What does Pro Life really
mean? Is it just an anti-abortion club
or is it really about Pro Life, which simply means that someone is, well,
pro-life? The Pro-life movement uses buzz words like “right to life” and
“respect life.” Even Governor Perry said in D Magazine that: “children deserve the respect of
recognition before their lives are tragically cut short.” Perry also said “I
don’t think there is any issue that better fits the definition of “compelling
state interest” than preventing the suffering of our state’s unborn. We cannot,
and we will not, stand idly by while the unborn are going through the agony of
having their lives ended.”
But what about the children
who are born with a special need? Are we Pro-life for them? Do we see the
beauty in a child who will never be able to breathe on her own without the help
of a ventilator? Do we see the treasure that God has given to us in a baby who
will have to be tube fed through a tube in her belly? Can we see the miracle in
a child who will never use his arms or legs? Do we truly think every child has
a life worth living?
Twelve years ago I was told
that my daughter did not have a life worth living, and I was encouraged to let
her go by the doctors and by people who not just said they were Pro Life but who
were actively involved in the Pro Life movement. I was told that they would
just take her off her life support machines and I could bathe her, and while I
bathed her and dressed her and rocked her she would pass and all would be okay.
I didn’t take that option. I chose to be Pro Life. I chose to keep the miracle that God gave me and not throw away God’s special gift to me.
In the Psalms it says "Lord, what is man that you care for him, mortal man that you keep him in mind? . . . With glory and honor you crowned him, giving him power over the works of your hands" (Psalm 8:5-7).
Genesis 1:27 says “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
There is the key. Not only did God make us, but He values us and created us in his own image, even the children with special needs. The Bible tells us of a God who is madly in love with us, so much so that He became one of us and even died for us while we were still offending Him (see Romans 5:6-8). In the face of all this, can we say that human beings are disposable, like a car that becomes more trouble than it is worth? "God doesn’t make junk." If you believe the Bible, you have to believe that human life is sacred, more sacred than we have ever imagined!
I urge you to look inside yourself and ask are you really Pro-Life or are you just part of an anti abortion club?
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All the pictures are of the miracle (my sweet mighty Z) that God has given to me simply because I was Pro-Life.
Edited by Emily Joy Minich01 02 03 07 08 11 12
I am pro choice..
ReplyDeleteMy situation wasn't exactly the same though..
I was pregnant with twins one who was very sick and had to choose to keep both or terminate the sick twin by 23w6d. In the end I choose to keep both which resulted with the sick twin having a trach which is fine and i was blessed to have only one specail needs child .. but had the sick twin stopped growing before the given time is it fair to keep both while putting both at risk for more serious health issuses or death!
Bonnie,
DeleteThanks for sharing your story! Your situation sounds heartbreaking, and is a "put up or shut up" kind of test case for pro-life convictions. I'm glad you made the right decision where many others would have failed, and both your children will thank you for that one day.
But to answer your question at the end: purposely killing the weak (and innocent) to protect the strong is never the correct choice, no matter how dire the situation.
That's easy to say from outside the situation, of course. But it is nonetheless true. If a preborn child is a human being, than taking the child's life on purpose is murder, even if the child is sick. Even if not killing that child might result in another death. We can't purposely engage in evil hoping for a good result; the ends do not justify the means.
I realize that when you are told the only option is "kill one or let both die", it's a time of extreme duress, and as I said, many pro-life convictions fail at that point. But as tough as this case may be, the vast, vast majority of abortions are not done for reasons of life of a twin, or even the mother.