A Controversial Subject

Well, since it was the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade this week, and since despite my best efforts to think of a different post, I can't, and since I can't quite seem to get this Everlast song out of my head, you're getting a post on abortion.

First an excerpt from the song from Everlast:

Mary got pregnant from a kid named Tom said he was in love.
Said don't worry about thing babydoll I'm the man you been dreamin of.
Then 3 months later he won't even return her calls.
Something something mic, mic mic.
So she heads to the clinic and she gets some static walking through the door
They call her a killer and they call her a sinner and they call her a wh***
God forbid you ever have to walk a mile in her shoes,
then you really might know what it's like to have to choose.

I'll get back to that.

For now I want to go to 1997 and an ultrasound that was devastating. Two of my kids looked to have defects and that, according to the doctors was putting the life of the third in jeopardy. It was recommended that I terminate at least one, if not two of the pregnancies. I went ahead and amnios so that I could know for sure what I was dealing with and went home. The Drs said I had only a few days to make a decision. With my head swimming and my hear in oodles of pain, I called my local crisis pregnancy center and told them what was going on. The response I got?? Basically, my Christianity was questioned. The supervisor of the whole place got on the phone and told me that the hospital was just an abortion factory and that they lie to people all of the time about defects to get them to abort. I'm still bitter about that.

I am pro-life. But, I am pro-life because, like the Everlast song said, I know what it is like to have to choose. I know how it feels to be in a place where you can't imagine giving birth to this "thing". I know what it feels like to want to put those pre-pg jeans back on and pretend that this baby isn't happening. I've thought about ways to justify ending a pregnancy and I thought of excuses to tell people who wouldn't understand. I know what it is like to be in the pain of that limbo. And, I've seen the glorious imperfection of bringing that life into this world and seeing that yes, even in situations that are less than ideal, there is tremendous, tremendous value everytime God breathes life into a human.

Do I wish the Marys of the world didn't head to the clinics when they got pregnant from the Toms of the world??? Absolutely! But, it makes me more sad that people would look at us at the type that would call her names. Maybe that is because we have been. I personally feel like anyone who is working in a crisis pregnancy center should have to have had to choose. I think we would be a lot more effective.