Today is the 40th anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision, which legalized abortion in America. Forty years. Fifty million babies aborted during them.
Tragic doesn't even begin to describe it.
It's estimated that 1 in 3 women will have an abortion in her lifetime. That means no one is unaffected by abortion. Look around you at college, at the grocery, even at Mass. Who is carrying the wounds, the heavy baggage, caused by abortion?
Less than a month ago, it happened in my own family. A relative and his wife were convinced by their doctor to choose abortion, to choose to end the life of their precious child.
Because of the likelihood of Down's syndrome. Because the doctor was sure this child wouldn't live more than a few hours after birth.
My heart is crushed by such logic, by such horrific advice. How can we think it's okay, even merciful, to end a life simply because it won't last long anyway?
My heart physically aches when I think of their decision. That they'll never hold this baby, never get to say goodbye as they look into her innocent eyes, if indeed she would have only lived a few hours. Instead they'll not only carry grief but now guilt as well.
I was overwhelmed by their decision and reflected on the misleading medical advice they were given. As a nurse, it angered me. And then I remembered a key phrase when I was in nursing school...and I realized that the smallest of lies can pave the way...
That phrase was Quality of Life. It came up in multiple textbooks and was always our goal for the patient. We want him or her to have quality of life. It sounds great, right? I want everyone to live a full life of love and joy and grace. Sure, I'm on board with this quality of life idea. But as I thought more about it, I stopped.
Wait. Wait a minute.
How are we measuring this quality of life? By whose standards?
And doesn't all life have quality?
My mind continued to come up with scenarios. An elderly patient with chronic pain. A young teenager in a wheelchair. A Down's syndrome baby. Who are we to say that their lives have any less quality than ours? Who decides these measurements of life?
No one but our God above. And to Him...
Every. single. life. matters.
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| International Down Syndrome Coalition; shared on Facebook |
And ALL life has quality. Because a loving Father fashioned it with loving hands.
Oh, my Catholic Young Women. What a responsibility we have to educate, to pray, to fight this battle for life in our nation. We as women play such an important role, for we can explain that yes, we stand for women's rights and dignity...but abortion is never the answer. It tears women apart. It leaves them in despair, suicidal, confused, and alone. Women deserve better than abortion.
As always, I invite you to make a difference in your area by researching, by praying, and by speaking even just to one person. Every voice counts. And if you are going on the March for Life in Washington, D.C., this Friday, I just might see you there!
I'm sorry to hear about your relatives' experience. It reminds me of a young woman named Chiara Corbella who made a different choice in the face of perhaps similar circumstances. I'm shocked sometimes by how easily health care professionals can dismiss life, even if it will be a short one, and encourage abortion.
ReplyDeleteI'm currently praying a novena for life from the USCCB. There's going to be a smaller march for life on my campus on Friday that I hope to go to. I wish I could be at the one in DC.
Beautiful, beautiful post.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Natasha. :) *hugs*
DeletePrayers for your family, Laura.
ReplyDeleteIt's such a great reminder about 'Quality of Life." I worked on a neuroscience unit at a children's hospital and I battled what this meant quite a bit. I worked with kids with ALL sorts of diseases, disorders and developmental stages... so many of my coworkers commented about what the point of caring for them was when they were just going to be in a bed or chair or whatever their whole life. Ugh, it made me so upset. And sad. I was constantly trying to stand up for those kids... who are already born and living. But mostly I just lived it out. Loved and cared for those kids just as they deserved. And hoped that by doing that, my coworkers would be inspired and willing to provide the best care. For everyone.
Estimate are that in the last 40 year, 133 million births have occurred. 55 million abortions. So, let's see the ratio. That's about a 40 percent chance that the baby meant to be my future husband was killed in the womb. That's astonishing! Heartbreaking. Abortion may have decimated the life I was meant to have, and I had nothing to do with it. No wonder our country has a 50% divorce rate with 40% of the people meant to be our soul mates killed in the womb.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your beautiful, heartbreaking post! I'll be in D.C. with a group from Kansas (we'll be the obnoxious ones doing our fight-song). Even if we don't meet (and with an estimated 500,000 people it doesn't look likely), I'd like to give you a hug in spirit. Prayers for your family, dear. God bless!
ReplyDeleteDear Laura,
ReplyDeletethank you so much for your beautiful post. I actually know what you feel because my sister chose abortion too, after five months of pregnancy, when she found out that her little girl suffered from "trisomie 13" (I don't know the word in english. I'm French, so can you forgive me for my mistakes?). She was never comfortable though with the decision they made, her husband and her. Five years passed. She has now two and soon three healthy children but of course, she cannot forget her first child. Because, in spite of what doctors said (and my sister is a doctor too!), she knows that her baby was a person and not a cell cluster. Indeed, my brother-in-law (who is an atheist) and my sister chose to name their baby (Augustine) and bury her religiously. They go to her grave very often. My sister, who has received the same catholic education than me but has abandoned almost everything, asked me if Augustine could be baptized and I had to tell her that baptism is only for the living ones (Still, her other children are not baptized, which grieves me). She had to let her be born. But she chose not too. Despite all this, God takes care of us. In the same time, Pope Benedict XVI asked the international theological commission to study the case of children dead without baptism and the result is, I think, that they live with God and not in limbo like we thought until now. So I don't pray for my niece who is blessed in Heaven, I pray her, Saint Augustine, for the parents who are tempted to choose abortion instead of welcoming life, every life, as life is the most precious gift of Our Father. And as you said, every life is precious to Him.
I will pray for you and your family.
Marie
Thanks for the comments, ladies. :)
ReplyDeleteVivien--I read the link about Chiara on your blog. I cried. Wow. I want to be a wife and mom with that kind of trust and love for God someday.
Jen--that's so sad and a perfect example of the lies the Evil One tries to insert into our healthcare...but how beautiful that you could make a difference in those precious children's lives.
Michaela--yes! Who knows what our world might be like if all of those lives have been allowed to live...it is absolutely heartbreaking. Our God is greater, though, and He will win in the end. Hope in Him--He has a beautiful plan for you and your future.
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ReplyDeleteMarie, I'm reading your comment on the bus on the way to the March for Life and your words are bringing me to tears. Thank you for sharing your sister's painful story ...you all are in my thoughts and prayers today.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Laura! Hope to see you soon!
ReplyDelete