I can't remember exactly how old I was when I first learned what the word abortion meant, it just seems like something I've always been conscious of. That's not to say my mother told her young daughter every horrible, frightening detail of what that word stood for, of course not. But I knew from a young age that it meant killing little babies who were still growing inside their mommy's bellies, just like my baby brother. I didn't understand the reason for it, but I didn't need to. I knew it was wrong not just because my mum told me it was, but because I knew it was a sin to kill a person.
And that's exactly what an unborn fetus is: a person.
When I was about ten I remember watching EWTN one afternoon and during a break between programs a little girl around my age came on screen and said a prayer I'd never heard before. This was the prayer:
"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I love you very much. I beg you to spare the life of the unborn baby whom I have spiritually adopted who is in danger of abortion. Amen."
The girl went on to share a website* where you could spiritually adopt an unborn baby by pledging to say the above prayer everyday for nine consecutive months. Your baby had a birth date and there was even a place where you could give a name to the baby (or babies, twins) you were praying for to make it seem more personal. That year each of my siblings and I, along with our mum, adopted a baby to pray for. And coincidentally (although nothing is a coincidence for God) a close friend of ours found out she was expecting around that time and delivered her healthy little girl around the close of our nine month novena!
Saying that little prayer really left an impression upon me and I continued praying it continuously for years, understanding exactly the purpose in mind: saving babies! Why shouldn't children, who's prayers to Our Lord are the most innocently uttered, be told of this great tragedy taking place daily so that their prayers might help to end it?
Unfortunately, as people, we all make mistakes in life, but we should be the one's who pay the consequences for our own mistakes. It is terribly, terribly wrong to make other's take that blame, especially an innocent child who didn't ask to exist, but was given existence just like the rest of us. The solution is never to kill the child, regardless of how they came to be, because abortion kills not once, but twice. First the baby, then the mother.
Have you ever stopped and thought about the fact that you might never have been given the chance to live? It's kind of a strange feeling, isn't it? What about if someone you love had been aborted, never existed to you in your life at all?
One of my dearest friends was adopted when she was just a new born, adopted, not aborted.
One of my cousins found herself in an unplanned pregnancy and was informed her baby had a serious birth defect. When faced with a decision she chose to keep her little girl and although she lived only a couple months, brought much joy while she was here on earth.
Whenever I see an unmarried expectant mother I always admire her for her courage. She could easily have disposed of the "problem", but instead chose life for her and her baby.
Now as I've gotten older I have gradually learned just how evil the horror of abortion is, how tragic and despicable the act of murdering a baby in the womb. Why would a woman murder her own child? How could people claim that the developing infant in the womb wasn't even human? Did people really believe that lie to be the truth?
As a direct result of our depraved world that has shunned God, yes, tragically many people do believe it. Both men as well as women believe that human lives are worthless and disposable simply because they cannot do for themselves, speak for themselves, defend themselves.
That is why it is up to us to speak for the innocent victims. We must not be afraid to speak out boldly in defense of the unborn, in our governments and to those in power, in our cities and towns, our work places, even in our own families. We must defend the defenseless so that they too may live! We are the pro-life generation, and we know that...
Love
Saves
Lives.
Always,
~Emma
*This is not the original website I found the prayer for unborn babies on years ago, I don't believe that one exists any longer, but here is the link to a similar website: http://spiritualadoption.org/index.html
Please feel free to share your own thoughts and incites on this topic in the comments below, just make sure you keep them charitable towards others :)
