It seems the world is a-twitter (literally and figuratively)
about Kate Middleton having a baby this July. Ah, we can almost hear the
pitter-patter of tiny feet in Buckingham Palace now. And Kim Kardashian, the
famous-for-being-famous reality show celebrity, has proudly displayed her “baby
bump” for the child she and rapper Kanye West are expecting, also in July.
What if someone were to approach lovely Kate, or
controversial Kim, and declare, “That’s not a baby you’re carrying. It’s only a
fetus!”?
We’d be appalled, maybe even incensed. How dare someone say
such an insensitive, uncaring thing? But every day, that’s what thousands of
women in fact are saying. Mrs. Prince William and Ms. Kardashian are still
early in their second trimesters, a time when many pregnant women choose to
abort their “fetuses.”
Recently many churches observed “Sanctity of Life Sunday.” The
40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision affirming
women’s rights to abortions was either celebrated or mourned, depending on
which side of the pro-choice/pro-life fence one stands on. Jan. 25, many
thousands participated in the annual “March for Life” in Washington, D.C. to
protest abortion.
Abortion proponents talk about a woman’s “reproductive
rights,” but what about the rights – or non-rights – of the unborn?
Following the elementary school shootings in Connecticut,
and during his second inaugural address, President Obama asserted his
commitment to the safety and protection of children. We envision bright,
shining faces of young ones and agree they are priceless resources. But what
about babies being aborted at all stages of pregnancy that never will see the
light of a single day?
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| Thankfully, our grandson's birth mother made the choice to let another couple adopt him. |
Well, what about pregnant women not wanting babies – don’t
they have rights? Yes, but they could exercise them in other ways. Celebrated
football player Tim Tebow and entertainer Justin Bieber are just two prominent
examples of could-have-been abortions. Instead, their mothers chose to keep them
rather than exerting the sterile-sounding right to “terminate a fetus.”
Another option is surrendering a baby for adoption. Across
America millions of women – and couples – desperately desire to have a child
but for various reasons, cannot. One of my daughters and her husband are an
example of that.
My grandson, Maclane, a two-year-old ball of energy they
adopted, is a delight. His addition to our family has been life-changing for us
all. What if his birth mother, instead of making him available for adoption,
had exercised her legal “choice” to abort him?
We can understand the inconvenience for a woman having to
dedicate nine months to the gestation of a baby she doesn’t want. But as we
express heartfelt concern for the welfare of children that succeeded in making
the passage from the womb to the world, how can we not have like compassion
for “fetuses” not yet ready for life outside the womb?
Psalm 139:14 states we are “fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know
that full well.” Pregnancies are not
accidents. They are part of God’s grand plan – if not for the birth mothers,
then for others that will have the opportunity to experience the joy of
parenting babies into toddlerhood, adolescence and beyond.
Somehow I think the line from the poem, “Sacred Emily,”
written by Gertrude Stein, applies here: “Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose.”
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