So this whole SB5 this has had my brain spinning all day. I've been antsy and disturbed and my brain just won't shut off about it. I'll be perfectly honest and say I didn't even know it was happening last night, and I didn't even know what it was about today until I had time to read about it tonight. I say this to tell you that the reason I'm stirred up isn't because of political tension or Republican/Democrats differences or filibuster stresses. I know now that the drama of last night and the calling of another special session today happened, but that's not what this blog is about...this blog is about babies.
In today's culture, there is so much differences of opinion about different political issues including welfare, insurance, taxes, immigration, gay rights, the economy, government involvement, etc. ....and sadly, abortion.
I waver on how opinionated I let myself be on all of the first items in that list. Yes I have my opinions, but I understand how others have contradictory opinions. Opinions on these things are all about perspective and I sympathize with those who are in a different place in life than I am.
However, abortion is one I just don't get. What blows my mind is that the same country who was horrifically rocked and DEVASTATED over the senseless and awful death of 20 6-7 year old angels in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, on December 14, 2012, is the same country who is killing children at an alarmingly fast rate.... America kills approximately 1.2 million children a year. Divided by 20, that is 60,000 days STRAIGHT of killing 20 Sandy Hook children, which is 164.38 years of killing 20 children every. single. day. But of course that number starts over at the beginning of year one and year 27 and year 129 and year 164....
A 6 year old child is 352 weeks old (counting from day of conception.) An aborted child is younger than 40 weeks old, but is still that same child.
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| 7 years ago, beautiful little Daniel Barden killed by the shooter at Sandy Hook Elementary was the age of these murdered babies. |
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| 7 years ago, sweet and angelic little Grace McDonnell killed by the shooter at Sandy Hook Elementary was the age of these murdered babies. |
I went to Google images to look for a photo to post as to what sweet Daniel and Grace looked like at the age of an aborted baby and the photos I saw were too sickening to explore or share. I want to post in order to defend those sweet babies, but I can't post in order to respect them.
People stand in the hallways of the capital chanting for pro-choice rights and trying to defend "freedom".....who are these people?? Were they not alive on December 14, 2012? Did they not watch the news about how one individual killed 20 babies? Were they not emotionally upset by that? How is the Sandy Hook killer any different than an abortion doctor...really...think about that.
How are we ok with this? Is it because we haven't gotten to see these "fetuses" smile yet? We haven't seen them play with a puppy or build a pillow fort or roast a marshmallow or say "I love you"?? How can we dehumanize these infants?
The politically correct reason....it's because of "women's rights," right? Women must have the choice to choose what happens to their bodies. Having had a baby, I'll admit that pregnancy and childbirth aren't easy or necessarily pleasant, but Wow... to only think what ends up happening to those babies' bodies who never had their right to choose.
Like I said before, I waiver on the whole human rights thing as to what I believe and how that should be balanced in society as I understand decisions and opinions are based on perspective, but I feel like abortion is in a whole different realm than any other debatable topic out there. This is discussing human LIFE...not how we want to enjoy our own personal lives or how we want money to be distributed or who we're allowed to love....this is Life or its Death. This is KILLING or letting live. Whole different ballgame. I feel that once a life has been conceived, someone else's preference shouldn't dictate life or death to that new human. If a man doesn't like someone or thinks someone is inconvenient to his life, he doesn't have the right to kill that person just because its his human right. I don't see how a woman's right to choose can have precedence over human life. To me, that's a cop out.
Then there is the sad reality of baby creation through tragic circumstances such as rape and incest. This one is harder to handle because my heart MELTS for these girls/women. The dilemma they are faced with and the pain associated with the situation is something I'll never know; therefore, I will not judge, and I'd be the first to love them and hug them. I can't even imagine so I'm not going to say I wouldn't consider the options I had if it happened to me. But when it comes down to it, the brutal murder of the child which was a result of the brutal act of sin upon that woman is not the answer to get rid of the situation. Sadly but realistically, the woman will have to deal with the repercussions of the man's evil for the rest of her life, but then to have to stack the guilt of killing a child on top of that...I'd assume that's overwhelmingly irrecoverable. However, in the big picture, approximately .33% of abortions are performed due to rape or incest*....so if that is the major rationale for keeping abortions around - go ahead. Keep this as the only reason and you'll save 1,197,240 lives. (I would still grieve over the 2,760 and wouldn't agree with their loss of life, but I'm just making a general point here).
I also understand that some abortions are due to save a mother's life or to end the life of a baby who would me medically handicapped or worse. Again, my heart hurts for these situations. They must be inconceivably AWFUL. The pain and questions of "Why?" associated with these scenarios live on forever; however, again, the % is so low that it cannot be used as the major rationale to keep abortion legal. Plus, I don't know this for a fact, but I assume that terminating pregnancies because of these types of situations don't occur at Planned Parenthood or any other abortion clinic setting. They are most likely in hospitals under a doctor's direct care (I could be wrong, but I'm thinking I'm not).
Lastly, I understand economic issues is a big force behind abortions. 98% of abortions are elective and a large percentage of that is because the mother doesn't feel like she can afford the child. I understand there are many children waiting for adoption. I understand that I am personally blessed to be in a financial situation that I can raise my own child whereas many people are not. I understand that if given the chance to live, many of these children would have a poor quality of life...but I'm sorry - abortion can't be our method of population control. That's called genocide. That's what Hitler did. I can think of all kinds of reforms that would help the issue of children waiting to be adopted. Take a bunch of the money that is poured into government funded abortions and put them towards programs that help parents who can't conceive and want to adopt. Do you know how expensive adoption is? It's insane! So many worthy families out there .... I know that wouldn't solve all the problems, but it would help, and it would relieve our country from the disgusting guilt of deciding who is worth living and who is worth dying.
I have never had the opportunity to speak openly with a woman who has had an abortion. I have never been in the shoes of someone who is faced with that decision. I am not trying to be judgmental. I know that because my heart is bleeding as I type this. I feel love for those unborn babies and love for those moms who are so desperate and so mislead that they don't see any other alternative. My heart hurts for those women who will regret their decision 10 years down the road when they are married and have 2 children and wonder daily what their 3rd child would have been like - what he would have looked like. whether she would have liked sports or ballet. if he would have had the same cute upturned nose her other 2 children have...seriously, I don't write this out of hate or judgment...I write it out of love and a desperate desire to understand how we have gotten to this point and if there is any way of reversing it.
I am a Christian. I'm not ashamed of that. But if you noticed, I didn't quote the Bible or use God as a reasoning behind any of my arguments. There are ALL kinds of reasons as a Christian I hate abortion and believe that Jesus' heart is torn in two by the evil that perpetrates this world, but to be honest, I purposely stayed away from all of that because I don't feel like any human with a pulse should need that to understand what I'm saying, and I definitely didn't want anyone rejecting my arguments because I was just being "religious." Christianity isn't needed to defend this argument. Humanity is all that is needed.
I'm not going to have the intellectual answer to all the finely crafted objections that some of you may have. You're welcome to comment and I'll try my best to respond...all I do know is that this is a heart issue, and my heart knows what's right and wrong in this case. To me its so obvious it makes me sick...apparently 41% of America** disagrees with me though. I typically respect the other point of view and try really hard to empathize and keep an open mind when its an issue I don't understand, but I'm not gonna lie, this one blows my mind and makes me hurt for our society and for America and for those sweet babies who are dismembered and thrown in the garbage and burned without anyone knowing their name or hearing their laugh or cuddling their cry or even recognizing their humanity.
* http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/policy/abortion/abreasons.html
** http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/figuring-faith/post/pro-choice-and-pro-life-on-abortion-americans-say-its-complicated/2012/05/29/gJQAjj0qyU_blog.html
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| This post is dedicated to my precious boy, Rhyder, who was given the chance to live unlike so many beautiful babies out there who might have blue eyes or blonde hair or like books or love to be outside or enjoy peek-a-boo...just like him. |
