My brother Andrew was born on January 22, which is the anniversary of the legalization of abortion in our country, also known as Roe v. Wade. Since I grew up just north of Washington D.C., we often spent this special day marching on Capital Hill against abortion.
Poor Drew. Spending his birthday morning marching in the cold, surrounded by people either holding very gross signs showing pictures of aborted babies or other people yelling at us could not have been the way he wanted his day of birth commemorated. If memory serves, sometimes my siblings couldn't eat their dinner very well that night either because of the graphic images they saw that day.
I bring this up because as a surly 16-year old, I was "encouraged" to go to this function. I didn't care much about abortion because I didn't understand it.
I've changed.
Here's what I have observed:
1. You're pro-life if you see life as beginning at conception.
If you see life as starting when the heart beats or when the 12-week mark is reached in pregnancy or any other marker, I think you're off base. The moment God brings the female and male contributions together, He has started His tapestry.
2. You're pro-life if you truly grieve at anything less than birth in a pregnancy.
3. You're pro-life if you see each child as a gift, no matter if the gift is not the gender, condition or presentation you were hoping for.
I'm really fed up with people who think children are supposed to be dolls to dress up or check marks on their "to do" list of life.
More than ever, I marvel at the gift each life is. It may be hard for me to see my friends who are pregnant right now, but once I put myself aside, I can acknowledge the truly beautiful gift inside them.
Now, if you'll excuse me, a beautiful gift of life has just entered the room and asked me, "Mommy, do you want to play with me when you're done with you're email?"
Definitely.
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