Yes, there’s a but. There was no ‘but’ before I got pregnant myself and experienced the reality and the mystery of it all. Before, there was no argument in my mind about it. I was – and still am – Pro-Life, because of my fundamental belief in God and Christianity. However, pregnancy gave me some insight into why there is such a great divide about this whole abortion issue.
Many would have thought being pregnant and having a baby of my own would have meant that my alignment with the Pro-Life view would be stronger than ever. However, as I watched to a video made by @failedathiest, I couldn’t stop thinking of the whole pregnancy thing and the definition and defense for an unborn child’s life.
If I were Pro-Choice, my defense would be the fact that a woman’s body and life is hijacked the moment she conceives! Even before anyone notices that she is pregnant, there’s a new ‘Lord of the body’, and he or she is changing the whole terrain to suit him/herself! The woman no longer has power over her body. She is a carrier of this child, willingly or not, until s/he vacates the body.
Not only must she protect the child, for humanity sake, she must also change her eating and drinking habits to accommodate the child. Even if she doesn’t know that, everyone is telling her what she must do for the child. However, even if she does a bad job of looking after herself and the baby, the unborn child will still take all the nutrients from her body that s/he needs, and grow as best s/he can (similar to a parasite). Aside these, there are also social and financial consequences for her new status as a pregnant woman (or girl), and more changes to come once she’s a mother (or single or teenage mother). It’s not a small burden, and I do believe men hardly understand this.
So, I can understand the feeling of being hijacked and not in control. Even right to the very end, a complication with the pregnancy can mean not one, but both lives lost. The mystery, however, is the preference to preserve the mother’s life in virtually all cases. I think there’s something in that, which is; when push comes to shove, the life of the mother (the human already operating in the world, who may have dependents) is chosen over the unborn (the human whose potential impact is unknown).
In his video, Daniel said that one of the arguments given for abortion is the lack of desire of the unborn child to live. He gave a really powerful argument about why desire to live is really not the issue. However, I’d go further. I believe that the unborn child has a great desire to live and a phenomenal survival instinct! As I’ve already captured, s/he has shown that desire throughout the pregnancy right to birth, by the way the body has been manipulated by its existence to provide a suitable place to grow and live, including preparing the mother for the conditions of birth.
Now, if I wasn’t a Christian, the argument about choice and power over one’s body and life would be very tempting. Especially in cases of rape, when the sex that resulted in the baby was not only non-consensual, but violent and violating. It can be hard to think your life is now tied to this being that you most likely don’t want to have a thing to do with.
However, pregnancy is a great mystery. I realized that while carrying my first born. So many times I laughed and marveled at God’s humour and design, and how He was doing it without my help! No matter the challenge or difficulty of carrying a baby, wanted or not, it is a gift. It is a blessing. You are being given an opportunity to grow, to love, to change and to thrive! Every challenge is an opportunity to get stronger, and so is pregnancy.
Ladies, we can take the attitude that it’s my body and my life, but we would be wrong. Our bodies and our lives are a gift from God for us to use to His glory. And sometimes, we have to endure things we would rather not endure to get to where we need to be or where God wants us to be. The greater truth of sacrifice is the final defense against the Pro-Choice argument. Sacrifice is about love. If you can’t understand how much you are loved and how much was sacrificed for you, how can you love another or sacrifice your body and your life to bring life and joy to another?
Photo credit: www.ladyschoicewomensclinic.co.za
If you like this post, you might like I’M PRO-LIFE, BUT… (PART TWO)