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Pro-life – A Personal Story

Normally this blog is about worship related topics, so why I writing about this topic? I have been very troubled in recent days with the direction of our country in many ways, but most recently in the area of how our citizens are treating the most vulnerable among us: the unborn. Recently passed laws passed allow late term abortion in 7 states as I understand, resulting in what most conservatives would call infanticide. This is all being done in the name of “reproductive health.” I also believe that worship is not only expressing our love for God: is how we live our lives (Rom. 12:1-2), call for justice (Zech. 7:9), protect the innocent (Isa. 1:17), and pray for those to need to know Christ (1 Tim. 2:1-6).

This topic is also very personal to me, as I believe that my family has come across two choices where others might have chosen to abort. I understand that my position on this issue may be very different from other even conservatives. It is shaped in some ways by a true story about my family. My great-grandmother was raped by an acquaintance, and my grandfather was conceived as a result of this violent act. This was around 1899, and while abortion was not as widespread as it was today, there were ways of “taking care” of an unwanted pregnancy at that time. While my grandfather’s life was challenging as a result of a difficult family life, I know that her choice to keep her baby was the right one, as I wouldn’t be here today had she made a different “choice.”

The second “choice” that affected my family was during one of my wife’s pregnancies. While she was pregnant with our 5th child, an ultrasound revealed that our baby had only two blood vessels in the umbilical cord (instead of the normal three). This was considered an increased risk for chromosomal abnormalities such as Down syndrome, and other potential birth defects. The doctor somberly informed us that we could talk about “options” at our next visit. While he didn’t specifically state abortion, it was clear that this was a viable (and probably even recommended) option for us. After all, why would you want to bring a child into the world with a physical disability that could make life difficult for them and for you? Surely, you would want to take care of this “problem” before it became a much bigger problem.

We didn’t have to wait until the next visit to give him an answer. We chose life. Of course we would not kill our baby on the outside chance that something might be physically challenging. He was born, and had a great bill of health. I can’t imagine not having him as a part of our family.

There was no choice: we were pro-life. We are pro-life because of the source of life–God himself. How could we reject the gift that He had given to us, even if something appeared “wrong”? The scripture is clear on this subject.

One of my favorite passages is Psalm 139, written to the director of music. Verses 13-17 say:

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!

Let us pray and work to champion both life and the Giver of life.

6 comments to Pro-life – A Personal Story

  • Michael Redmond

    Thank you Dr. O for sharing that piece of your Life. Human life is sacred and it is hard to imagine that many in this world believe that sometimes aborting is the best option for everyone. Abortion is never an option. In high school I had a friend who got pregnant and she came to me to ask me what to do. I was so frozen in shock that day that I told her I did not know how to helper. I did tell her that I thought sh should keep it, but I must say that I was not very convincing. The next day she came to me and told me that she’d taken a pill to take care of it. My indecisiveness in answering and fighting for that baby will haunt me. I never want to make that mistake again. I will always choose life, no matter what.

  • Troy Coates

    How true that is. And this article from DesiringGod.com contains some powerful statements from doctors and women who say that abortion in term doesn’t even promote the health of the woman like they are saying. It is “purely for convenience” (Dr. David McKnight).

    We cannot, however, approach these women and their children with hatred, pointed questions, and rash accusations. That will just create more tension and hatred.

    Instead, we must get to know these women. We must provide answers AND values that promote hope, life, and love. Hope in salvation, whether it be from temporary or eternal suffering, will always provide a different perspective for people. The preciousness of life and the gift that it is must be proclaimed s that not only the child’s life may be promoted, but also the life of the woman. And finally, love must be shown to overcome the hurt, fear, and defensiveness that exists in such situations.

    We must continue to pray and go to the Word in all that we do so that we may exalt Christ for all the world to see.

    • Mary Williams

      Troy, I cannot agree more with your statement: “We must get to know these women.”

      Many conservatives have the right ideas and desire to stop this atrocity, but I feel as many of us go about it the wrong way. Politically, our conservative votes aren’t helping much. Rants on FB don’t help whatsoever. I feel as though a lot of Christians don’t necessarily know what to do to help this national crisis.

      In my experience, the best way to make a difference with this issue is to make personal relationships with women. Get to know them. Be a person in their life that they respect enough to talk about hard things with. Ask them questions, show that you care. I obviously don’t have all the answers and this isn’t a fool-proof solution to the abortion problem. Rather, its a little arrow that can ultimately point these women towards Christ.

      I know of stories like Michael’s where people have approached members of my family with hard circumstances, sometimes even asking their opinion if they should get an abortion. I found that many of people in the secular college I attended before Cedarville just wanted to talk about the issue. They wanted to know why I was against abortion, which was a good conversation starter.

      Last night my older brother did the “Unplanned challenge” and took a pro-choice friend to see the movie Unplanned. Afterwards, the challenge is to talk over the movie with the friend and see what they thought. My brother did this and said that his friend was “a little less sure” of what they believed about abortion.

      It’s the little one-on-one conversations with people that we have that can help the national fight against abortion.

  • Macy McClain

    As I was reading this post, I kept thinking about Psalm 139. I think that is probably the best passage of Scripture to counteract arguments against abortion. Of course, I know that people can make their own decisions. But it still breaks my heart that they would choose to end life, especially if the unborn had some sort of disability or other problem. I always wonder if my parents knew that I had a disability when I was conceived if they would have still kept me around. Regardless, I’m glad they did, and I’m glad you’re here to be a living testimony of grace and mercy!
    Abortion really isn’t something that’s talked about in churches, at least the ones I’ve attended. If it’s been discussed, it’s been a gloss over typeI of issue. Instead of talking about it, let’s do something about it. We can pray, but I feel like prayer is meaningless unless some sort of action is required. Every small thing helps; we can’t change the world in one day. This was a good post and a great reminder to us all. Thank you for sharing!

  • Don Moore

    Roger: Your mom told me about this blog. Looked it up and it was powerful. Will check in from time to time.

    I recently taught the S.S. lesson on abortion. I really sensed the Lord’s favor on what I did. Maybe, a few more people are waking up to this unbelievable evil that has legal approval in the USA, but certainly not in heaven. “Their faces are always before the Lord beholding His face….”

    The same power that emboldened Hitler to exterminate the Jews has emboldened our culture, in general, to approve of a more egregious and hideous evil. Wow! You wonder how God will deal with this in eternity.

    Uncle Don