39 years of death and tragedy

            39 years ago today, abortion was made legal in this country.  It has been 39 years of carnage in the name of choice.   39 years of the legal murder of innocent lives for the sake of convenience.  39 years of an attitude, by so many otherwise good moral people, that the control a woman should have over her body takes precedence over the life of her unborn child (a child who is, most often, the result of a choice made by the woman).  Attitudes that have been shaped by lies.  Lies about which choices a woman should be held accountable for and which lives are of most value.  And so many more lies that have transformed our country into a culture which promotes and celebrates death and ignores or remains indifferent to life.  

More than a generation has passed since the passing of Roe vs. Wade.  And I can’t help but ponder the fact that it is my generation who was the first to experience the legal loss of so many through the horror of abortion.  

            I was born just 27 months after abortion was declared legal.  

            I was the result of an unplanned pregnancy.  

           Though my parents never considered abortion (and never would have no matter the circumstances)- they could have.  They could have easily, and legally, decided they did not want me, did not want the hassle of a child they had not planned.  I could have been one of the victims had my parents chosen that.  Thankfully, they did not.  

When they faced another unplanned pregnancy, just a few months after my birth, my parents again chose life and my brother joined the family when I was a mere 15 months old.  My brother and I are among the lucky ones.   And my parent’s beautiful choice of love and sacrifice has had lasting results, of course.  I am the mother of 5 beautiful children.  My brother is the father of 2, and a paramedic and fire fighter who saves the lives of others every day.  

I can’t help but wonder what the world I have grown up in would be like had every child been given the chance at life that I have been given.  Had every parent been willing to rise to challenge of accepting and raising and loving a child they did not plan for.   I can only imagine a world without abortion- I have never actually experienced it.  But I imagine it would be really beautiful.....  and maybe someday I will get the chance to see a culture of life for myself......