Choosing Life

Earlier this week, a lovely young woman was married. This was a very special moment for me, because I know her story.

You see, she was adopted - because her young mother valued life more than convenience.

It was not an easy decision, nor was it an easy experience for the birth mother. She grieved when her child was gone, but she had the satisfaction of knowing her child lived and lived well. Her love for that child sustained her and helped her to grow into a stronger person.

There is a great deal of debate about life in this country - and I am not willing to indulge that debate here in my blog. I will, however, share some random thoughts.

I have seen many young women pressured into unwanted abortions over the past 25 years :

• Young women who are told they are selfish if they give birth, that they will disgrace their family name
• Young women who are told that the father is "doing the right thing" and "being responsible" by offering cash for an abortion (and not offering care for the child)
• Young women who are told their lives will be ruined if they bear a child and choose to give it in adoption to loving parents.

In the early 1970s (the initial Roe v Wade debate period), we were told that there was no slippery slope - that there would NEVER come a day when abortions were used as family planning, that abortion would never be routine. We were told that only in the most extreme circumstances would abortions be sought. Remember? Rape, incest, life of the mother, extremely abusive environment.

There was an acknowledgement by all that abortion is a traumatic act for mother.