Last week I was in turmoil after hearing of the Planned Parenthood scandal. I vacillated between disbelief, anger, despair, and a deep deep sadness filled my soul. I read too much. I watched the videos and read the full transcripts. I read some pro-choice rebuttals and many more essays and news pieces from those who felt the same as I. I read political pieces from both sides. I have read that there are more shocking undercover videos on the way.
Fellow women, who have we become? How have we been driven to this point, where we are destroying and then offering up our baby’s body parts in the name of anything? Have we done this to each other? I know what is contested is the “selling”. Politicians are debating or turning their heads, lawmakers are threatening or denying, newspaper writers are reporting or not. If we are selling or giving away our destroyed baby’s body parts for use in a lab, if a law is being broken or not, that argument is a deterrent for something much much worse
How in the name of all that is good, have we been convinced to deny the incredible gift of our sexuality-that incredible energy we posses in our bodies-to grow human life, and then to degrade it with abortion? We are smarter than this, we are the powerful caretakers of humanity, and we have let others-a culture that uses women as sexual objects, men and women who want the act of sex but not the creation of human life from our bodies, a society that calls our ability to make human life inconvenient, environmentally irresponsible, a financial strain, and not worthy of further relationship-lead us to a culture of death-the death of a piece of us, and the death of our offspring.
And we are being cruel to each other.
I feel so much for my fellow women who have had an abortion-they say 1 in 4 now. When I watched those videos and read the transcribed words, I felt many emotions, but didn’t realize until days later that I had been brought back to the times when I have lost babies before they were born also, through miscarriage-I have seen heartbeats and little legs and arms and beautiful dancing and jumping, and then had to mourn when all that stopped. It is a terrible loss of life that stays with each of us forever.
The joking, the cavalier disrespect for these little babies, and their mothers, the way the people in these videos made them sound like a cog in a business machine, a way to be negotiated and managed and discarded and sent out the door as quickly as possible-to keep living their lives like nothing happened, or worse in a waste receptacle, or in a petri dish being bartered upon and picked apart organ by organ, and then a cooler in pieces being transported to a lab-it is pure degradation.
It is degrading to women and our intelligence and our power that we must treasure and respect and demand that others do the same. It is degrading to our unique precious children-each one who deserves to live. It is degrading to our fellow women who cry each day over a negative pregnancy test, and have to witness the gift of life being destroyed in minutes, while they wait year after year after desperate year on adoption waiting lists.
We must be kind to each other.
We must understand that women have been lied to, and are being lied to. We must understand that many many women are desperate, embarrassed, frightened, or woefully misinformed about how their bodies work. That many women who viewed those powerful truth telling videos, are mourning all over again. That they deserve forgiveness and compassion and they must believe that they were victims of a movement and a culture that doesn’t respect them, their sexuality or their children.
And we who know the truth must work to change all those things-with love.
You are amazing. Thank you for writing what I myself cannot put into words. Thank you for blogging.
Thank you for bearing witness, Sarah. I agree. You are amazing.
I share your thoughts. Thank you!
I love your compassion. Your heart. This whole mess breaks MY heart. It seems like it only gets worse.
Wow! You have said what I feel beautifully!!! My heart breaks for this and yet I don't do enough. I give money to the causes I believe in and vote for those who stand against this awful tragedy in our world. I think of the outrage right now over the lion being killed. And my thought is, these same people who are so angry over that dear lion, vote yes to a woman's right to abort her baby. Things are just so messed up! I am a Methodist and thank God our pastor is against abortion and same sex marriage. But, my friend, who is also a Methodist, has church leaders who support her daughter being a lesbian. Our Christian values are under attack! I vow to renew my prayers in this area and not get lazy. Thanks for your passion Sarah!!!
I totally agree that Sarah has put into words all that I've been thinking and feeling over this issue (to put it mildly). I also agree with you that Christian values are under a complete and all-out attack. We cannot sit by any longer!
So true! I admire your courage to speak up. Thank you!
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Sara, this is THE best response by far to the PP debacle. Thank you for writing it. I'm sharing it on my FB page.
Thank you.
I want to encourage ANY woman who wants to learn exactly how her fertility cycle works to investigate "Natural Family Planning". It was life-changing for me to learn how to detect which days of my cycle I am fertile, and which ones I am not. Women are being lied to, I agree. We are all being lied to. It has got to stop.
Well, I do disagree with you as I am strongly pro-choice…and don't really like to think of myself as not knowing the truth…I think I do 😉 BUT…I LOVE your message of being kind to each other. It is so important to attempt to listen and understand other's points of views and not go about trying to change someone's mind by attacking them. There is just too much anger in politics and social issues and not enough love and compassion.
Curious Janelle – can you tell me why you are strongly pro-choice? I like to listen to people who feel strongly on both sides so I can gain a better understanding of where people are coming from as understanding goes a long way :-). Thanks!!
That would take me a novel to write and probably hours to discuss 😉 and I don't want to take away from Sarah's blog/message. But basically I've known two people who have had abortions by choice due to awful circumstances so I know a bit of what they have had to go through and unfortunately I have also had negative experiences with pro-life protesters…and also have had very positive Planned Parenthood experiences…it's a multitude of reasons. But the bottom line is…as I'm trying to teach my kids…everyone comes from different backgrounds, everyone has different life experiences and these all end up shaping your beliefs/views on everything. I've spent many years thinking I'm right, I'm right (I was pro-life for many years too)…and while I think it's great to have convictions in your beliefs, I now realize that there are so many others that think they are right too! (With regards to abortion as well as everything else). So although people disagree try to look at different perspectives and backgrounds and experiences and realize that NO ONE is in the exact same place as you…and as Sarah said be kind to each other. Hope that makes a little sense…I'm not as good with words as Sarah is!
Thank you for sharing Janelle 🙂
Beautifully written. I agree 100%. I'm always disheartened that abortion is even a political issue. As fellow humans it should be mute we shouldn't be killing our own children because of selfcentered ways and "sexual freedom" outside of a loving marriage. We are the only species that forcefully removes our unborn from the mothers womb. This is not the way we were created and Planned Parenthood is exploiting women and these aborted babies for money. Pure evil.
You wrote the words from my heart, thank you! I just shared this on my FB.
I watched these videos, I was unaware of these and am broken hearted at the lack of regard in reference to what they called all of the babies. Those were babies. Not specimens not tissue and not procedures. Babies. Babies. Babies. I was shocked that women, WOMEN could have so little regard for not only the way they spoke but for their ability to handle the babies, laugh, carry on and so forth. I'm hurt and angry and when we talk about love and compassion as it applies to choice…I'm confused. The videos are lacking in love and compassion. Babies lives lost. How can pro choice as it applies to abortion, upon looking in the petri dish be loving and compassionate in nature? It always bothers me so much from a female point of view. I am a woman and a mother and have been crushed by the nature of this beast. Thank you, Sarah. I love my babies so much and agree with you about the lack of knowledge that women have regarding abortion and especially teen and young pregnant women. I can see how easily it would be, out of fear, to visit a clinic and listen to another woman (clinic employee) describe the procedure and the terms used to give one a false sense of….unemotional and unattached line of thinking regarding it being a fetus or specimen…verses a b.a.b.y. Urine is also a specimen and I don't think twice about it when I use the bathroom. But babies are precious and I would love to have those babies. So many would love to have those babies. I feel like my head could spin on this subject and all I can think is, Lord, have mercy. Those of us who are pro choice may He sweetly and gently convict our hearts. Those of us who are pro life, may He give us courage to speak out, and to those of us who have made this choice, may He grant peace and forgiveness in our deepest and most intimate hearts to have been in this situation and felt like this was, for whatever reason, the best or only choice. This is heart breaking all the way around…
So perfectly written….as always. I'm sharing it on my facebook page too. Thanks Sarah
So, so, so sad but true!
This is so beautifully written, Sarah. Thank you.
this is powerful and beautiful and tragic and true. thank you for this! i read it aloud to my mom and she was so moved, too.
I've just been sick to my stomach over this whole tragedy. I have tried to stick my head in the sand, but cannot. It's so very sad. Well said, Sarah.
Thanks for your thoughts. I agree. Certain subjects in the media recently have raised broader parental issues for me. I want my children to be respectful but steadfast in certain beliefs. I want them to be kind to all but remain to true to our values. I want them to live in this world but not to sacrifice who they are. As I have told both my teenagers lately, life is hard and complicated. But most importantly I want my children, as I have told them, I want my children to remain always faithful to the Church and all the values it teaches. Not too much to ask, right?
I feel just the same way you do about abortion. It breaks my heart on so many levels. What can we do? I don't know any more to do than raise my children with reverence for life, and LOVE my children privately and publicly so others can see the joy of parenthood, instead of the drudgery and inconvenience it is portrayed as these days. I feel like these are essential, but would love to hear if some of your readers have other ideas of how to help too.