Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Pro-Life Mom on Loving Post-Abortive Women


This entry is reposted with permission from a Facebook update of my friend, Sarah Martin.

I have always felt passionately about the abortion issue ever since I was 8 years old and saw a photo of an aborted baby's severed head. The photo was put out by Human Life International and was in the New American magazine. I identified with that baby and was horrified to learn my mom could have killed me had she wished. I was angry at lawmakers who said my life hadn't mattered before my birth. I hated women who had abortions. I kept this mindset into my 20's.

Then I had an unplanned pregnancy. Fortunately my husband welcomed the new life we had created. My family supported me and I was showered with well-wishes and love and support. But my mind started to change regarding women who abort. I suddenly saw myself as one of them. What if I hadn't had a husband that was pro-life? What if my family hadn't been supportive? What if we hadn't been showered with gifts and love and support? I realized how emotional you are when you are pregnant and how ambivalent you can feel even when supported. I knew that for the grace of God I could have caved and aborted. If faced with enough stress even pro-lifers can cave.

Then I met friends who had had abortions. Some were not sorry. Some were sorry but still insisted the decision was the right one. Some were repentant and now pro-life. Each one of these women softened my heart and I found I loved women who abort. Gone was the hatred and anger. I felt a desire to help women in crisis pregnancies.

Then I had my second son. I see the faces of my sons in each aborted child. I know each child lost to abortion is just as precious as my boys and I know their mommies would have loved them as much as I love my boys. But they'll never know because they bought the lies of the abortion industry. I see myself in every woman who aborts.

I will never stop speaking out against abortion. It kills children. It hurts women (and in some cases kills them too). It is an attack on what God called good. God made mankind in His image. He calls children a gift. He created women with natural maternal urges. I know it grieves the heart of God when a woman is complicit in the destruction of her own child. Therefore I will never be silent.

Note: This blog entry does not necessarily reflect the views of all pro-life and American women. The opinions in this entry belong solely to the author, Sarah.