Flashback Friday: Giving a Voice to the Unborn

I am participating in Flashback Friday again this week.  If you would like to visit the host of this awesome weekly event, please go on over to Christopher & Tia, and make sure you leave a comment saying "hi". :) 

Today is the anniversary of Roe v Wade - the infamous court case that allowed for abortion to be legal in the U.S. in 1973 - so I thought it would be fitting to do a Flashback Friday that touched on this anniversary.  I am pro life.  For those that know me, that shouldn't surprise anyone.  If you are new to this blog, then you are learning this for the first time.  I believe in the sanctity of life, from conception, and I believe that abortion at any stage is murder.  I think that it should be illegal.  Having said that, I also feel that one of the best ways to end abortion is to work to end some of the socio-economic injustices that often force women into abortions.  I also think that there are many views in society that pregnancy or being a mother or even adoption are inferior and can ruin your chances for a career or a successful life.  This is detrimental to the lives of the unborn and to the feminist movement everywhere.  

"And if we can accept that a mother can kill her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?" - Mother Teresa

I am a feminist.  There are many that argue that you cannot be both feminist and pro life; I beg to differ.  I believe that every woman should be equal, that they should have the right to their own bodies, and the right to the same opportunities in education and the workplace as men.  I stand up for all women, and all humans - including those still in the womb.  I think the bigger travesty is not denying abortion to women, but allowing a society that makes women think that they have to take the life of something so precious - their child - in order to be their own woman and have control over their bodies and their own lives.  The fact that pregnancy is seen as a weakness and a detriment in the workplace and for moving up in the world is the true travesty.  What we need is an attitude that doesn't look at mothers and pregnant women as being too "distracted" by their children (men have children too), but as their own people who should be judged based on their merits.  That they happen to also have children should have nothing to do with those merits.  So, yes, I am a pro life feminist.  I am not alone in my beliefs.  I dream of the day that women from both sides of the debate - pro life and pro choice - can set aside their differences and decide to work toward fixing the injustices against women so that women can be free to have children and proud to love them.   I also dream of a world in which every women will have the social and economic opportunities to have a child and the means to raise them in a healthy, loving environment.  Not every woman is afforded these rights, because of injustices that are not their fault.  This is why I believe that working toward eradicating these injustices is the surest way to reduce or eliminate abortion.

"It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish." - Mother Teresa

I spent today in a great deal of prayer.  I am praying today on the anniversary of Roe v Wade for the millions of unborn babies that have lost their lives, the unborn babies that will lose their lives, the women who are the victims of abortion, and for our society that encourages the murder of our unborn babies as a safe and healthy alternative for women.  I am praying for women AND babies today.  I am praying for peace.  Roughly 50 million unborn babies have been killed due to abortion since Roe v Wade in 197 3.  That is more than all the wars combined.  This number is only for the U.S. - there are many many more babies killed throughout the world from abortion.  50 million.  Over 3000 unborn babies are killed every day.  That is an awful lot of lives. 

I do not write this post in hopes of spurring angry debates or shoving my opinion in the faces of others.  I am very open to the views of others, and I respect everyone's right to their own opinion.  I have a great deal of empathy to many of the women who choose to have an abortion and for the argument of a women's "right to choose".  I can understand where these arguments come from, and to a certain extent I agree with them.  I do think that a woman has the right to control her own body.  But I also believe that every human being has a right to life and a right not to be murdered.  A woman has a right to choose not to be a mother, if that is what she wishes.  I would never force a woman to raise a child, if she didn't want to.  But that child has a right to life as well.  I would encourage adoption in this case.  There are many families out there that are willing and able to adopt.  We need reforms in the adoption process in our country, because it is difficult for wonderful families who are open to loving and adopting a child to adopt because of the high costs or the strenuous process of adopting a child.  I just want people to understand that I do not write this post to draw a line in the sand; my continual hope and prayer is that women can come together out of mutual compassion and passion for justice, in order to help fellow women out so that the issue of abortion doesn't have to come about.  I will always stand up for what I believe in, but I am also called to do this humbly and with respect.  The following quote is why I do not seek to argue, but simply to stand up for what I believe is true:

"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.  Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.  But do this with greatness and respect." - 1 Peter 3:15

I haven't always been pro life.  I don't think I was ever really pro choice, but I never really thought about it in any sort of deep way.  When I was a senior in high school, however, I actually sat down and thought about my beliefs and what actually happens in abortion.  I came to realize that I was pro life.  And this is a very important issue for me.  I don't have an allegiance to any one political party - I'm an independent - but I am pro life.  This is probably the only issue that I have in common with the Republican Party, since I happen to be anti - death penalty (pro life isn't limited to the womb), anti- war, and overall I feel strongly about all efforts for social justice, peace, and human rights.  I don't always fit into groups with other people who are pro life because that is usually all we have in common.  That is fine with me though, because I always like to approach a situation thinking about both sides and how people can come together to fix something rather than dividing the issue into black and white.  Pro life issues are very important to me, but so are many others.  

Now to the actual flashback & pictures... ;)

My first two years of college were at a public university, and I spent the first year trying to find someone who would be a faculty adviser for a pro life group on campus.  I wasn't so lucky because the school was pretty pro choice.  My second year, however, I did end up finding two other girls that were successful in finding an adviser and starting a group, and I joined them.  It was the EWU Pro Life Club.  Below I have pictures of a pro life silent protest that we did in June 2007.  I was almost 8 months pregnant and I definitely got looks from other students on campus - especially with a pro life sign right in front of my huge pregnant belly.  :)

 These are pictures from a Pro Life Silent Protest, June 2007 - EWU Pro Life Club:

 

 

That was one of the last things I did at the public college.  That summer I gave birth to my son and then I transferred to a private Catholic Jesuit college that August.  Just a side note: I was a lot happier at this college, since I was a Religious Studies major, and the school wasn't as hostile toward certain viewpoints.  The religious college was actually a lot more open and tolerant to all different viewpoints then the public college, which I find fascinating.  At this school, I joined their Right to Life Club, and became very involved.  I was the only person in the club that had a child, and pretty much the only one that was married too (I got really used to being one of the few married students, and definitely one of the only ones that had a child - a lot of the shock came from the fact that I didn't take a break when I had my son so I was the exact same age as my peers and took more classes/credits then them).  

There are pictures below of our annual Roe v Wade anniversary Pro Life Crosses demonstration from the two years that I attended that college - January 22, 2008 & 2009.  A group of us would show up early in the morning before classes started out on a common grass area on campus (in the bitter cold, mind you, since it was January) and hammer wood crosses into the frozen earth.  Each white cross stood for a certain number of unborn babies killed from abortion since Roe v Wade, and each red cross stood for a certain number of mothers that had died from complications due to abortion since 1973.  We would have a sign explaining it.  Usually it would take a couple of hours, depending on how many people were there, and toward the end, students would start making their way on campus to get to class.  We would get a lot of scathing looks, but we would also get a lot of people genuinely curious or giving us a smile and a "good job".  

 

 These are pictures from Roe v Wade anniversary 2008 - GU Right to Life:

 These pictures are from Roe v Wade anniversary 2009 - GU Right to Life: 

 

 

This is my first year that I haven't had an organized event for the Roe v Wade anniversary in several years.  I was planning to go to the Denver March for Life today down at the Capitol building and the Cathedral, but I didn't end up getting the chance because of John's school schedule.  Where I really would have loved to have been this year would have been either the March for Life in San Francisco or Washington D.C.  Last year the Right to Life club at GU almost went to San Francisco for the March for Life, and I was all ready to go, but the plan fell through in the end because so few people could make it.  It was really disappointing.  Next year I am really hoping that I can pull off going to one of them for the March for Life.  It would really be wonderful to march alongside other people, and make a stand against Roe v Wade and abortion, as well as to give a voice to the unborn.  This is a really major goal for me for the coming year: to plan and be able to go next Roe v Wade anniversary.  Even though I was not able to participate in a pro life demonstration this year, my thoughts and prayers were with those that were demonstrating, for the unborn, for women, and for our country.  May God grant us the wisdom, courage, and compassion to do what is right.

"When the sacredness of life before birth is attacked, we will stand up and proclaim that no one ever has the authority to destroy unborn life." - Pope John Paul the Great (II)

**To Tia: I know you wanted people to post awkward teenage pictures today for their Flashback Friday posts, but I thought this one more relevant for today.  However, I just got a bunch of film developed that had some pictures from high school that I wasn't aware of, and I will be sure to post some awkward teenage pictures next week after I scan them onto my computer. ;)