Sweat poured down my back as I stood in front of the Planned Parenthood clinic holding a sign that said, “Children are a gift!” with a picture of a fetus coming out of a box in pretty wrapping. Some people honked their horns and gave us a thumbs-up sign. Other people gave us the finger. When anybody would pass us on the sidewalk, we would attempt to hand them a pro-life brochure. Most folks would accept them, while some proudly refused. This was our way of peacefully protesting the abortion, and closely-related contraception, business.
It all started after I viewed pictures of aborted fetuses online. Tiny blackened bodies tormented until they died by stinging, excruciating saline solutions. Bloodied appendages tossed together in trash bags. Decapitated, precious baby heads with beautiful yet blank unseeing eyes. I hated it with my whole being. I wept for an hour, my body trembling uncontrollably. I couldn’t speak a word to my husband, who sat there with me; I could only cry out, screaming my anguish. How could we let this happen?
The only thing I knew to do was what I mentioned earlier: I asked someone else to join me in peaceful protest. I donated items I no longer needed to the Community Pregnancy Center. I also decided that the mindset of death and rejection of children would not rule in my own heart; I, and my husband, chose to give full control of our family planning over to God.
Sometimes I feel guilty that I’m not doing more (I am no longer protesting on the sidewalk because of family-related responsibilities which interfered, and because that particular clinic closed its doors–praise God!). But then I always come back to this thought: if we were to live our lives in obedience to God’s Word individually, our actions would impact the whole of society collectively. We cannot ask society to do what we ourselves are unwilling to do. We cannot ask them to stop killing their children when we are unwilling to birth our own. Change must begin with us.
So I plunge on. It is hard to mother six children sometimes. Today they fought and argued like they’d all lost their minds. Selfish, foolish, uncontrolled. I must ask God for wisdom. I must be a good mother. I must not give up. And whenever He asks me to nurture another, I must be His willing servant.
Matthew 19:14
14 But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”
{Painting by David Bowman}
truthathome.wordpress.com 
Amen a thousand times.
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Thank you, Diana.
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Abortion is wrong, always wrong with NO exceptions and with no excuses. All who are involved including the women themselves (assuming that they are adults) are committing a criminal sin.
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I agree. No exceptions.
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I think that it is so important to make that a point of absolute principle that abortion should not be allowed under any circumstances. I understand how difficult that is in cases of rape, incest and where the viability of the child is marginal etc but God puts life in your womb for his purpose not always yours.
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Yes. Have you read Randy Alcorn’s book, Pro-Life Answers to Pro-Choice Questions? It’s very good, and it explains why it is actually BETTER for the mother who has been raped to keep her baby. It actually helps her triumph over her abuser; he took something precious from her, but out of it she produced something beautiful (a child) that he cannot ever take from her. If she were to have an abortion, than her victimhood would be aggravated: so, add to the guilt of rape (which of course was not her fault, but she feels guilt nonetheless) the guilt of murder; now, she is doubly traumatized. Women who have kept their babies testify that it helped them heal from what was done to them.
So I absolutely agree: “God puts life in your womb for his purpose not always yours.” Though God of course hates rape, a baby conceived through rape is just as special to Him as any other baby. It’s His way of making something beautiful out of something ugly.
Jessica
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I also have no doubt that the availability of abortion in cases of rape leads women to the conclusion that they should have one. But as you stay it turns an innocent victim into a murderer.
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Yes, I wonder what they might decide if presented with other choices? If instead of pressuring them to murder their children, other people would step in to help them care for those children? It’s easy enough to tell someone to get rid of a child; it’s much more involved to help them raise it. I think people aren’t really compassionate when they tell a woman to have an abortion: they’re just lazy, selfish, and self-centered. And, they’re letting the rapists in the world off easy. They should force the criminals to work to provide for the children they fathered; but, other people actually help to cover up their crimes by getting rid of the evidence (the child), and of not enforcing responsibility for the outcome of their actions (providing for that child and his/her mother).
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Sorry can I add that in the pro abortion feminist media you endlessly read criticism of countries who have a zero tolerance approach to abortion and to the injustice perpetuated on women and their accomplices who are imprisoned for having or aiding abortion. But to me regardless of the circumstances of her pregnancy an adult woman who murders her unborn child should be punished.
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Yes, Susanne, I agree that adding one crime to another does not make things right, it only deepens the hole.
Jessica
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So sadly to say this,but I know that christians or church-attending people also choose abortion as a ‘solution’ sometimes.
One of my relative found his wife at cathoric church when he was young.He had Buddihist background,but after grown up he started to go to the church.But after they got married,they stopped to attend church service.
I heard that they let their granddaughter enter cathoric school.She went there and got baptized later.After their daughter who got sickness divorced,they raised the girl.
I wondered why they insisted to let their granddaughter to go to cathoric school,though they did not go to church anymore.
My mother told me that when they were young married couple,they went abortion several times,because of poverty. When I heard this,I understood why they left church even they do not abandon their faith completely.
They had taken care of their sick daughter who can not walk without support for many years,loved her daughter.Their affectionate attitude to daughter and granddaughter,kindness to other people impressed me so much everytime when I went their home.
Now I feel that their affection and sincere care might be a kind of expression of their repentance to their babies who could not be born.
My relative died several years ago.
Jessica,I hope to pray for christians who chose abortion by their own will for repentance.
God never forgot aborted children.And they also left indelible trace to their parents,I think.
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What a heart-rending story, Sanae! So, so sad. But yes, we should all pray for those who have had abortions, that they would repent and seek God’s forgiveness and healing. And you’re absolutely right: God never forgets those children; In fact, they are in heaven with Him right now.
Jessica
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Hey there! First of all let me say, I am a fan of your blog. It’s helping me navigate through a lot of questions during this changing time of my life. I was just reading through some comments on here though, and was a bit surprised. I believe firmly it is a terrible sin to abort a baby. What took me by surprise though is the hostility towards women who have done it. Where is the grace? If a woman who had an abortion came and told you her story, whatever it may be, would you tell her that she did something terrible and walk away? I think Jesus would offer more grace. Especially considering how traumatizing an event like that is in itself. I just think that some of the comments on here could have been more rooted in love, rather than disgust.
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Hi Priscilla!
I’m so glad to hear that you enjoy my blog!
Thank you for your concern that the comments on this post may be unbalanced, and for attempting to correct that imbalance. I agree with you that we must offer grace and love to others who have made disastrous choices. I myself made some horrible choices in my early years, and I am very grateful for the grace and love that other people showed me, and continue to show me, despite my errors.
Of course I would never tell a woman who had an abortion that she had done something terrible and walk away! However, I would like to point out that the comments on this post represent a limited conversation that obviously does not attempt to cover all aspects of the issue because we are choosing for the moment to focus on one of the aspects, that of the wrongness of abortion. Maybe in another post I will focus on the healing that comes through Jesus. I read through all the comments again, and I did not see the hostility or disgust that you feel are present; I only saw a straightforward observation of the facts.
On this issue, it is easy to become imbalanced, it is true. And yet, I do think that while it is appropriate to show grace and love, it is also appropriate to look sin in the face, and say things like, “abortion is a crime,” and “those who go through with it are criminals, including the mother herself.” Harsh things to say, for sure–but true! I think that a recognition of the disgustingness of sin must always be a prelude to repentance for that sin; how can we repent of something we don’t consider that horrible?
If we were to address this issue from a different perspective, we might have more clarity. Let me give you an example: If I were to take my sweet 9-month old out back and brutally hack her to pieces with a kitchen knife until she died, what would happen? (Of course I would NEVER do that, NOT EVER!) Society would be in an outrage! My neighbors would call the police, and I would be sent to jail to await my sentence. My family would be so shocked and devastated they wouldn’t know how to even speak to me anymore. The media would condemn me as a murderer and a crazy, demented person. And…they would be right to do so. They wouldn’t care for excuses like, “I was so upset over my husband not wanting another child I thought this would make him happy with me,” or “I couldn’t fathom how I would care for this child in addition to my other children,” or “my mother pressured me into it, because she didn’t want to see my life ruined,” etc. If the scenario were enlarged to show a mother killing her already-born 9-month old baby, instead of her consenting to have her still-in-the-womb 4-month old baby killed, we might look at things with more “disgust” and “hostility.”
I want to put out there that it’s OKAY to see crimes for what they are. It doesn’t mean we don’t have love; in fact, it may indicate that we have SO MUCH love for others (and for God’s morals) that we refuse to minimize the crime for the sake of protecting their feelings. For, if we were to do so, they might not ever come to that place of seeing their need for repentance. And, we might not ever come to that place of defending all the hacked-to-pieces babies like they deserve.
So yes, we must have both: love and forgiveness–for sure!–and also a straightforward condemnation of crime.
Thank you so much for your boldness and honesty! Believe me that I love to get such sincere comments. Your concerns are valid, and I will consider posting on the healing and incredible kindness that Jesus offers to those who admit their sins and seek His forgiveness! Having experienced that amazing grace in my own life, I can heartily agree with you how important it is to emphasize that part of it, too!
Jessica
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I completely agree I can never understand why it is accepted that a women who murders or aids in the murder of a born child should be punished but a woman who allows the murder of her unborn child should not be. Unless she is a child or mentally incapacitated in some way she is responsible and should be punished.
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It is very inconsistent, isn’t it.
Jessica
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Definitely, I don’t think that we should minimize it either. It’s just the verbage on some of these comments that I think are a bit, well, unloving. Haha. Which you and I may disagree with, and that’s fine. I do appreciate you taking the time to reply to my comment and I’m eagerly reading your new posts!
God has done some great things in my life. Right now, I feel He’s teaching me how to rest in Him, like Mary did. I’m always trying to be Martha and do, do, do, to what end I’m not sure. Haha. It just makes me feel good I guess. One of the reasons I was so passionate in my comment is that resting in that amazing grace of His has been a huge theme in my life lately. There are a lot of things that I personally need to heal from, from my own decisions to those of others that ended up harming me, and that seems the way God wants me to do it. I do apologize if I came off too strongly, I didn’t mean to.
Anyway. I pray the best for you and your family. I’m keeping an eye out for your new posts!
Love in Christ!
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Dear Priscilla,
I loved reading your warm-hearted comment! Thank you for sharing some of your own personal journey. I have to say that I’m going through much the same thing: I too am learning to rest in Jesus, and trust that He has it all in His hands.
It helps to hear what other people are experiencing; because when we do, we often find out that God is working in our lives in similar ways, which is very encouraging!
Thanks a bunch!
Jessica
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You have absolutely the attitude God expects of us as women. We should welcome the blessing of children in our wombs and care for those already here. To prevent pregnancy by artificial means is a sin.
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I think increasingly Christian women of all shades of faith and denominations are coming to realise that the feminist culture of contraception is wrong.
It’s worth remembering that until the 1930′ ALL Christian Churches preached that birth control was a sin and I find it hard to believe that any woman, of any faith who seeks to follow God could come to any other conclusion.
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I really like the painting. Who’s the artist?
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Hi, Penny,
I really like it, too! Here’s a link to the artist’s website:
http://davidbowmanart.com/eoc/precious/
Thanks for your interest!
~Jessica
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