A decision that was made back in January 22, 1973, has affected a countless number of lives and continues to affect us. So many lives have been lost due to the bad judgment that came about through a system that is legally flawed. Slowly, people have been losing sight as to what is right anymore.

The decision in Roe v. Wade came about through the Supreme Court’s ruling that the government cannot interfere with certain personal issues, such as deciding whether to start a family or not. Although the Supreme Court had an interest in protecting potential life, the baby was not considered to be a living human being until the second trimester.

This idea, however, is changing. Most scientists now agree upon the fact that the life of a baby starts at conception. So even scientists are admitting the fact that babies are being killed through abortion. If scientific facts support this, then why don’t more people try to end abortion?

Abortion has now become a widely practiced procedure that continues to take the lives of millions of innocent babies. It had at one point only been used to save the life of the mother, but that all changed after the decision of Roe v Wade. It was thought that by allowing women to have abortions, it would lower the amount of child abuse, because women could now get rid of their unwanted baby. This proved wrong. The amount of child abuse since then has risen dramatically. Abortion leads to a loss of self-esteem in women and a decreased ability to deal with stress, which in turn has resulted in child abuse.

Abortion is seen as a quick fix. It is viewed as something that can get a woman or a couple out of a jam if the timing isn’t right or if having the baby is an inconvenience. This is a myth because abortion never really solves their problems. Most of the time, the relationship doesn’t last much longer than a month after the operation. Both partners involved undergo psychological changes, while the women also experience a number of physiological changes. The decision to have an abortion has more consequences than people realize. Most women, after having an abortion, will admit to the fact at sometime in their life, that they took the life of an unborn baby. They will realize that the inconvenience never justifies taking the life of another human.

Women have been tricked into believing that their pregnancy, in the early stages, consisted of a mass of tissue, living cells, and not a real baby. The truth is that each one of us began as a bunch of cells, the same cells that abortion advocates claim are not live beings. This is something that Jane Roe, Norma McCorvey, came to realize. This past summer she tried to sue to get the 1973 decision repealed. She wants the injustice to stop. She has even started her own pro-life ministry called Roe No More.

Many innocent lives have been lost by quick decisions. And the question remains, what might those babies have grown to become? One of them may have been the next Nobel Prize winner, the future President, a doctor, teacher, or even a future mother or father. Sadly, we will never know how the world would have benefited from their lives. Babies are miracles; they are God’s gift to us and should be treated as such.

Published in VSHL Lifesaver, January 2004