On Jan. 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court decided (via Roe v. Wade) existing laws against abortion (at both federal and state levels) violated a constitutional right to privacy and due process under the Fourteenth Amendment.
As a result all national laws prohibiting or limiting abortion were reverted. The primacy of a woman’s rights prevailed and the rights of the unborn were not only abandoned, but their nature legally reduced to nonhuman.
A history of justifications
Both Justices Byron White and William Rehnquist strongly dissented the 7-2 majority decision on that winter day 34 years ago. In fact Rehnquist jeered their justification, ”To reach its result, the Court necessarily has had to find within the scope of the Fourteenth Amendment a right that was apparently completely unknown to the drafters of the Amendment.”
We’ve continued to cloak the truths about abortion with a vast network of ethical justifications, inconsistencies and avoidances. ”The child will not be taken care of properly,” ”She’s too young to have children,” ”Aborting unwanted children reduces the number of abused children,” ”Nobody can tell me right fr om wrong,” ”It’s a woman’s right to choose,” ”If abortion is outlawed women will return to back-alley abortion clinics,” etc.
And guilt and accountability are often subsided by an interchange in language: instead of baby we say fetus; instead of killing we say aborting; instead of dissect we say research; instead of extermination chambers we say abortion clinics – ad nauseam. Who could ever imagine the aftermath of three decades of legalized abortions?
What is human? And what’s its worth?
In an evolutionary, self-centered world, in which man is nothing more than a glorified ape aimlessly shooting for stars of deification, it’s not difficult to understand how the slippery slope of human degradation has led fr om fetal devaluing to discarding.
At the heart of these issues, however, are a couple of questions we all must answer: What is human? Is a fetus human, even in its embryonic stage? And does human life have any intrinsic worth?
Our contemporary world has indoctrinated us to believe humanness cannot be uniquely defined, a fetus is nothing more than a cellular mass, and there is no special value to being human.
I beg to differ.
Seeing is believing
Before our embryonic twins were surgically placed into my wife Gena, the nurse told her, ”I want to show you something.” She wheeled Gena to the incubator wh ere they were kept and gently opened the door. The incubator was bathed in warm light and soft classical music. Gena later told me it was the most incredible sight she had ever seen. ”It was like looking at something from heaven,” she explained. That was only 2 days after conception! Whether or not Gena had become pregnant, we were fully convinced at that moment that life begins at conception. Thirty-two weeks later our twins were born.
A creed that needs to be cloned
From our Founding Fathers forward, there were some basic creeds by which most Americans lived, and I believe we should go back to if we are to restore civility in our land. Here are three:
1. I believe human life is made in the image of God and as such has intrinsic value, worthy to save. And, as human beings, all zygotes are ”created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” (Preamble of the Declaration of Independence).
2. I believe aborting or destroying human life is morally wrong and goes against God’s law.
3. I believe ours and others’ mistakes can be forgiven and even turned around for the good.
In my autobiography, ”Against All Odds,” one chapter is appropriately titled, ”A Sin That Became a Blessing.” It’s about my failed attempt to keep my wedding vows by having an affair. It’s also about me finding forgiveness from God and others. And yet it’s also about the blessing of my daughter, Dina, who was bore from that illicit relationship. The harm I brought to my family God turned around and used for the good. And now Dina is a part of my life and my family, and I love her with all my heart, as I do my other children.
There might be illegitimate parents in the world – I know because I was one, but there are not illegitimate children. God has a plan and purpose for each of our lives. And He can turn around what we and others mean for harm and use it for good.
”Empty Playgrounds” by ”Jane Roe”
In 1995, the former ”Jane Roe” of Roe v. Wade, whose real name is Norma McCorvey, became a Christian and began the Crossing Over Ministry, encouraging women to save babies, not abort them. She told WND a few years ago, ”I long for the day that justice will be done and the burden from all of these deaths will be removed from my shoulders. I want to do everything in my power to help women and their children. The issue is justice for women, justice for the unborn, and justice for what is right.”
McCorvey also wrote a fitting poem and prayer for the moment, titled, ”Empty Playgrounds.”
”Empty Playgrounds” A poem by Miss Norma McCorvey
I sit across from a playground that
I visited this eve with a small child.
I know of such places wh ere children play. I know that I am the cause of them not being here today.
These playgrounds for “innocent children” now dead because of sins I helped do.
I hope, Lord, that the wonderful playground is well guarded with angels. Angels who will protect them keep them happy and safe. Angels who will make them smile and laugh.
So that when that glorious day comes; the children will not hold “the sin” against me.
For every time I see a playground empty, I will know that yours will be full. The sun is now setting, and my heart hurts, Lord.
For the numbers who from abortion have been torn apart.
I pray you can put them back together and make them whole.
If you like, Lord, use my body to make your precious children whole again.
I ask you to do this not only for them, Lord, but also for the love I have for each of them.
Lord, God, you gave your only Son, and He died and shed His blood for us.
All I did was give my baby away so that “women could tear theirs apart.”
For this I will never be able to look in your face out of shame.
Fight for life – yours and others
If you or someone you know has aborted a baby or is contemplating such a decision, I strongly encourage you to seek some help. There are options to abortion and immediate confidential assistance at 1-800-395-HELP. There are also good resources on the Internet, at least 50 ways to help others. Most of all, don’t ever forget, your life matters, and so does every life in the womb. God isn’t through with anyone’s life, least of all yours.
Original:www.wnd.com
As a result all national laws prohibiting or limiting abortion were reverted. The primacy of a woman’s rights prevailed and the rights of the unborn were not only abandoned, but their nature legally reduced to nonhuman.
A history of justifications
Both Justices Byron White and William Rehnquist strongly dissented the 7-2 majority decision on that winter day 34 years ago. In fact Rehnquist jeered their justification, ”To reach its result, the Court necessarily has had to find within the scope of the Fourteenth Amendment a right that was apparently completely unknown to the drafters of the Amendment.”
We’ve continued to cloak the truths about abortion with a vast network of ethical justifications, inconsistencies and avoidances. ”The child will not be taken care of properly,” ”She’s too young to have children,” ”Aborting unwanted children reduces the number of abused children,” ”Nobody can tell me right fr om wrong,” ”It’s a woman’s right to choose,” ”If abortion is outlawed women will return to back-alley abortion clinics,” etc.
And guilt and accountability are often subsided by an interchange in language: instead of baby we say fetus; instead of killing we say aborting; instead of dissect we say research; instead of extermination chambers we say abortion clinics – ad nauseam. Who could ever imagine the aftermath of three decades of legalized abortions?
What is human? And what’s its worth?
In an evolutionary, self-centered world, in which man is nothing more than a glorified ape aimlessly shooting for stars of deification, it’s not difficult to understand how the slippery slope of human degradation has led fr om fetal devaluing to discarding.
At the heart of these issues, however, are a couple of questions we all must answer: What is human? Is a fetus human, even in its embryonic stage? And does human life have any intrinsic worth?
Our contemporary world has indoctrinated us to believe humanness cannot be uniquely defined, a fetus is nothing more than a cellular mass, and there is no special value to being human.
I beg to differ.
Seeing is believing
Before our embryonic twins were surgically placed into my wife Gena, the nurse told her, ”I want to show you something.” She wheeled Gena to the incubator wh ere they were kept and gently opened the door. The incubator was bathed in warm light and soft classical music. Gena later told me it was the most incredible sight she had ever seen. ”It was like looking at something from heaven,” she explained. That was only 2 days after conception! Whether or not Gena had become pregnant, we were fully convinced at that moment that life begins at conception. Thirty-two weeks later our twins were born.
A creed that needs to be cloned
From our Founding Fathers forward, there were some basic creeds by which most Americans lived, and I believe we should go back to if we are to restore civility in our land. Here are three:
1. I believe human life is made in the image of God and as such has intrinsic value, worthy to save. And, as human beings, all zygotes are ”created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” (Preamble of the Declaration of Independence).
2. I believe aborting or destroying human life is morally wrong and goes against God’s law.
3. I believe ours and others’ mistakes can be forgiven and even turned around for the good.
In my autobiography, ”Against All Odds,” one chapter is appropriately titled, ”A Sin That Became a Blessing.” It’s about my failed attempt to keep my wedding vows by having an affair. It’s also about me finding forgiveness from God and others. And yet it’s also about the blessing of my daughter, Dina, who was bore from that illicit relationship. The harm I brought to my family God turned around and used for the good. And now Dina is a part of my life and my family, and I love her with all my heart, as I do my other children.
There might be illegitimate parents in the world – I know because I was one, but there are not illegitimate children. God has a plan and purpose for each of our lives. And He can turn around what we and others mean for harm and use it for good.
”Empty Playgrounds” by ”Jane Roe”
In 1995, the former ”Jane Roe” of Roe v. Wade, whose real name is Norma McCorvey, became a Christian and began the Crossing Over Ministry, encouraging women to save babies, not abort them. She told WND a few years ago, ”I long for the day that justice will be done and the burden from all of these deaths will be removed from my shoulders. I want to do everything in my power to help women and their children. The issue is justice for women, justice for the unborn, and justice for what is right.”
McCorvey also wrote a fitting poem and prayer for the moment, titled, ”Empty Playgrounds.”
”Empty Playgrounds” A poem by Miss Norma McCorvey
I sit across from a playground that
I visited this eve with a small child.
I know of such places wh ere children play. I know that I am the cause of them not being here today.
These playgrounds for “innocent children” now dead because of sins I helped do.
I hope, Lord, that the wonderful playground is well guarded with angels. Angels who will protect them keep them happy and safe. Angels who will make them smile and laugh.
So that when that glorious day comes; the children will not hold “the sin” against me.
For every time I see a playground empty, I will know that yours will be full. The sun is now setting, and my heart hurts, Lord.
For the numbers who from abortion have been torn apart.
I pray you can put them back together and make them whole.
If you like, Lord, use my body to make your precious children whole again.
I ask you to do this not only for them, Lord, but also for the love I have for each of them.
Lord, God, you gave your only Son, and He died and shed His blood for us.
All I did was give my baby away so that “women could tear theirs apart.”
For this I will never be able to look in your face out of shame.
Fight for life – yours and others
If you or someone you know has aborted a baby or is contemplating such a decision, I strongly encourage you to seek some help. There are options to abortion and immediate confidential assistance at 1-800-395-HELP. There are also good resources on the Internet, at least 50 ways to help others. Most of all, don’t ever forget, your life matters, and so does every life in the womb. God isn’t through with anyone’s life, least of all yours.
Original:www.wnd.com