I have just as much right to be on this earth as the next person. Even so, there was a time when certain people not only disagreed, but also actively sought to end my life. Do I take that personally? Absolutely!
When my mother learned that she was pregnant with me, she was just 17. At that time, she went from expectations of living like her high school friends—going to parties, college and working at jobs of her choice—to suddenly being responsible for another human being. So when people found out about me, some family members and several friends immediately advised her to have an abortion.
But my mom chose life and my father agreed. They knew that the person growing inside of my mom mattered—that I mattered. They knew that I was a unique human being who deserved their protection and care.
My parents were deeply in love and despite their young age, they knew they wanted to marry someday. They just didn’t plan on it being so soon or under such difficult circumstances.
‘It’ has arrived
Because of my experience as an endangered preborn child, the abortion issue is a very emotional subject for me. I have yet to hear an argument that would persuade me that my life shouldn’t have been protected.
Some people tried to convince my mom that she was too young to be a mother. They tried to persuade her to get rid of “it.” They said, “Have an abortion, it’s just a blob of tissue.” They told her that if she didn’t have an abortion, “it” would change her whole life.
Well, “it” did change her whole life. Because here “it” is; here I am to speak up for myself and other preborn children who are in danger of abortion. My mom and dad’s decision to let me live changed their whole lives because it leaves them with no regrets. Even better, their decision to let me live gave them someone else to love. In other words, my life is a source of happiness for my parents—and me.
Quality of life clichés
I have heard the arguments that children who are born from crisis pregnancies will lead sad lives. I have heard that these children will be subject to abusive parents—or sent from foster home to foster home. I have heard that they will suffer from depression because they are unwanted. I have also heard that they will be poor and over-burden their guardians and society.
But I am living proof that those arguments are a form of prejudice. In my family of five, we have food every day. Everyone has a home with a warm bed. I have a closet full of clothes. And we have these things because my parents put aside their own fears and chose love.
Some may say that I was lucky. If that is the case, who should be entitled to decide who else may or may not live a quality life? Many abortion supporters never would have guessed that I would be happy. If my mother had taken their advice, I would not be here today.
Don’t get me wrong. My life hasn’t been perfect. But whose life is? I’ve had my share of heartaches and losses. I’ve dealt with family struggles. I’ve dealt with rejection and betrayal by people I considered my friends. And I’ve dealt with the death of loved ones.
But those are the things that make me me. Even through the pain, I never once thought I would’ve been better off aborted. I wouldn’t give up the downs of life because the joys make it worthwhile and everyone deserves a chance know the joys of life.
To those who would say that my life wasn’t the typical case for abortion because I was a “wanted child,” I say all children are wanted by someone. The very fact many women in America abort their babies means that thousands of couples have to go overseas to adopt children.
Arguments of desperation
To couples who find themselves expecting an “unplanned” child, I say, “Wait.”
Some people defined my entire life by where I lived before birth. These days, ultrasound technology helps people realize that little ones in the womb are persons. As a result, groups like Planned Parenthood are becoming more and more extreme—and in the wake of advanced technology, they say that a baby is a person when his mother decides he is person.
Even worse, the late scientist Carl Sagan described the preborn as “a kind of parasite” that “destroys tissue” and “sucks blood from capillaries.” Abortionist Warren Hem also said that the relationship between a mother and preborn child “can be understood best as one of host and parasite.” He said a preborn child “invades” the mother and that abortion is a “defense mechanism” to stop the “deleterious effects of the parasite.”
I would dare anyone to tell me that when I was sucking my thumb in the womb, I was a threat to my mom. After all, it’s scientifically inaccurate to make this comparison, since the human body will attack a parasite, while a mother’s body naturally works to guard and protect the preborn child. A parasite works to harm its host, whereas a mother and preborn child are in a healthy, natural coexisting environment.
This attempt to dehumanize the preborn child has no basis in fact or logic.
Live and let kill?
I am most amazed by those who claim to be “personally pro-life,” but argue they cannot tell someone else what to do. They say they wouldn’t end their own child’s life, but if another woman wants to think her pregnancy isn’t a child, she should have the choice to terminate that person.
That’s the same as arguments like “keep your laws off my body,” or “you can’t tell a woman what to do.” But our country is supposed to protect its people with laws that guarantee an innocent person’s right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Yet if we applied pro-abortion logic to all of our laws, we would live in anarchy and have no rights whatsoever.
At one point in our nation’s history, slavery was legally based on the “freedom of choice” argument. In the famous Lincoln–Douglas debates, Douglas argued that white people should be afforded the choice to own black people as slaves without government interference.
Lincoln replied, “No one has the right to choose to do something that is wrong.”
A future filled with hope
I am 16 years old and I am working hard to earn college scholarships. In college, I plan to study criminal justice because I want to help people.
For now, I thank God that my mom didn’t deny me the opportunity to know her and my dad. Because I am alive, I can teach my brother and sister too. Matthew will be 10 this year and I am pretty sure he is a good football player because of me! Natalie is almost six and I’m so glad that I have the chance to help her and my brother through the little problems of life and the bigger ones to come.
It’s also good to know my friends and talk with them about our hope for the future.
I may not be able to make all my dreams come true. But at least I have the chance to try. At least I have the opportunity to make a life for myself—a life that I hope will help others—a life that never would have existed if my mother had had an abortion.
The author of this article has requested anonymity.
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