A young woman, 10 years married, and 34 years old, became pregnant for the third time. She had had complications with her previous pregnancy, which had nearly killed her. She decided that rather than risk her life, she would have an abortion. The child growing in her womb was 3 weeks old then. The woman went with her husband to an abortion clinic. As they approached the building, a Pro-Life activist stopped them and tried to talk them out of the abortion, to no avail. The couple was about to leave the woman and enter the clinic when she pulled out a plastic model of a fetus, that same fetus that was growing inside the woman’s womb. Instantly, the couple’s mind was changed...

If only the young woman had chosen to go through with the abortion, I would not be here standing in front of you today. If only that Pro-Life activist had chosen to stay home for the day, I would not be talking to you now. If only that activist had vowed that she would never tell anyone what to do because it was their right to choose, I would never have had a chance to breathe the air, to go swimming, to make friends, or just to live.

So often, we hear people say that they are personally Pro-Life, but that they would never advise someone against an abortion because it is not their choice to make. They do not want to contribute to the Pro-Life movement, because, although they would never have an abortion themselves, they do not feel that they have the right to take away someone’s “choice”. What they neglect to realize is that by not standing up for the rights of the defenseless child growing in the womb, they are allowing the child to be robbed of his or her choice.

Everyday my mother looks at me and thinks of the mistake she almost made. She thinks of what would have been and what possibilities on which she could have shut the door. She sees the person who she nearly threw away and feels the deepest regret for even considering it. She feels as though she did in fact go through with the abortion. She sees in me the person whom she nearly killed and cannot come to terms with it. Every time a person neglects to speak out for the rights of the unborn, among friends or among a larger audience, that person contributes to the number of women who must go through these feelings of regret and pain. These women do not make their “choice” thinking that they will never be able to forgive themselves for what they have done or even thought about doing.

We are faced with a choice. Should I speak up for the unborn? Or should I just stay out of it? Should I become a leader in the Pro-Life movement? Or should I just assume someone else will do it? Not one of us can sit back and watch. We must take action! Pray! Start a Pro-Life Club! Write to your Senators and Representatives! Donate to a crisis pregnancy center! Do sidewalk counseling! Do something to be actively involved in the Pro-Life Cause!

If that woman had just ignored the problem we are faced with and did not make the effort to confront my parents, I would not be here as a voice pleading for those without a voice. Consider that. I’m here because I survived. I survived because someone got involved.

Published in VSHL Lifesaver, June 2004