Life is Truly a Miracle

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.

Let’s Respond to the Hatred of Late-Term Abortions with Love

sleeping baby

 By Maria V. Gallagher, Legislative Director

The headlines happen to be filled with hatred for humanity this week.

One news story notes that the Governor of North Carolina has vetoed a bill to stop infanticide.

Another breaks the news that a Presidential candidate, Democrat Pete Buttigieg, defends abortions up to birth, calling it “a personal decision.”

It seems horrific enough that Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision which legalized abortion, has led to abortions during all nine months of pregnancy. But the fact that politicians are defending the practice seems incomprehensible.

Make no mistake–late-term abortions and infanticide are vile hate crimes against both mother and child. They are brutal, ghastly, and painful–and should not be permitted in a civilized society.

How can we respond to these atrocities? What can we say when a candidate dismisses late-term abortion as just another choice, as if it were as simple as asking for more caramel in your latte?

We can begin by contemplating the words of slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, who famously stated, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

We must respond to the darkness and despair of abortion and infanticide with the light of life-giving options. We need to redouble our efforts to reach out to pregnant women facing challenging circumstances. We must recommit ourselves to educating people about the painful truths about abortion and infanticide.

We need to show public officials how deep and how wide our love is for preborn babies and their mothers and fathers. We need to gently but courageously remind candidates of this fundamental truth: all human life is precious and deserves protection, no matter what the circumstances.

We need, in the end, to demonstrate why pro-life is indeed pro-love.

 

21st Century Progress Could Mean End to Abortion

By Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director
gallagher@paprolife.org

The Millennial Generation has grown up with an explosion of technology — the expansion of the Internet, the invention of the iPhone, the birth of social media, the advent of Skype.

Unborn baby pictureBut the 21st century could also be known as a time of great progress against abortion.

Real limits have been placed on abortion, thanks to the passage of the partial-birth abortion ban at the national level, late-term abortion bans, dismemberment abortion bans, and other legislation at the state level.

The Guttmacher Institute, the former research arm of Planned Parenthood, reports that abortion rates are at their lowest level since 1973, the year Roe v. Wade became the law of the land. The most recent recorded rate is 16.9 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44, well below the record high of 29.3 per 1,000 women in 1981.

It’s been estimated that more than 3,500 pregnancy help centers are now in operation across the U.S. and, as the pro-abortion lobbying group NARAL ruefully notes, these centers vastly outnumber abortion facilities. Pregnancy centers provide comprehensive counseling and assistance to women facing unexpected pregnancies, offering everything from diapers to day care referrals. Women have even been known to request that pregnancy center volunteers serve as their companions during the birthing process.

Students for Life groups have grown exponentially on college campuses, and March for Life attendance has been boosted by the throngs of high school and college students who descend on Washington, D.C. each January 22.

4D ultrasound pictures have become prominent on Facebook and Twitter pages, websites and blogs. The humanity of the unborn child has been well-documented in these social media images.

Certainly, much work remains in making abortion unthinkable. More than 57 million Americans have died from legal abortion since it began nationwide in 1973. Pro-abortion groups continue their national assault on the rights of preborn children, while failing to recognize the devastation abortion has caused for generations of women.

Still, in just the first two decades of the 21st century, much headway has been made in scaling back abortion on demand. This should be the century when the disastrous era of Roe v. Wade finally comes to an end.