Those of you who know me know that I am definitely a conservative and not afraid to tackle controversial types of issues! With that disclaimer out of the way, I have to say that I am very much Pro-Life. Do I think that Roe versus Wade should be turned over? No, I really don’t. That could create a much worse situation than what we currently have. We certainly don’t want to return to the era of back alley abortions. There are certainly situations where I can understand that a woman might opt for an abortion, such as fetal demise in utero or congenital anomalies incompatible with life. What I object to is the routine use of abortion as an accepted means of birth control. 

Let’s look at a couple of scenarios. We have a young mother-to-be just starting her 24th week of pregnancy. She and her husband are so excited. They’ve just decorated the nursery and recently learned the sex of their baby. To her dismay, she begins having contractions, and it soon becomes apparent that this little one is not going to wait another 16 weeks to make his arrival! He arrives weighing a scant 1000 grams and easily fits into the palm of your hand. He is quickly admitted into the NICU, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, which will be his home for the next several months. Unlike many of the other nursing units in a hospital, the NICU is a quiet place, with lights dimmed and where everyone speaks in hushed tones. The new little arrival is soon safely ensconced in an isolette in a temperature- and humidity-controlled environment with many tubes and monitors all around his tiny little body. All external stimulation is kept to a minimum.

Mom visits every day to monitor the progress of her precious little one. She carefully pumps breast milk several times a day to provide her own special nutrients to the infant. He is too young to even have a suckling response, so he receives this vital Mother’s milk via a feeding tube. Imagine her excitement when he is finally big enough to come out of his little womb-like environment for a few all too brief moments, and she can at last hold him in her arms! In several months, he is finally the size of a normal full-term infant, and Mom and Dad get to take him home. Most of these little preemies grow into normal children and adults and are able to lead a full life without any lingering effects from their early arrival into the world. Many NICU’s hold an annual Celebration of Life where all of their “Graduates” return for a big gathering! They may range in age from toddlers to elementary age children to high schoolers. What a tribute to the capabilities of modern medicine!

Meanwhile across town another pregnant young woman glances at her watch and hurries to her own appointment with fate. She too is almost 24 weeks pregnant, but for her there is no eager anticipation, only an eagerness to be rid of this unwanted burden on her life. She has been reassured that this is not a viable baby, only a growing cluster of tissue. She hurries into the waiting room and is admitted. She is given sedation, some anesthesia, and soon leaves the facility, no longer pregnant.

I do think that Planned Parenthood should change its name to Unplanned Parenthood. Planned parenthood implies that a pregnancy is wanted and desired. Last I heard, despite the plethora of gender “choices” we continue to hear about, most of which I cannot fathom, the creation of new life still takes a biologic male and a biologic female, a sperm and an ovum. A pregnancy should not just be the result of a careless moment. If Planned Parenthood put half of the energy into teaching about responsible birth control methods that it puts into promoting its abortion mills, much of the problem would be resolved. There are also so many couples out there with empty arms who would welcome the chance to give a loving home to these unwanted little ones.

You have to wonder about the values of a society where in one instance we joyously spend thousands and thousand of dollars to save a cherished little life and in another instance we cancel out a similar little life without a second thought.

About twenty years ago I worked with an excellent Perinatologist. A Perinatologist is a physician who has done a four-year residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology followed by a three-year Fellowship in Perinatology. These physicians take care of high-risk mothers and fetuses during the period of pregnancy and birth. This doctor and I became good friends. One day she sadly and bitterly told me her story. Early in medical school she had become pregnant and had chosen to have an abortion. She finished medical school, her internship, and her OB-GYN residency. During that time period she married, and she and her husband very much wanted to have a baby, but sadly she was never able to conceive again. She said that her own inability to have a baby was what pushed her into the field of Perinatology. I certainly don’t know why she was never able to have a second pregnancy. I’m sure being a part of the medical community, she got excellent care during her own abortion all those years ago.

I do think we are all born with a little touch of the divine in us, what you might call the God Spark. I can only trust that all of these lost little ones are indeed returned to their Father above. William Wordsworth said it so much better than I ever could in “Intimations of Immortality,”

But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home:
Heaven lies about us in our infancy!

©The Eclectic Grandma, 2018