CHAPTER 11

Every baby conceived is a precious treasure from the hand of God. The circumstances surrounding the conception of a new child may be extremely hard to accept, but the baby is always a good thing. This is why abortion (no matter how difficult the circumstances) is never the right option.

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One Gift Gives Another

We still remember reading the result of our first pregnancy test. Both of us were terribly nervous. It took Keith two trips to the drugstore to finally get up the nerve to purchase the test. He tried to make the purchase as subtle as possible by buying a couple of boxes of tissues, contact solution, aspirin, and a candy bar.

We paced the floor for forty-five minutes as we waited for the dot to turn blue. We raced into the bathroom and looked in the test tube. We passed! We were pregnant with our first child. The gift that we had saved and gave to one another when we got married had now given us another gift in return --a precious human life.

Can you think of anything more precious than human life? What a gift! Now that "gift" is running around playing ball and building with Legos. We remember seeing him when he was still in the womb, by means of an ultrasound image. We could see his whole little body with hands, feet, and even his little "boy part" was visible.

Knowing how precious life really is and knowing that the baby in the womb is a human life, we consider abortion the ultimate abuse of the gift of sexuality.

But Is It Really Human Life?

There is no doubt in our minds that the preborn child is a human life. But you don't have to take our word for it. With all of the medical advances and technology today, we know more about the humanness of the preborn baby than ever before. Many abortion advocates (people who think abortion is acceptable) will even admit that scientifically the preborn child is human. This is rarely debated anymore because there is so much evidence in favor of preborn infants being human.

When the sperm and the egg unite (fertilization or conception), a new living being is present. This new living being is fully human right from the start. As Dr. Jack Willke, M.D., puts it, "This is so because this being, from fertilization, is alive, human, sexed, complete and growing." All that is added to help these new humans develop after conception is nourishment and protection.

From ten to twelve weeks, when a suction abortion can take place, we know that preborn babies have a heartbeat and brain waves, can feel pain, squint, swallow, make a fist, and suck their thumb. (Who could kill a tiny baby sucking his or her thumb?) They are from two to three inches long, weighing an ounce. The only differences that occur after this point are primarily growth related -just getting bigger.

(The suction method is now the most common surgical abortion method. The abortionist inserts a hollow tube into the woman's vagina and a powerful suction apparatus tears the baby's body into pieces and sucks it out.)

Did you know there have been babies born at twenty weeks after conception that have survived? Is abortion legal during this time?

Yes, nationally it's legal during the whole pregnancy, right up to birth. (Only since 1992 have states had the power to restrict abortions after viability --although not all states have done this. Viability is the age at which a baby can survive outside the womb. That age is debated, but it's considered to be somewhere around twenty-plus weeks.) Every year there are over 120,000 babies aborted who are over 16 weeks; 13,000 are killed that are over 6 months developed!

If we go to an even more authoritative source to find the truth about when human life begins, we find that it is in agreement with science. The Bible and the Catholic Church teach that life is human (and therefore very precious) from the moment of conception (when the sperm unites with the egg). As we saw back in Chapter 2, God is actively involved in the creation of the baby in the womb. This is how beautifully Psalm 139:13-16 (NAB) puts it:

Truly you have formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother's womb.
I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made;
wonderful are your works.
My soul also you knew full well;
nor was my frame unknown to you
When I was made in secret,
when I was fashioned in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes have seen my actions;
in your book they are all written;
my days were limited before one of them existed.

The Church has given us very direct guidelines concerning this issue. Pope Paul VI, in his encyclical letter Humanae Vitae, states that abortion is never the right alternative. The Church today has stood very firm on this belief. "Since the first century," we are told, "the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion ... is gravely contrary to the moral law" (CCC 2271). Participation in an abortion --either as the abortionist (medical personnel) or as the patient --warrants excommunication from the Church. (Cf. CCC 2272.)

The Catechism of the Catholic Church is adamant about the fact that every individual "must be treated from conception as a person, the embryo must be defended in its integrity, cared for, and healed, as far as possible, like any other human being" (No. 2274). Nobody has said it better than this!

Are We Forgetting Someone?

What about the pregnant high-school girl who was planning to go to college? What choice does she have? Abortion sure seems like the only way out of this one.

But, first of all, let's recognize that the girl had a choice to make before she got pregnant. She chose unwisely about having sexual intercourse before marriage; and, as a result, there are consequences to face.

Secondly, why should the baby be punished because his mother and father made the wrong choice? Since the girl and her boyfriend made the mistake, they must deal with the consequences --not the new baby.

It is a fact: All human life is a gift from God. Every baby conceived is a precious treasure from the hand of God. The circumstances surrounding the conception of a new child may be extremely hard to accept, but the baby is always a good thing. This is why abortion (no matter how difficult the circumstances) is never the right option.

There are other legitimate choices for the teenager who is pregnant. Raising the baby (either married or single) is one option. And so is adoption. Did you know that there are over two million requests for adoption a year that go unanswered? Adoption makes it possible for the girl and her baby to go on with life. These options are much better choices than abortion.

Lisa was a teenager who found herself faced with this difficult decision after she found out she was pregnant. These are her own words describing the choice she made:

It was the beginning of my junior year in high school. I was excited, looking forward to another year of diving, gymnastics and track. But this excitement quickly came to an end when I realized I was pregnant. Although abortion may seem like an easier way out than going through a pregnancy, adoption, or raising a baby, it is not. Not only is it irresponsible and immoral, it also has many other devastating results that are seldom brought to [someone's) attention. --From the Human Life Alliance of Minnesota Advertising Supplement

More Than They Tell You

Abortion advocates (they like to call themselves "pro-choice") do not tell you the possible effects that abortion can have on your body and mind. Immediately after the abortion, there is intense pain. In addition, there can possibly be excessive bleeding, damage to organs, and even death.

Long-term effects include the inability to become pregnant, future miscarriages, premature births, and tubal pregnancies. Some women who have chosen an abortion have killed the only baby that they will ever have.

Post-abortion syndrome is a term used to describe the emotional problems that women go through after an abortion. A recent study on post-abortion syndrome showed that eighty-one percent of the women who have had an abortion had a preoccupation with the aborted child.

This letter (published in Our Sunday Visitor), by a woman who had an abortion some ten years ago, describes the intense emotional pain involved:

Ten years ago yesterday, I carried you beneath my heart.

Ten years ago today, I stopped the beating of your heart.

I, your mother, the one who gave you life, also gave you death.

It's been a decade and still my blood runs cold and I catch my breath whenever I hear the word "abortion." There's an emptiness inside of me that can never be filled, a chill that has never quite been warmed, a grief that will never end. To me you will forever remain an unfinished song, a flower that never bloomed, a sunrise clouded by rain.

Even during your last fragile moments of life, I wondered, "Is my baby a boy or a girl?" The question ran through my mind again and again as I tried to block out the sickening sounds of you being suctioned from my womb and from my life. I seemed to have a burning need to know whether I would have had a son or a daughter, yet somehow I couldn't bear to ask such an indelicate question of the doctor who stood smiling above me. Instead, I simply nodded in defeat and sadness as this man in white patted my trembling hand and said, "Now --aren't you glad it's all over?"

As I lay there drowning in my own blood, tears and sweat, I could hear the nurses chattering about the co-workers, new cars and clothes.

To these people, the extermination of your life was simply a job --"making a living by destroying the living." To those gathered in the sunny room in Philadelphia 10 years ago, it was just another day. To me, it was the darkest day I had ever known.

"The Abortion" --the most heart-wrenching, terrible experience I had suffered through in my 18 years; certainly the most painful experience suffered by you in your three short months. It has taken me all these years to get over it.

Now --as my eyes fill with tears, I realize that this is something I will never "get over." That fateful April day has replayed itself over and over in my mind like a horror movie one forces oneself to watch, then can never forget....

Even in my distraught state of mind, I knew that there were choices. I was simply too scared to consider the alternative. Still a child myself, I "wasn't ready" to be a mother.

What I didn't realize then was that I already was a mother. You became my child at the moment of conception; my love for you began when your life began, and although your life ended, that love has never died.

Your silent screams have awakened me from sleep many times over the years, and I have lain in the dark and mourned the loss of the baby I killed. There have even been times when I've contemplated ending my own life as I ended yours.

It's been 10 years and still I haven't forgiven myself. Have you forgiven me? Has God forgiven me for destroying a being created by Him?

I've had many nightmares through the years. Scenes of a tiny fetus in a trash bag haunt my subconscious. I've awakened in a cold sweat, again feeling the excruciating pain of that long-ago day. I recall the intense physical pain of the abortion --but those 10 minutes of hurt were nothing compared to the 10 years of pain I've lived with since.

For years my heart has ached to write you this letter, but whenever I attempted to put my feelings into words, I found the blank pages covered with tears rather than with ink. For some reason, though, tonight was different....

Perhaps this letter was meant to be written in order to help other young girls "in trouble," as I was 10 years ago, to realize that there are alternatives to abortion... If this letter prevents even one abortion, it will have served a purpose. But, Baby, my purpose in sending this letter to you is to let you know that I love you --whoever you are. And I'm sorry.

Love, Mommy.

Thank God that he is merciful and can forgive women who have aborted their own babies. It's our guess that most of these women did not fully understand what they were doing.

Pope John Paul II compassionately addresses women in this situation in his encyclical letter The Gospel of Life: "I would now like to say a special word to women who have had an abortion. The Church is aware of the many factors which may have influenced your decision, and she does not doubt that in many cases it was a painful and even shattering decision. That wound in your heart may not yet have healed. Certainly what happened was and remains terribly wrong. But do not give in to discouragement and do not lose hope. Try rather to understand what happened and face it honestly. If you have not already done so, give yourselves over with humility and trust to repentance. The Father of mercies is ready to give you his forgiveness and his peace in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. You will come to understand that nothing is definitively lost and you will be able to ask forgiveness from your child, who is now living in the Lord. With the friendly and expert help and advice of other people, and as a result of your own painful experience, you can be among the most eloquent defenders of everyone's right to life. Through your commitment to life whether by accepting the birth of other children or by welcoming and caring for those most in need of someone to be close to them, you will become promoters of a new way of looking at human life" (No. 99).

Can you believe that the laws in our country actually support killing a baby by abortion? There are over 1.5 million abortions a year in the United States alone. That's over four thousand a day or an average of one every twenty seconds. TV shows, famous movie stars, the nightly news, teachers, relatives, and many others all support these killings. All in the name of "choice." But the truth is: As a bumper sticker says, "She's a child, not a choice."

Hopefully, America will soon face the truth about what abortion is doing to our children.

Maybe a lot of you are saying, "How can so many people be wrong? If it really is a human life that is being taken, then certainly more people would do something about it. They would not just sit by and let something as atrocious as this continue." Oh, yeah?

After the pastor gave a homily on abortion an elderly man approached the pastor and delivered these words:

I lived in Germany during the Nazi Holocaust. I considered myself a Christian. I attended church since I was a small boy. We heard stories of what was happening to the Jews, but like most people in this country today, we tried to distance ourselves from the reality of what was really taking place. What could anyone do to stop it?

A railroad track ran behind our small church, and each Sunday morning we would hear the whistle from a distance. Then one Sunday we heard cries coming from the train as it passed by. We grimly realized that the train was carrying Jews. They were like cattle in those cars!

They were on their way to the death campus!

Week after week, that train whistle would blow. We would dread to hear the sound of those wheels because we knew that the Jews would begin to cry out to us as they passed

our church. It was so terribly disturbing! We could do nothing to help those poor, miserable people; yet their screams tormented us.

We knew exactly what time that whistle would blow, and we decided the only way to keep from being so disturbed by the cries was to start singing our hymns.

By the time that train came rumbling past the church yard, we were singing at the top of our voices. If some of the screams reached our ears, we'd just sing a little louder until we could hear them no more.

Years have passed, and no one talks about it much anymore. But I still hear that train whistle in my sleep. I can still hear them crying out for help. God forgive me. God forgive all of us who call ourselves Christians, yet did nothing to intervene.

Now, so many years later, I see it happening all over again in America. God forgive us as Americans, for we have blocked out the screams of millions of our own children. The Holocaust is here. The response is the same as it was in my country --silence!

- From a Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation solicitation letter

But What Can I Do?

We're so glad you asked. If enough people ask this question, we can turn this whole situation around. You'd be surprised what influence just one person can have. Here is a list of practical things that you can do to get things moving in the right direction.

1. Pray. Do not underestimate the power of prayer. Include a short prayer daily: for women considering abortion; that abortion doctors would have a change of heart; that laws would be changed, etc. Whatever you can think of, just pray it!

2. Educate yourself. The arguments are simple and straightforward. Get a hold of some good brochures or read some good pro-life books. Many people just do not know. If you are ever confronted, be very polite, but get the truth about abortion across. Take advantage of reports you might have to give in school. This will help you learn the facts better and influence your friends.

3. Make sure your libraries carry good pro-life materials. If they don't, offer to supply them with materials.

4. Become involved in a pro-life group. Many colleges and high schools have these groups for students. Yours doesn't? Maybe you could start one. For more information you can contact the Teen American Life League (address in the following paragraph; telephone 504-659-4171), or American Collegians for Life, Box 1112, Washington, D.C

Adult pro-life groups in your community or church would love to have your involvement. Getting involved with a group is the best way to participate in passing out leaflets, picketing your local abortion clinic, going to the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., and getting the pro-life messages on billboards, etc. Two such groups that will keep you involved in the pro-life movement are the American Life League, P.O. Box 1350, Stafford, VA 22554 and Human Life International, 7845 Airpark Road, Suite E. Gaithersburg, MD 20879.

5. Keep up with your congressmen and senators. Letters from young people expressing their views can have a surprising influence on them. If you need help with this, find active pro-life people who would be willing to help.

6. Finally, be a good friend --a friend who shows compassion and concern. If you have the opportunity to guide anyone contemplating having an abortion, offer that person all of the facts and warnings, and especially the alternatives to abortion. Make every effort to show her that this new life within her is fully human. It's very important to make sure that your pregnant friend sees that she has your support throughout her whole pregnancy There are many organizations out there to help women through a crisis pregnancy. There is probably one in your area or a community nearby. They offer counseling and even medical care. Maybe you could help your friend get hooked up with one. Just look in your Yellow Pages under "Abortion Alternatives."

You may be young, but don't be afraid to get involved. Do you hear the train, too?

Conclusion: Pro-Life Is Pro-Chastity

We view abortion as the worst tragedy occurring in our country today. It's certainly the greatest abuse of the beautiful gift that God has given to us in our sexuality. It's the end result of too many people turning their back on God and doing whatever the culture and their selfish desires encourage them to do. This is what ultimately results when we disobey God: unhappiness, stress, desperation, and even death (four thousand babies a day by abortion).

There is certainly a need to get the pro-life message out loud and clear. But there is another way to prevent the killing of thousands of innocent babies. It's to shout the pro-chastity message out loud and clear as well.

Think how many babies could be saved if couples waited to have sexual intercourse until marriage. The "choice" should be made before sexual intercourse, not afterward when someone else (a new life) is involved. The chastity message also tells us that sex is more than just a pleasure trip. Remember, the bond is so real that in nine months you might be able to give it a name. If people viewed sex as a life-uniting bond that is open to life, abortion would be completely eliminated. How could anyone destroy the symbol of their love for their spouse? It's worse than flushing their wedding rings down the toilet or burning their marriage certificate!

Let's get this pro-chastity message out. You (and your future spouse --if you get married) will benefit immeasurably. If we tell others, we can help them live happier lives as well. Together, if we all fight this battle we will make this world a better place --more like it is in heaven.