Forty years ago today, in January 1973, the Rowe
v Wade Supreme Court decision made abortions legal in the United
States. Unfortunately, this was
not the beginning of widespread abortions being performed - they had been done
for years, not only in backstreet alleys, but also in respected hospitals by
respected doctors. While the lawyers for Rowe and
Wade were debating and preparing their court cases, another young girl was
struggling with this decision, probably unaware of the battle raging over the
subject. In September 1972, in a
small town in Iowa, this young girl found out that she was six months
pregnant. She was seventeen. She was a good girl in a good family in
a good town - the kind of girl that these things don’t happen to. It would be very easy to make this
problem go away. No one would
know.
She did not want to have an abortion. Her doctor was pressuring her to have
this simple medical procedure done, even though she was in her third
trimester. Her parents stood by,
not really offering much support, thinking how nice it would be not to have to
deal with this problem. In spite
of the "pro-choice" lingo now used by activists, she did not feel
that she had a choice. Then, a
caring couple made a difference.
Her minister and his wife visited the home for pregnant girls where she
had been sent, gave her money, and did everything they could to talk her out of
aborting her baby. They even found
a Christian couple who would adopt the baby and give the baby a good home. They persuaded her. While justices debated in Washington, a
baby girl was born in Iowa, two weeks before the Supreme Court reached its
decision.
You hear often about the mothers who are considering
abortion. Whether they decide to
have the baby or to abort it, to keep it or to give it up for adoption, their
lives are changed from that point on, and they must suffer the consequences of
decisions they have made. The
voices you do not often hear are those of the children.
Another writer tonight pointed out:
Here’s the thing. We talk about children all the time in this country. Politicians use children as props to promote their causes (gun control, education, national debt). But you’ll notice that when a politician wants to discuss abortion, he puts a woman on stage and not a child.
You’ll never find children on the stage of a pro-abortion discussion. It’s a whole lot harder to talk about abortion when you’re looking at children instead of statistics. (http://www.purposefulhomemaking.com/2013/01/i-should-have-been-aborted-personal.html)
The children who are aborted are never
given a voice. But the baby in this story?
I just turned 40.
Save the Child (by Jay Banks)
A tiny form
A child at conception
A new beginning starts
A tiny beating heart
The love and hope of two now blossoms into one.
Tiny hands
Forming to perfection
Such a grand display
Stronger every day
The breath of life that all men cherish Has now begun.
But there’s a tear in this little one’s eye
For very soon this little one will die.
Save the child.
Save the child.
If you really care you’ll do what you can do.
Save the child.
Please, save the child.
Would it make a difference if that child were you?
Save the child.
Inside the womb
A wonder of creation
No human hands can form
This human being born
A pure reflection of God’s image and His love.
The child moves
A mother’s sweet sensation
And nothing can describe
The joy that lives inside
This precious life sustained and given from God above.
But before this child draws his first breath
He is tried and sentenced to death.
Save the child. Save the child.
If you really care you’ll do what you can do.
Save the child. Please, save the child.
Would it make a difference if that child were you?
Save the child.