Choosing Life

Have you ever heard two people passionately debating their stance on something? Sometimes, one person ends up saying something so appalling or so shocking and all the other person has to say to win that part of the debate is, “Well I won’t do that!” This is what sealed my choice for President of the United States this election cycle. Hillary Clinton proudly laid out her abortion platform and justified her stance. All that Donald Trump had to say to win my vote was, “Well I won’t do that!”

This election has been tough for so many of us. It’s been the most divisive election I’ve ever witnessed. I’ve seen fellow Christians rip each other apart for their perspective or opinion—on both sides. I have stayed silent for a lot of it (except with close friends) because I’ve had a hard time “endorsing” anyone. However, one of them will be our President and I truly feel like the abortion issue is the decision maker.

When I was 7 weeks pregnant with the triplets, we went in for our very first sonogram. It was then that we saw all three tiny sacks with three tiny lives in each sack. The doctor that performed our sonogram was in shock, he even said, “I’m not good at hiding my emotion and I’m in shock right now.” I was thinking, “Um, YOU’RE in shock?!”

After the sonogram was over, he got a serious tone and looked at Brett and I and said, “I’m going to give you a card of someone I would like you to go talk to. This person is a pregnancy reduction specialist. It is very high risk for women to carry three fetuses. It may seem harsh to reduce the pregnancy to two fetuses, but really you are giving those two the best chance of survival. Usually with triplets, they are born early, underweight, and the odds of all of them making it are not very good.” Immediately I thought, “Wait, does he mean abort one?!” I said to him, “No thank you. We will not be ‘reducing’ this pregnancy at all.” And he said, “Just go talk to this person and hear what he has to say.”

The way he presented it to me that day was very compelling. If I did not have a strong personal conviction about the sanctity of life and when it begins, I could have easily been convinced that I would be a good mom by “ensuring” the well being of two of my babies by getting rid of one of them.

I’m convinced that abortion is still a talking point because people are truly uneducated about it. I think people turn their minds off to what it actually is because we should have the right to make decisions regarding our own body. The problem is, most people are uneducated about exactly what happens in an abortion and the adverse effects it has on the mother.

When I was a senior in high school, I went to retreat called Summit. It was a two-week apologetics retreat that our private school offered for students who didn’t want to take a year-long apologetics class. At the retreat, they have an optional section where they show an actual abortion. They show the procedure and then they show graphic images of the aborted baby after the procedure.

I was raised in a Christian home and knew that abortion was wrong, but in that moment I decided for myself that I was against abortion. I know there are women who have had abortions and some may be reading this. I truly do not want to make you feel shame in any way. I don’t think you are a bad person for your decision. I know that there are situations that feel like there is no other way. However, I know people who have had abortions and have dealt with so much physical and emotional trauma from that decision—it’s heartbreaking.

I truly feel like we cannot keep turning a blind eye to something that is such a serious issue. We are not only murdering many innocent lives, but we are opening ourselves up to turmoil we will reap from this decision. What makes America better than any other country who hold their children with little to no regard?

I’m thankful for ministries like Embrace Grace. They offer help and counsel for women considering an abortion. But, they also provide a place for women to receive healing if they have had an abortion and are dealing with the pain of their decision.  This is who the Church should be. We should be here to help people navigate the difficult decisions in their lives. To embrace them and offer hope and healing—even when they make a decision we would not have made ourselves.

Matthew 25:40 New King James Version (NKJV) "And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'"

Photos by: Natasha Brown