by Bonnie Finnerty, Education Director
Miracles never get old. And we are on the verge of one. A nine-month mystery will soon be revealed when we meet the grandchild we first learned about last spring.
We know not the gender nor the size nor the eye color, all determined from the very moment of conception. We know not the abilities, personality, or future of this life hidden from our view but just as alive as you and I.
We do know our amazing daughter has been busy doing what only women can do, something I described in another blog:
It is no small thing that we women are the life-bearers of the entire species. We alone can grow human beings in our bodies, craft a cerebral cortex, knit a network of veins, erect a skeletal system. We alone can nourish this life with a perfect food forged by our miraculous bodies. We literally make the men and women of tomorrow with our very own cells. Now that’s power. A power given no man.
But even as I marvel at this feminine super power, and celebrate its manifestation in our own daughter, I am cognizant of a sobering fact, one that is uncomfortable for me to even think about. Distressing for me to actually type. But it should be known.
In our country, even at this late stage of pregnancy, a woman can still legally abort her child. And her husband or boyfriend or family members would be powerless to do anything about it.
Under the facade of “reproductive health care,” fully-formed, pain-capable babies, just weeks, days, or even hours from birth can be put to death.
Some believe this only happens if the health of the mother is threatened. But health can be widely interpreted.
Doe v. Bolton, the companion case to Roe v. Wade, declared that the health of the mother may be “exercised in the light of all factors—physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman’s age—relevant to the well-being of the patient,” making abortion legal during all nine months of pregnancy and for reasons well beyond the life of the mother.
Some may think that late-term abortion is necessary to save a mother’s life.
But it is possible to save both lives. If the mother’s life is in jeopardy, a baby can be delivered pre-term and provided with life-saving care. There is no need to kill the child in utero to preserve the mother’s life. Dr. Kendra Kolb, a neonatologist, explains this thoroughly in a Live Action video.
Some may believe such late term abortions are extremely rare and thus negligible.
But that too is not true. Accounting for about 1% of all abortions, late term abortions claim several thousands lives each year, viable babies that deserve protection from invasive and violent tools of destruction.
As I wait in joyful anticipation of a precious newborn grandchild, I also wait with a hopeful heart that all eyes will be opened to the sanctity of preborn human life, so that it is protected in every circumstance. Every single life is a miracle to be celebrated, and miracles never get old.