What If? Asking Questions About Life

I wrote this back in 2019 when I first started my Heartshare blog. Writing is something I am passionate about and when I write, it is usually about something that means a lot to me. That week was the Forty-Seventh anniversary of the Supreme Court decision to allow abortions. Within that same year, the state of New York declared that an abortion of a baby up to the birth is now allowed. This decision just really concerns me and I think about many of the consequences of this decision. This decision causes me to ask a question that starts with the words "what If?".

Negative OR Positive?

This question, "what if?", comes with positive and negative connotations. We can think about certain situations on one hand and think that their circumstances are negative. We can also though look at our life and see positively about what happens.

Considered Negative- Defining a Baby

Society today tells women many things about what a baby is, often to justify the decision of having an abortion. Commonly, people de-humanize the baby by telling her that her baby is just "a fetus" or tissue that is inside, that the baby does not have a beating heart and it does not really exist as a true, living human being.

The Choice To Make

The abortion industry tells women that it is only her choice, no one else's choice and that this is an option, their option to decide on. They say that it is about a woman's body and a woman's healthcare and that it has nothing to do with the life that is growing inside of her. The truth is that choice is only a factor because the law says it is, but the real issue isn't really a legal one or an issue of choice. It's really about the moral issue of the value of life. Born or unborn, it's still a human being, created in the image of God.

Women are choosing to take someone else's life and actually stealing away the choice of another human being to live as God intended. The baby doesn't have any say or any choice in this matter of what happens to him or her. Fathers and other family members are also affected by this choice such as siblings who don't get to have a relationship with a brother or sister. The father does not have any opportunity to enjoy their daughter or son if the mother takes the matter into her own hands.

What If They Could Be A ...?

Another thought I consider is, what are women giving up, not giving other people the opportunity to experience? What are they giving up and not allowing a child to grow up and have the opportunity to give the world? Could this child grow up and be a great doctor who discovers the cure to a terrible disease or maybe solve problems that no one else did? What about a scientist, or a lawyer? Could they be an amazing neighbor, a friend, a great person in their community? So many "what if's"! Have they thought of this before making a drastic, permanent decision to end a life?

What Defines My Success?

How do we define success? An actress recently was thrilled that she was so successful because she chose to give up her baby by having an abortion. (Michelle Williams). I have heard other women express that they were thankful that they did not choose to have their baby and they gave up this opportunity by aborting their baby. Is this truly success? If they really did not feel that they could raise a child in the situation that they were in at the time that they were pregnant, could they not give up their baby for adoption and bring joy to another family?

"You gave life to me

A brand new world to see

Like playing baseball in the yard with dad at night

Mom reading Goodnight Moon

And praying in my room

So if you worry if your choice was right

You gave me up but you gave everything to me

Everything to me by Mark Schultz

Today, there are many single women or young mothers who return to school and/or have very successful careers while having a family. It is difficult for some, but still very possible. They are very thankful for the children that they have now. Their children are a joy to them and have given them a great perspective on life. Is getting what I want the most important thing to consider?

What If We Have No Values?

What If we choose not to value babies as people? Where does it end? Who or what else is next? Many people see what they believe are unethical leaders in our country. They are not doing right for the state, local government and country they represent. Statistics already show that more than sixty million babies have been aborted. When does the death stop in the name of convenience? This number is more than the amount of people who died in the Holocaust and wars. Yet, It is now legal to kill a breathing child who has been delivered and no longer in the womb!

What If The Hurt is So Great?

What if another woman struggles with depression, anxiety and often suicide because of a decision she once made and now regrets? Planned Parenthood has painted a picture and told women the lie that says that they won’t feel or experience pain or regret from the decision they make. They train their volunteers, employees to tell women who come for abortions, that they will be ok once its all over, yet they are not. Many women suffer for years. Thankfully some though now know the forgiveness, love and grace that God offers when they have counseling through organizations started to help women who go through regretting their decision and make different decisions for the future.

What If for Doctors?

Another negative “what if?” pertains to doctors and those in the medical field. When doctors participate in abortion, they do not get to see lives cured and saved. Their lives are gone, they are no longer. No successes, no joy, no love, just the end of life! They realize that they can count the number of lives they did not save.

What If I believe Truth or a Lie?

What if they believe lies or the truth and what is capturing peoples attention today? Are we accepting life, or not? Do we look into what we are told, what we and thus our government is supporting, or not? This year, for the 2020 election, Planned Parenthood is paying 48 million dollars in tax payer money. Who do we support? What will we support? Do we believe what Planned Parenthood or other organizations/people supporting abortion state is true, or do believe facts, statistics and testimonies of people who have experienced the difficult and bad consequences of abortion?

Positive "What If's"

Now, let”s take time to consider the positive “what if’s?.

What If I Do Receive Help?

Many women and families are concerned about help they would or would not receive. There are many organizations available and ready to help mothers feed, clothe and raise their children. Many crisis pregnancy centers help with this as well as many churches, ministries, individual families and some government organizations provide help.

What If My Baby Is Great Someday?

Who will my baby be someday? What if I get to raise, nurture and impact a life? Today when I arrived home from church, the TV was on and reporting how a very famous LA Lakers Basketball player (Kobe Bryant) and his daughter were killed in a helicopter crash. It doesn't make sense and is a shock, but people who knew him were inspired and changed or because of him. What if there was no Kobe Bryant? What if there were no mentors and hero's such as Kobe to influence lives? If his mother did not choose life, he would not have existed at all. What if we have moral and ethical leaders in our country? What if people show me love despite what my past looks like? Because of great people who's mother gave them life, they can influence me to grow and understand God’s love, grace and forgiveness.

What If We Choose Right?

What would happen if people did understand what is happening in our world today, with hate, violence, killing. Would we gain a better understanding of the value of life if we choose to do things God’s way, not just for our own peace and satisfaction?

What If There Was Less Pain?

What if women believed and learned through others' experience or their own personal experience, that they would not suffer physically and emotionally if they chose life instead of an abortion? Or maybe we could help them understand what abortion does to them, to their baby, to the father, to the family and to friends? Would this make any difference in lives saved today and hurt going on around us?

What if doctors today saw the many lives spared that they delivered? Are these lives wonderful, successful adults, going good things now? If they are saving babies, they are making this possible!

A Real Life Example

I listened last week to a woman, a retired OB-GYN named Kathi Aultman. So many things she said on Focus On The Family, stood out to me. Not only had she had an abortion herself, in her past, she spoke of how she performed many abortions as well. She said that she realized as she walked through Neonatal departments in a hospital that some of these babies were the same age as some of the babies she was aborting. The only difference for some is that the babies who were wanted, vs the babies that were not wanted, were defined as “babies”.

Is this really how we determine truth though? Is a baby only called a "baby" when it is wanted? Does someone or something only truly exist when we want it to exist? Our existence doesn’t depend on whether it is wanted. Life is simply life, regardless if it is wanted or not. Life should be spared regardless of whether he or she was planned. It is a beating heart, a life, not a tissue that can be ripped up and thrown out if situations are inconvenient in a mothers life.

What About Other Options?

If a mother and father and family really cannot raise a child, there are many families so willing to love and raise the child. There are also some families concerned about babies born with disabilities and Down Syndrome. They are unsure how they could care for babies born with these conditions or whether anyone is willing to adopt babies born with conditions such as these. I learned that there are people specifically wanting to adopt babies with disabilities such as these. National Down Syndrome Adoption Network, America World Adoption Down Sydrome Adoption, Adopt America Network, The Adoption Exchange, Rainbow Kids Adoption and Child Welfare Advocacy (abclawcenters.com)

Dr. Kathi Aultman realized that she had not allowed some life to enter this world, but by changing to a pro-life stand after having her own child, she allowed many an opportunity to live now.

There is hope for life and hope in life. No one is beyond help. Circumstances can be difficult for some, but it is no reason to take someone’s life. God is the one who created life. Psalm 139 explains how God formed each part of every human being’s body and He knew us before anyone knew that we exist. Let us consider how we can make the right decision for each life.

Resources

Some resources that are available and helpful are:

Crisis Pregnancy Centers all around the United States. In many of these are Ultrasound machines available for women to see the life inside them and then make the best choice for their baby. You can now donate $60 to Focus on the Family to provide an ultrasound for one woman considering an abortion.

ProLove Ministries provides practical ways for women to get help and support is at proloveministries.org

For more information and help, Focus on The Family phone number is 1-800-A Family(800-232-6459). They have a special page dedicated to pro-life resources here

Alive 2020 is an event happening in 5 cities throughout the USA this year. In Southern California, Dallas,Chicago, Atlanta and South Florida

The annual March for Life takes place yearly in Washington D.C.

The Midwest March for Life takes place Saturday, February 1st, in Jefferson City, MO.

http://www.midwestmarchforlife

Watch the movie Unplanned