After 50 Years

In 1973 I was in my first year of practice as a registered nurse. I was working on a labor/delivery unit in a city hospital. I was shocked when an abortion by saline induction was done on our unit. Why, on a unit devoted to new life, was a baby being killed? Somehow, I hadn’t heard the news. The Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade made abortion legal in every state.

Young women today have lived their entire life with legalized abortion. Abortion has become an accepted part of life for many. Yet the harm to women and families is gradually being acknowledged. On a national level the fertility rate has fallen below replacement and continues to fall. How do we change course now?

Congress is considering a new bill, “Women’s Health Protection Act”. This bill would make abortion legal nationally, by law. In essence it is a re-enactment of Roe v. Wade.

I wrote the following letter to my Rep. in the House of Representatives and to my two Senators:

For fifty years the Supreme Court put a stamp of approval on the abortion procedure. It has been said that the decision is between a woman and her doctor.

I met a woman who told me with tears in her eyes that she pressured her daughter to get an abortion. It has left wounds on her relationship to her daughter. My daughter had a friend who became pregnant and wanted to give birth to the baby, but her parents threatened to take away money for college. She had the abortion and later went for counseling.

Many times, a parent, boyfriend or sex trafficker pushes the girl, young woman to abort the baby growing in her womb. 

The passionate movement to legalize abortion by a federal law does not recognize the harm that is taking place in our culture, in families and in the health of women—especially poor women and women of color.

The Bill, “Women’s Health Protection Act” is a misnomer. Quickly reinstating a national law legalizing abortion in every state, would shut down discussion. We need a review of the impact that abortion has had on the health of our country. 

And finally, the trend of “health care” provided by Planned Parenthood has me troubled. According to the new annual report, Planned Parenthood received $700M from our tax dollars. 

As reported by Ben Johnson in the Washington Stand: “Between 2022 and 2023, preventive-care visits fell by 31.0 percent, pap tests fell by 13.5 percent, cancer screenings fell by 1.4 percent, and adoption referrals fell by 4.5 percent,” according to an analysis from Professor Michael New of Catholic University of America. “All of this is consistent with Planned Parenthood’s long-term trend of performing more abortions and providing fewer health services. In fact, in the past ten years, the number of abortions performed by Planned Parenthood has increased by 20 percent. Meanwhile, cancer screenings fell by more than 58 percent, and prenatal services declined by more than 67 percent.”

I sent the letters, and I continue to think about this issue. An article in World Magazine tells the story of a woman tricked by her husband. He placed an abortion pill in a cup of water and urged her to drink all of it. The abortion pill opens the door to forced abortions. Read the article HERE.

Here is the testimony of a woman who deeply regretted her abortion.

God is the giver of life–from the time of conception. For you formed my inward parts, you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:13-14

How can we change hearts and minds?

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