As I've now been volunteering as a peer counselor at a Crisis Pregnancy Center for several months, I've begun pondering on the approach many "pro-lifer's" have taken.
Most of us have seen or have at least heard about the "pro-lifer's" who picket around the abortion clinics with graph pictures of aborted babies, and bluntly telling the women that they are murdering there babies. Yes, biblically abortion is considered murder, and I am completely apposed to it. But is this that the most effective approach to take?
Many of the women who walk into those abortion clinics are already hurting, angry, and confused. Is using "guilt-tactics" the best way for Christians to reach out to them? Is there a better way to show them the Love of Christ? I believe that there is a better way.
A large portion of the women who choose to have an abortion realize that it is a life they are ending. The lie of it just being a "blob of tissue" has been exposed. Most abortions are chosen being aware that it truly is a living baby in their womb; yet they choose to have the abortion anyway. Why is that? "Pro-lifer's" have thought if they could just get people to realize that it is a living baby, less people would support abortion. I am sure that has been a factor in some choosing not to support abortion, but there are still a HUGE number of abortions being preformed every year.
Abortion rates are on the decline, but around 1 million abortions are still being preformed every year. So, a large number of women are still choosing abortion, in spite of the efforts to stop abortion.
What happens if we take our focus off trying to "save" the baby (which we really can't do anyway), and instead focus on the needs of mother's of these babies?
I will share more of my thoughts on this subject in an upcoming post!
Please feel free to comment, I would love to hear your thoughts!
God Bless!
Very interesting post! This part really caught my attention: "What happens if we take our focus off trying to "save" the baby (which we really can't do anyway), and instead focus on the needs of mother's of these babies?"
ReplyDeleteI would like to read more of your thoughts, when you choose to expound your view. I'm pro-quality-of-life. I believe that every living, breathing human being on this planet deserves a life which is more than 'alright'. I would like to ask "pro-lifers" what they think will happen to the fetus that they stopped from being aborted. If the woman didn't want the child, she will most likely not "magically" start wanting it just because it's born.
If she wanted it, but could not provide for it, she isn't "magically" going to have the means to provide for it. I think we need to look realistically at the issue. Those women are not cruel. They are making a very emotionally hard decision.
"Pro-lifers" may maintain the moral high ground, but when dealing with the practical... they are in denial.
Wioloa,
ReplyDeleteThank you again so much for your comment!You brought up some real issues here.I see where you are coming from, though I'm not sure that I completely agree with you.
Are you saying that if the mother does not want the baby or have the means to provide for it, then she should just abort it? If that's what you are saying, I would have to disagree.
If the mother is unable and/or not wanting to parent the child, she has other option besides abortion - adoption. While no choice in an unplanned pregnancy is an "easy out", adoption takes the responsibly and burden of parenting off the woman, and yet in life. Where as with abortion which brings death.
I am 100% pro-life, and while I disagree with how some pro-lifers have approached the issue, I do feel that abortion is wrong and very damaging to the woman.
I hope to continue my thoughts on this issue soon.
Marie, I thought you had some kind of middle-way approach. With that kind of understanding (or misunderstanding) I commented here. To me, moral issues are not just black or white.
ReplyDeleteBoth abortion and adoption are damaging to the woman.
I’m concerned about the living reality of babies and children. To simply live is not enough. What will you do or what are you doing to provide shelter, food and care to all the children which are born to mothers who can't take care of them? Can you guarantee the child will have food in its stomach, when 17 million children are already going hungry in U.S?
Adoption can be great for both the child and the adoptive parent(s). The sad truth is that out of the 100, 000+ children in foster care in U.S., the vast majority are children who do not appeal to the people seeking to adopt. They are children of colour, part of a sibling group, older, and in many cases come from a background of neglect and abuse. They are unwanted even by those who would consider adoption, and often stay in foster care until they are 18. Faced with 18 years of foster care and a small chance of actually being adopted by a couple who would rather invest thousands of dollars in fertilization methods, or the adoption of a foreign infant, would you hold that this hypothetical unborn child will be leading a happy, emotionally healthy life?
An abortion is carried out during a medically responsible window of time, which is generally accepted to be within 16 weeks after a woman’s last missed period. If the woman makes her decision as quickly as possible she minimizes the medical risk of a later term abortion. I find it unfair to label a woman's decision to terminate a pregnancy as murder.