Abortion---compassion?

The vast majority of abortions in this country are by single, young women. Why are they there? Women do not, as a rule, visit prostitutes or do pornography. Generally it is an empty heart, a soul parched and thirsty for love. Vulnerable because of incomplete parenting, unfulfilled, longing for emotional intimacy---and confusing physical for it.

She stands up the street, staring at the clinic. What thoughts go through her head? "I WANNA KILL MY BABY!" No. Nothing like that. It's something much more akin to pure, stark-raving, TERROR. "MY LIFE IS OVER! I'M MARKED! I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DEAL! WHAT DO I DO!!! I WANNA GET BACK TO WHERE I WAS!!! BEFORE!!!!!!!

Before.

There is no logic or rational thinking. She only wants, "before". She sets her jaw. Rationalization is in full swing. "It's not REALLY a baby, not yet. It's only a medical procedure. No one will know. It'll get me back---back to before..."

It's the day after. There is a great emptiness in her heart. It won't go away. She doesn't know why. The medical industry has a name for it: "Post-abortion-stress-syndrome". Possibly chemical in nature. But that's not what she feels. She gets up in the morning, goes to work or school. Robotically. Maybe in time the hurt will go away.

It's a year later. She's put it behind her. She's walking through the mall, wondering if that cute pants-suit is still there. A baby cries. She freezes. Her chin quivers, tears pool in her eyes.

She has realized by now, the awful truth...

There IS no BEFORE. Not now. Not, after. Never again.

There is a hole in her soul... If only they had TOLD her it would be this way. She would never have, would never have, never...

"OH GOD!!!! WHAT HAVE I DONE?!?!?!?!?!"

Panic and desperation. These are the steps to an abortion clinic. Yes the clinics are profiteers, making millions off of tiny faces, little fingers and toes. A million and a half small voices silenced forever. For money. But for the girls that go there, in their heads shouts a cacophony of voices, screaming a dozend different things, all at once. This was not what she wanted. Not where she wanted to be.

Does it do any good to stand around a clinic, screaming, "MURDERER!"?

The world is full of pain. Pain that comes as the result of sin. The only answer to pain, is love. This is our command, to love them, to share the Author of love with them.

I have not always had compassion towards those who had abortions. It was a post much like this one, that let me look through their eyes. And I understand, they need love. If only we can reach them, BEFORE. Before they close the door, before it becomes, "AFTER".

Far better to know that part-of-your-soul is OUT THERE, somewhere. Growing, being loved. Far better to see a stroller on the sidewalk, and smile---KNOWING that somewhere, somplace, there is another stroller---and in THAT stroller, a baby sits, smiling...

You're describing a substantial number of people very accurately, but remember that all generalizations are false.

Still... You have caught one of the core undercurrents of the problem.

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. I affirm the Nicene Creed.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. -- Romans 8:38-39

A nice post, and very true in a lot of situations.

I think just as likely is this scenario:

Husband, wife, 3 or 4 kids.
Money is tight, nothing left over after paying the bills and buying groceries.
Wife accidentally gets pregnant, and panic sets in.
They've got just enough room on their credit card to pay for an abortion.
After much rationalization and justification, they make the appointment and get it done.


....A few of years pass by, and woops it happens again.

You all have warm hearts but you have to peel away the fluff and get down to the very root of the argument. Abortion is killing an innocent baby, therefore wrong.

I feel very sorry for the poor women who have babies and are so young, but there are thousands upon thousands of people who have been on a waiting list for YEARS to adopt a baby.

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“Usually, even a non-Christian knows something about the earth, the heavens, and the other elements of this world, about the motion and orbit of the stars and even their size and relative positions, about the predictable eclipses of the sun and moon, the cycles of the years and the seasons, about the kinds of animals, shrubs, stones, and so forth, and this knowledge he hold to as being certain from reason and experience. Now, it is a disgraceful and dangerous thing for an infidel to hear a Christian, presumably giving the meaning of Holy Scripture, talking nonsense on these topics; and we should take all means to prevent such an embarrassing situation, in which people show up vast ignorance in a Christian and laugh it to scorn.”

- St. Augustine

Some kind of post-abortive syndrome isn't as common as people think - I worked with a good bit of girls who had abortions as an intern from a college. My findings were that about 1 in 4 had some kind of guilt involved. The others were sorry it was done, but they didn't beat themselves over because of it. They were there to see me for other reasons, including the reasons that led up to their abortion in the first place.

Do I think abortion is wrong? I tihnk it is. Is it a sin? I cannot say with certainty, although my personal BELIEF is that the fetus "counts" as a human.

I DO think that the Christian base who will say they're terribly against it in the church should be out working one-on-one with these girls, both at prevention before they get pregnant and in talking to them after they get pregnant, and even after they have an abortion. It's up to us as individuals to take care of our young women. Period.

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"Me winning isn't important. You do."

Did you miss my point? About her KNOWING, that somewhere, HER baby sits in a similar stroller, SMILING?

Early in my listening to Dr. Laura, she completely won my heart. A woman had called, her daughter was pregnant. Unmarried, college student. "You're afraid her-having-the-baby will ruin her academic career?" Dr. Laura asked. "Yes!" she responded. "So you just want the quick end, to insure that your daughter will get her degree, and proceed with her life." "Exactly!"

"You would rather, for CONVENIENCE, have your grandchild cut to PIECES and thrown in the TRASH, than to know he's out there somewhere being LOVED and RAISED. I don't understand that view at all. I find it disgusting, repulsive, and, frankly, I just don't have time for you any more."

---click!---

"Hello, I'm Dr. Laura, welcome to the program! What's your question?"

I liked it!
I'm betting if you had followed those cases longer, the incidence of guilt would have been higher. Teenagers and early 20s do not have a great amount of maturity. With maturity comes critical thinking, and reflection on their pasts... Touche'! Women do not engage in promiscuity with the intent of having an abortion. It's always for deeper reasons---insecurity and needing-to-be-loved mostly. Pain begets even more pain...

This was exactly my point---we are to love them, to share Jesus with them---the One who can HEAL their broken hearts...

Kick back, bro. I'm agreeing with you.

Sheesh.

I think I'd rather know my baby was alive than spend the rest of my life thinking, "I wonder what the baby would have grown up to be had I not had it killed."

__________________
“Usually, even a non-Christian knows something about the earth, the heavens, and the other elements of this world, about the motion and orbit of the stars and even their size and relative positions, about the predictable eclipses of the sun and moon, the cycles of the years and the seasons, about the kinds of animals, shrubs, stones, and so forth, and this knowledge he hold to as being certain from reason and experience. Now, it is a disgraceful and dangerous thing for an infidel to hear a Christian, presumably giving the meaning of Holy Scripture, talking nonsense on these topics; and we should take all means to prevent such an embarrassing situation, in which people show up vast ignorance in a Christian and laugh it to scorn.”

- St. Augustine

For the record, Laura isn't a "real" doctor of counseling - among the counseling profession, she's seen as a sham. What she does is hurtful to those who need real help, and from the several times I've heard, she misses the mark completely as far as her tone, demeanor, and such. Part of counseling, Christian or otherwise, is an idea called "unconditional positive regard," where you value and love your client where they understand and feel that value and worth - "Dr." Laura doesn't show that at all.

SEC

Absolutely every woman I know that has gotten an abortion was pressured by someone else to get one. Out of the more than two dozen women, not one of them went to the abortion clinic on her own accord, but only after being pressured by a boyfriend, mother, father, husband, aunt, best friend, etc.

One woman I know was engaged to be married and got pregnant accidently, about a year before the wedding date. Instead of her mother saying, "Well, let's just move the date up and have the wedding now," she said, "This will ruin all our plans! We've already made all the arrangements and I'm not letting all that go to waste! This will ruin your life if you don't get to have a fairytale wedding!" And she drove her daughter 22 years old, to the clinic and told her she wasn't allowed to come home until she had it done.

One woman I know was 19 when she got pregnant. Her boyfriend said, "I am rushing sigma chi this year. It will be great for my career, but I can't do it if I am married. It'll ruin my greek experience. You have to have an abortion." She really wanted to have the baby, but her mother, a Christian, also discouraged her from having the baby because she didn't want to be financially responsible for it, so Tracy had an abortion. She cried for 13 years and never had any other children.

Finally, a man I know pressured his own wife into an abortion because he thought having a baby at that time would hinder his career, as a pastor, if you can believe it.

Abortion isn't really about women's choice. It's about getting rid of inconvenience.

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Carry only love. Hate is a burden that is tremendously heavy.

If you want to live like Jesus, love your enemies and give up your life for them.