Saturday, July 17, 2010

real people.


The other day,
I was folding clothes in the living room and watching the eternally obnoxious chicken heads on the television show "The View" peck each others eyeballs out. (No, I don't always watch this show, but when you have 5 channels, and it's 11:00 am, your options are limited. Why do you think I am such an avid blogger? Yep. Little to no TV, baby!)

So, there I was, folding clothes, watching smutty/gossipy/political junk, when something funny happened. I was turning one of the hub's shirts right side out, and flipped it (really hard) to get some folds to shake out of the bottom of it, when my hand lost grip, flew off, and smacked (we are talking POW! WHAM! smacked) into my belly.

Baby Bob just about jumped right out of his skin (and MY skin for that matter...). My belly exploded into a series writhing, wriggling, frantic movements. It was as if B.B. was saying "What the heck is going on?!" or "What did I do?!!!" It made me laugh. (Like really hard.)

And then I was crying. (Ah, the emotional roller coaster of pregnancy. Joy.)

I was crying because it hit me (again) that there is a person in there.
A real person who is going to join and bless my family.
A person.
Not an embryo.
Not a fetus.
Not some "thing" that is fully expendable or disposable until he draws his first breath.
A person.
With feelings, cognitive abilities, and yes, as the weird girl on "Juno" so eloquently brought to our attention, even teeny tiny fingernails.

I'm so tired of people putting medical-ish labels on them to try and justify their slaughter.
I just am. Sorry.

Baby Bob is a real person.
He would still be real even if I didn't like his father.
He would still be real if his father was a good for nothing jerk.
He would still be real if "I didn't mean for this to happen."
He would still be real if I was 15 years old.
He would still be real if I thought that I couldn't get pregnant while on my period.
He would still be real even if I was foolish enough to sleep with a skeezy jerk without the aid of all of the readily available birth control/protection/prevention options that are out there.
He is a REAL person.
You wanna know how I know?
I scared him.
I startled my baby.
I don't think that you can startle "things."
(Give it a try. Sneak up on a dining chair and scream "Boo!" or something...or you can just take my word for it.)

Photobucket
{See that ski slope nose and that puffy, pouty top lip that is just like his big brother's? My oh my, I think we just might have an actual human being on our hands...even clear back at 17 weeks gestation... Fancy that...}

When I look at Kortland, and see the person that he is, and the funny things that he says and does, I think to myself: HE IS A PERSON.

When I think of my opinionated little self, and the thoughts, fears, and indescribable joys I feel on a daily basis, I think to myself: I am a PERSON.

And guess what?

I got here the same way those of you reading this got here. I was a tiny little embryo, then I was a fetus, then I was outside of my mother, but I was ALWAYS a human being. From the moment of conception, I was a being of limitless power and potential, and so were you. So is and was every single embryo that has ever implanted in any uterus since the dawn of time.

We talk of choice, but what about the choice to not get pregnant in the first place? Seriously. I know that this argument is probably getting really annoying, but c'mon. It's not exactly rocket science. Look over the THOUSANDS of contraceptive options and pick ONE! (Heck, pick two.) But don't tell me it's your right to murder a baby just because the consequences of your actions aren't convenient for you.

And I'm not saying that you should keep and raise the baby. Not saying that AT ALL. Heck, if you didn't even want a baby in the first place, why not place him/her with someone who is desperate to love and cherish a child that their body can't produce on their own...no matter how much they wish it could? Why not?

If the sperm donor of your unwanted child is a horrible, selfish, irresponsible person who won't be able to adequately love a child, why not place that child with a woman whose husband has been ACHING to dote on a child for YEARS on end? I guess I just don't get why that would be such a bad thing for the child... I mean... DEATH and the snuffing out of infinite potential, or placement with a loving family...hmmmmm, decisions, decisions.

So, yeah.
There it is.
I guess I just felt like I needed to speak for my baby, who is very real indeed.
It turns out that the Obama Administration just OK'd the first TAX FUNDED (meaning paid for by you and me) abortions under the new health care law. (You can click on that link to read the full article.)

This may be something of an understatement, but I'm sort of not okay with this.

I'm pretty sure that I'm not comfortable paying money into a system that is going to turn around and use said money to murder babies. It's not something that I want to have any part of really, and it's something that I feel we should be vigilant about, as I know that many of you feel the same way. Politicians are sneaky, slimy little buggers, and it turns out that Obama tends to follow suit. (For the record, I've never met a high-ranking politician that I liked... Republican, Democrat, or otherwise. It seems to me that the process of coming into positions of political power manages to taint them...every one.) But Obama trying to sneak my tax dollars into clinics that kill babies...? Well, that's a new low that even I am struggling to wrap my head around.

*It should be said that this post and my stance on abortion does not extend to include women whose pregnancies are life-threatening to the mother, OR women who are pregnant as the result of a sexual assault.

9 comments:

trevorblackwell said...

It should also be said that people claiming to be "pro choice" are usually not okay with the man CHOOSING not to pay for the child that the mother CHOOSES to keep. They are typically opposed to legalizing prostitution and drugs as well (two things which also place laws on "her body").

Nothing eliminates choice like eliminating a human being, since every choice they ever would have made is stamped out before they are given a chance.

Nothing degrades women more than abortion. Since about half of all abortions performed kill 100% of female babies. Even evil men who beat their wives don't kill that many women.

Pro choice = pro abortion = pro murder.

(I also agree, however, that abortion should be an option in EXTREME cases (statistically insignificant) where the mother's life is in danger, or when the baby is a result of rape/incest.)

Unknown said...

Baby Bob is real. And I am so glad that he is yours. I feel bad when people have abortions. Heartbroken really.

On the other hand, I work with kids that live in slums, have mothers that are drug addicts, fathers that are in prison and an overall terrible existence.

I don't know what is the best thing. I really don't. And I love Jesus. And I would never have an abortion myself.

trevorblackwell said...

That is a very popular concern Life with Kaishon, and one that comes up in a lot of debates about abortion. And it brings up a question. If we base killing a fetus (and it is killing) upon what we consider to be their future quality of life, then where does it stop? In Zambia, I witnessed thousands of children born into horrific living conditions (by my standards). Many of these children had no parents, let alone bad ones, yet they still wanted to learn to read, learn math, ask questions and play games. Should we have killed these children as babies (who number in the millions) simply because, by our standards, they are living a poor life?

Absolutely not. Murder cannot be justified on a basis of future quality of life. Quality of life is subjective and cannot be determined or qualified to any degree by anyone. And future quality of life is even less determinable.

Bottom line, abortions for convenience are murders for convenience and when society becomes comfortable with one they will eventually become comfortable with the other.

Ashalon Goodrich said...

My little sister was born at 24 weeks gestation. At the same time they were doing everything humanly possible to save her life in the next room, the same nurses were assisting in an abortion of the same gestation.

My sister is now 22 years old in college and a Rugby player. It is most definitely a life they are taking when they preform abortions. And it makes me sick that we are now paying for them.

Unknown said...

Health care is Health Scare and Obama is like all politicans liars looking out for themselves. Love that baby and hold him dear. He is the only real thing!

Sara
http://www.momentsofelegance.com

The Piquant Storyteller said...

I subscribe to your feed. I feel I know you well enough through your writing to know that scaring your unborn baby was not an eye opening thing for you. But I love how you used the experience in this post. Beautifully said.

A couple weeks ago I watched Gattaca again. This is one of my favorite movies. I had never seen the bonus material before and was fascinated by all of it. I posted a little about what I watched and I want to share these paragraphs here.

"At the end of the Do Not Alter? segment they showed famous historical figures and said what would have kept them from being born if we could genetically order our children. I can’t help but think of how hard I was pushed to get an amniocentesis done when it was discovered that my daughter may have something genetically wrong with her. My answer was a firm no. I would never abort the baby regardless of ability or disability. My only fear was she may have Trisomy 18 which would mean she would not live past her first year. Imagine our relief when she was born healthy and completely normal despite the abnormal umbilical cord and other red flags. We were told there was a chance nothing was wrong with her and I went with that rather than risk miscarriage by doing an amniocentesis so early in pregnancy.

The Gattaca movie makers wanted to put the imperfect historical figures at the end of the movie but felt they had already made their point. It reminds me of all the amazing people in the world who have been adopted. If their mothers had chosen to abort their unwanted babies we wouldn’t have had Lance Armstrong, Dave Thomas, Steve Jobs, and countless other people. It really makes you stop and think. God is in charge and He should be. He is also giving us the opportunity to grow from our own adversity. Make our own decisions and appreciate the consequences."

All life is precious and who knows what can be accomplished by letting an unborn baby live.

Suki said...

Hi Lola,
Yes indeed, the baby at 2 weeks is a living human being. A person.
Even as the movie "Juno" displays so good, if you are able to concieve a child (maybe unwanted) then you also have to ability to give it up. For the childs good.
I would immideatly give my child up for adoption if his/her life would be better with other people.
I see a lot in my job. abused children, mother's who let their children starv to death.
That's not okay. If you are not ready to have a child then try to give him/her the best parents you could ask for, even when you need to pick them. That the best I would wish for My child.
Abortion is not okay. It is clean, easy and done within minutes.
But it is murder. And that is not okay.
Here in Germany it is legal to abort until the baby is 12 weeks old. Before the doctors appointment you need to go to psychologist. But nevertheless the most teenage girls keep their babies here.
They are not bad mothers but they just have financial insufficent funds to raise the child.

Heather said...

I know. So much for the executive order, right? It is sickening.

We noticed for the first time a few weeks ago on Becca's 12 week ultrasound video that she was sucking her thumb! It's so amazing how soon these sweet babies are formed- they are real people for sure!

Sarah said...

So well-written, Lola! I have always felt the same way -- why would any woman have an abortion when she could give the baby to a loving couple who was dying to raise a child?