Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Consider...

A preacher and his wife are VERY poor.  They already have 14 children and she just found out she is pregnant with #15.  Considering their poverty and excessive global population, should an abortion be recommended?

A father is sick.  The mother has tuberculosis.  They have 4 children, the oldest is blind, the second has already died, the third is deaf, and the fourth also has TB.  The mother is pregnant again, should an abortion be recommended?

A white man viciously rapes an innocent 13-year-old black girl, and she becomes pregnant; should an abortion be recommended?

A young unmarried teenager becomes pregnant greatly shaming her family.  She has just become engaged, but he is not the father of the baby and is beside himself with grief and anger.  Should an abortion be recommended? 

Perhaps you have seen these stories before... for those of you who have not, in the first case John Wesley, one of the greatest evangelists of the 19th century would have been aborted.  Child #2 was Beethoven.  #3 was Ethel Waters, the great African-American gospel singer. and Child #4, if you had encouraged your friend to "save face" and have an abortion would have ended the life of the greatest teacher of all time, and my personal Savior, Jesus Christ.

  January is Sanctity of Human Life Month, a time for Americans to reflect on the reality of the supreme court decision of Roe V Wade.  Since January 22, 1973, 50 million voices have been silenced with the legalization of abortion.  Recently I heard someone put it this way:  "entire generations of children have been wiped out."   What a sobering thought that there would be NO baby girls to put frilly dresses on; no little boys to take fishing or teach to throw a ball... because an entire generation is gone.

  Where do you fall on the issue of abortion?  Over half of Americans believe that abortion is morally wrong, but I have had the opportunity to sit with many young women who made that statement, and proceeded to consider abortion as a viable option when they saw a positive pregnancy test.  I have heard many people mutter under their breath after they say it is morally wrong, 'except in the case of incest or rape'.  And rape and incest are incredibly horrible, and I do not presume to tell those women what to do, or to judge them for their decisions, but for the purposes of this conversation, I submit for your consideration the Psalmist's words, 'You knit me together in my mother's womb. You knew me before I was even made.  All my days were written in Your book.'   I have an acquaintance who said of her child conceived during a rape, "I cannot imagine my life without this little girl", and I have heard several young adults publicly thank birth mom's for making the choice for life. 

     Rape, incest, abortion, they are all horrible things... and in a perfect world none of them would happen, but we don't life in a perfect world, and until we do, I am called to love these women and teen girls.  To listen to their story, and to help them make sense of the "madness"  To provide them with as much information as possible; to help them make an informed decision, that protects them - hopefully physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  My job is not to judge, but to listen, to love, to glorify GOD.  Not a wrath filled and  vengeful God, but the generous and loving God, who wants the best for His children.
     What are you called to do?  Will you pray for us?  Will you support us at our next event?  Or are you a potential client - wondering why you would ever show up at Community Pregnancy Center of Pasadena...  Well if that's you, know that we care about you.  Really! you matter - you are much more than just a girl with a baby we have to save - you are a Young Woman we want to meet.  We care about your health,  what you think, what's going on in your life, who's going to support you in this decision.  We are here to help.  Call and find out how.