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Jan. 22 has been designated as a Day of Prayer in our country. A day to reflect on the lives that have been lost to the leading cause of death in the U.S. No, it is not heart disease, cancer, or COVID, it is abortion.
Jan. 22 is the 47th anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade travesty which has resulted in more than 62 million American lives being lost, averaging over one million annually with a peek in 1990 of 1,609,000 innocent lives lost. Although the COVID deaths in 2020 were unfathomable, abortion deaths still far outnumbered them along with cancer and heart disease.
As a Respect Life Advocate my goal is not to bring shame to those who out of desperation have felt forced into choosing abortion. Many have sadly chosen abortion simply because no one offered them life affirming help and alternatives. I instead want to bring healing, education and awareness to prevent others from participating in or supporting abortion.
Many women have been used and lied to about their self-worth and their God given gift of fertility to create new life; a gift that should be celebrated and guarded, not abused and despised. God created us as strong, persevering and intelligent beings. Yet a late Supreme Court Justice stated that women would never be equal to men without being able to abort their children. What a sad way to empower women. Women deserve better. Why would one feel that it is important to tell our daughters that without abortion they may never achieve their goals in life? As Mother Teresa, now Saint Teresa so eloquently stated, “It is a poverty to decide that a child should die so that you may live as you wish.”
Why do we search for the truth and scientific facts about other living creatures in an effort to protect them, yet choose to remain ignorant to the true and often hidden facts about abortion, the unborn humans beings it destroys, and the painful scars it often leaves in the lives of those who choose it? Science tells us that at the moment of conception every human being has their own unique and unrepeatable DNA. A unborn child’s heart begins to beat at 19 to 21 days after conception. At 12 weeks the child feels pain and its unique fingerprints are starting to develop. At 18 weeks they can swim, suck their thumb, do somersaults and cover their ears if they are exposed to loud noises.
Abortion facts are often hidden from women. If only women knew before hand that the violent act of abortion often dismembers the child. At Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers women are not allowed to view their ultrasounds before making their “choice.” Women generally are not allowed to see the abortion doctor face to face and women are rarely counseled in choosing the adoption option. Many pro-choice supporters use the faulty reasoning of personally being opposed to abortion but believing that it should remain a legal “choice” for others to choose. That is like personally believing child abuse is wrong but should remain a legal “choice” for others to choose. Innocent life is left unprotected in each case.
The good news is that truth will prevail over evil in the end. Thanks to education and awareness the abortion numbers are falling significantly. Privately funded pro-life women’s centers lovingly offer free options including pregnancy testing, ultrasounds, healthcare, material needs, education, caring support and adoption option information. There is wonderful and supportive healing available with programs such as Rachael’s Retreat which offers confidential comfort and healing to thousands of men and women affected by the loss of their children. Above all there is great power in Knowledge and Prayer. Please join us on Jan. 22 and pray to end abortion.
Rita Tracey
Princeton