Isn’t it amazing how the words we choose can give something power and validity or take it away? The words “Pro-Choice” have taken the sting out of the reality of abortion.  The movement online to change the wording to remind us what is really is going on can take many directions.  But I love the saying “Save the Baby Humans” because it is truly what we are doing.  It’s become increasingly public the awareness that abortion ends life.  In the courts, and in the scriptures, ending someone else’s life is called murder.  Why isn’t it given that word with babies?

Did you know that in Mongolia and China, the day you are born you are 9 months old?  They begin counting your age at conception.  These other cultures recognize what some Americans don’t.  They acknowledge that life begins at the moment of conception.  It is now documented that within a few days of a baby’s development, of his or her life, the heart is beating.  And within a few short weeks every organ is formed and the nervous system is intact.  And yet we are allowing the termination of these tiny little souls.  And we give it a distant name, and it dulls the impact of what we are really doing.

Abortion frustrates the plan of God to give each of his Spirit children a body and a chance to learn how to use that body.  When we remember why we are really here on Earth, abortion becomes offensive on a whole new level.  I heard a critic on Facebook recently who said that abortion was better than having so many children going hungry or living in poverty, that we can’t care for.  That just sounded sadistic and wrong to me.

Recently there have been videos in the media showing someone from Planned Parenthood discussing the price of human body parts- human parts harvested from aborted babies.  So many have called for the de-funding of Planned Parenthood as a result that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, has resigned.  This battle is changing the face of national leadership.  And I personally hope that when the smoke clears the reason this all started- defending a human life- won’t be forgotten.

Matt Chandler Speaks Up

I’ve recently stumbled across a video on Facebook.  It’s a talk by Matt Chandler, a minister who makes a compelling argument against abortion.  His sermon was moving.

In his sermon he says

“When Roe v. Wade was passed in 1973, there was no 3D sonogram. There was no ability to watch our babies smile at us before they were born. By eight weeks… That’s not even the first trimester. Your wife is probably still throwing up. At eight weeks, babies will suck their thumbs. We see they respond to sound. There is evidence building that they’re dreaming (while in the womb). Here’s a crazy one. Are you ready for this one? They recoil from pain. What the ability to do sonograms has shown us is when doctors need to draw blood or take a sample and they stick a needle up there to do that, the baby at eight weeks will pull its heel up, will pull back in away from the needle.

Why? Because at eight weeks, all major organs are functioning, which means you have a nervous system that’s developed, and you have a brain that receives signals that “that hurts!”  We see the heart is pumping. The liver is making blood cells. The kidneys are clearing fluids, and there’s a fingerprint. By 21 weeks, a baby, with just a little bit of help, can live outside the womb. Twenty-one weeks! Listen to me. Nearly all of the 1 million abortions committed in the Western world last year were performed after this period of time.”

We need Better Adoption Services

So what are we going to do with all the babies born who might otherwise have been murdered?  I have a solution for that too.  Do you have any idea how many women are struggling with infertility?

Unfortunately the numbers rise every year.  And the cost of infertility treatments rises right along with them.  But if we were blessed with all the millions of souls who would otherwise be aborted, things could change dramatically.  Adoption is currently crazy expensive, and incredibly difficult.  There are more potential parents than there are adoptable children.  However the process can be corrected, adjusted, and expanded.  Every child deserves a home.  Every child deserves the right to life.  It’s not their fault if we adults may not be “ready” to be parents.

I went through years of fighting infertility.  And do you know what I learned?  God is absolutely 100% in charge of who is born when, where, and to whom.  If you are pregnant, God allowed it.  He never makes mistakes, so He sees potential good from this event in your life.  I have a sweet little niece who was born when her parents weren’t expecting her.  But I’m forever thankful that she didn’t become one of the millions who are aborted every year.  She has been a huge blessing to our family.  She helped her dad grow up in a thousand little ways.  And what may have once been a surprise or an “inconvenience” has turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to him.

I think if you talk to most parents they will share a similar story.  I also know that when I finally was blessed with impending motherhood, I was scared out of my wits.  I worried I wouldn’t be a good mother, that it would be more than I could handle. I worried I’d mess up motherhood and this perfect little soul would be held back by my mismanagement.  These are normal feelings that everyone has. But those feelings don’t justify murder.  Pregnancy is not something  to back out of.

Stem Cell Research Isn’t What You Think

The bargaining over body parts by Planned Parenthood was, they claimed, for medical research.  But the medical community doesn’t use aborted babies for research nearly as much as some would have you believe.  According to the American Medical Association: Adult stem cells can be removed from adult tissues with little harmful effect on the individual, while embryonic stem cells are derived from multi cellular embryos that have been cultured in the laboratory.  Numerous regulatory and ethical constraints exist for the use of embryos in research. There is also a limited number of human embryonic cell lines available for research that meet all criteria for federal funding, but many scientists remain skeptical over the quality of these cells.

So if science doesn’t see the need for aborted fetal tissue, or trust the quality of the samples, then Planned Parenthood has no valid reason for arguing that what they are doing is to advance science. Further, there are those adult stem cells.  They have been found in the brain, blood, muscle, skin and bone.  In fact, there is currently a treatment for severe burns called the skin gun.  From Wikipedia:

The Skin Gun is a medical device that sprays a patient‘s own self-donated stem cells to treat burns and other wounds. The skin gun is used in conjunction with a technique that isolates adult stem cells from a postage stamp-sized sample of the patient’s own skin for application to the wound site, where they differentiate into normal skin. This treatment can replace conventional methods of treating severe wounds, such as skin grafting. Studies demonstrate that damaged skin tissue regenerates after skin gun treatment significantly more quickly than after traditional treatment methods.

Did you know that aborted fetal tissue is only one of six sources for stem cells?  With this information, we can no longer quiet our consciences by arguing that stem cells are the reason to allow elective abortions to continue.

Whose Lives Would We Save?

Andrea Bocelli is a classical tenor with an amazing voice.  He is one of my favorite singers of all time. When his mother was pregnant with him, she was advised to abort her baby.  She chose life — and she saved Andrea’s life in the process.  Without her singular decision we would never have heard him sing.  He is amazing.  How many other great talents have we never enjoyed because they were never given the chance?

Just Because Life isn’t Perfect, doesn’t Mean it’s Not Worth It.

The Old Testament is full of stories of individuals born into less than ideal circumstances.  And yet their experiences were worthy of reflection for all time.  Let’s consider Moses and his early life. Moses grew up in difficult times. At the time Moses was born, Pharaoh had declared that every Hebrew male infant in Egypt should be cast into the river. But Moses’ parents desperately wanted to rescue him from such a fate.

The scriptures record, “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, … and [his parents] were not afraid of the king’s commandment.” In an April 2002 talk Robert D. Hales said:

“When Moses grew too old to be concealed, his mother, Jochebed, constructed an ingenious basket of bulrushes, waterproofed it with slime and pitch, and placed her son inside. She directed the tiny vessel down the river to a safe place—to where the pharaoh’s daughter bathed.

Leaving nothing to chance, Jochebed also sent along an inspired helper, her daughter Miriam, to keep watch. When Pharaoh’s daughter, the princess, found the baby, Miriam bravely offered to call a Hebrew nurse. That nurse was Jochebed, Moses’ mother.

Because of her faithfulness, Moses’ life was spared. In time he learned who he really was, and he “forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king.”

(Also See Exodus 6)

To read more of Patty’s articles, click here.

We are each children of a loving, perfect God, who doesn’t make mistakes.  Instead of looking at abortion as a woman’s choice, we need to remember that God is involved in this baby’s development. Every baby is a living soul.  And they have a right to life.  It’s not right to end a life, even before its first breath.  And remember this isn’t a decision that can ever be taken back… No matter how you phrase it.

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