abortion?
I don’t think abortion itself hurts women- that has not been my experience- but the circumstances in which women find themselves when they choose abortion are what hurts us. The number one reason that women have abortions is financial, and I think that is tragic and shameful to this country. We have failed women and families if they cannot afford to raise children. I don’t like abortion because it’s nobody’s first choice. I don’t have a problem with others making the choices that are best for them and their families- since 60 percent of women choosing abortion already have at least one child- even if I don’t like their choice.
Why is abortion nobody’s first choice? And so what if it was? Would you like it then? It’s either taking the life of an unborn child or it isn’t. If it’s not, there’s no reason to have stronger opinions about it than a mole removal procedure.
Abortion is nobody’s first choice because clearly the first choice would be to either not get pregnant when one does not want to be pregnant, or not to have medical problems with either the fetus or the woman that makes carrying a pregnancy to term impossible. It matters because it shows a lack of empathy when abortion is discussed as something that women do without thinking, that they ‘want’ to have an abortion. So that makes your question moot, in no world would abortion be a first choice, so I don’t ever have to like it. And a child cannot be unborn, but that is besides the point. The woman IS born. Abortion is not the same as a mole removal procedure, as it involves terminating a potential person’s life, but it is a medical procedure that should always be safe and legal in order to uphold the principles upon which this country was founded.
“[abortion] involves terminating a potential person’s life”
In order for something to be terminated, it has to first exist. We’re not simply terminating a “potential” with abortion, we’re terminating a currently existing life—with all of its potential to grow and mature that would happen if it continued on its natural course— are we not?
I hope I don’t sound like I lack empathy. I fully agree with you that abortion is nobody’s first choice, and that it’s a very painful one at that (as I stated in the original post). But the question we all need to really reflect on is WHY is this so? Why is abortion so tragic? And I think it’s because of what you’re getting at. Abortion terminates a life–with all of that life’s potential.
Oh, it’s life. A lot of things are life. But it is not a person. And not you, personally, lack empathy. I follow your blog and while I do not know you personally your writing shows how deeply you care. Abortion itself isn’t a tragedy, it’s the circumstances that would compel a woman to have an abortion, be it financial necessity, rape, or medical problems.
So then at what point does it become a person? Babies are born at all different gestational ages–some have survived outside the womb as young as 27 weeks! Are these babies not persons for the first 13 weeks of their life outside the womb?
A baby is still dependent upon another for survival for the first year or so of his life outside the womb, so we obviously can’t equate personhood with independence. And tacking an age to it just seems arbitrary.
When does personhood begin if not at conception–when life begins?