Today marks the 38th anniversary of Roe v Wade. I saw two very different articles today about this topic, one where President Obama affirmed the right to choice in a speech, and this horrific article about the abortion clinic in Pennsylvania that was recently raided and shut down by Federal authorities.
This day makes me very sad. The abortion issue is an intensely personal one for my family – and tonight I just had to say this much.
My heart breaks for women who feel they have no choice but to abort their babies – women who don’t have a support system or who are frightened or overwhelmed. My heart aches for women who feel alone. Sometimes I feel hopeless when facing something this big.
But in the back of my mind I have had this thought – I have the great and humbling privilege of having connections, through Facebook and this blog, to hundreds of women. So given that connection, I wanted to say…
If any of you, or any women you know, are facing an unplanned pregnancy, I want you to know I will help you. You are not alone. My family will personally sacrifice to enable you to parent, or we will stand with you if you make the choice to give your baby the option of life through adoption into a forever family.
It would be the joy of my life to give even one child life, and give one mom hope, through something as silly and mundane as a Facebook post.
So, given the things I have read today, I just had to try.
Let Hope Rise 
nicely put. I second that. this topic breaks my heart and sadly, most lean to this over adoption. adoption has made us parents through their selfless decision of life. and that is beautiful.
Jenna thank you for posting. It is so incredibly true. I think about my friends, so many of whom have adopted or desire to – and it breaks my heart that the enemy of our souls isolates and terrifies women to think this is their only option. My prayer is that they will just block out that voice and take the brave step of asking for help. There are so many redemptive beautiful alternatives that will eventually bless everyone – including the sweet brave mom. Thank you for posting! Your family is an amazing picture of the grace available to moms who make the choice to adopt.
after reading the article about the clinic in PA I sat and wept for that man, for the women who wondered in there, the horror they saw, the guilt and shame that followed them home. It has consumed me for the past week and part of me wishes I had never known evil like that existed in this world. I wept deep sorrowful tears for the mothers who thought the worse thing in their life at that very moment was the baby growing in their belly. I wept for the physician who had so little regard for life. I wept accepting that God looks at my sin the same way he looks at that man and the horror he has been a part of for years. I wept for the healing for these moms, physically, emotionally and spiritually. I wept and begged Jesus to come back today, tomorrow, quickly so this sickness and depravity will end. Some things I will never unsee, somethings I will never forget and somethings I just fee like I’m holding back the ocean. Impossible. How do I make a difference in this situation? I don’t know just yet, but I know Jesus does.
Jen,
Enroute through the comment’s section of a few blogs, I found your blog (isn’t great how the internet works?). I’m not a woman….I am a male nurse, though…and, the news story you had cited actually occurred near where I live in Pennsylvania. This post naturally resonated with me. I have a very strict stance against abortion…nowadays, based on articles like that, it’s easy to see that my stance is becoming more and more unpopular with each day.
Working in healthcare, I can say that the instances where abortion would even be necessary is very very rare: reserved for the worst of medical emergencies. I’ve come off as being un-empathetic to women, and I’d like to avoid coming off like that. I’ve ‘seen’ what women go through in all stages of the birthing process. I know I’ll never experience it myself (obviously…lol)…and, some would argue that I shouldn’t have as firm of an opinion as I do because of the fact that I’m not a woman.
Abortion, at least to me, in context of profession, comes off as being a tool of convenience sometimes. I’m not sure what to think of a society that will do what it does in the name of free choice. Interestingly enough, I’m surprised that abortion was essentially a non-issue in the last election.
I apologize if I was ‘too’ opinionated or out of place here. I really respect your blog post and what you are doing. I hope that women, in that position, will consider it.
Hi Howie –
Thank you for commenting. I don’t think you are too opinionated or out of place at all. In fact, I welcome your point of view from someone in your field (which by the way – is a field I admire and hope to someday enter). I think you are, unfortunately, correct in many cases. There are the desperate, but then there also are those who make decisions seemingly on convenience. And those break my heart as well. I think what women mistake for a simple choice will haunt them.
And we as a society don’t take it seriously enough – you are right – it was almost a nonissue in the last election. To think that a baby, voiceless and helpless, is at stake in all of these cases makes me sick at my stomach. We live in such a broken crazy world.
My hope is that maybe someday some woman would read this post and have a second thought, that turns into a conviction, that turns into resolve to not take the “convenient” option. The lie is that a woman is alone, having to face this unsupported. And that simply isn’t true. I know that my home, as well as the home of many many of my friends, would be completely open to both her and her baby.
Thank you again for commenting. Your opinions are always welcome here.
Jen
[…] hate abortion. I’ve written about it before. I hated it even before Roe, when it was done in the dark of night, when women were maimed in back […]
[…] Babies: I’ve addressed this many times before (here, here and here), and my views on abortion are clear. Abortion is terrible and we are all paying a […]
[…] Babies”: I’ve addressed this many times before (here, here and here), and my views on abortion are clear. Abortion is terrible and we are all paying a […]