From time to time, I reflect back on my experience as a pregnant sixteen year old in 1972 and how I was offered an abortion twice in San Antonio before Roe v Wade was
passed. At the time, abortion in Texas was prohibited, at least according to the letter of the law, except in cases of rape or endangerment of the life of the mother. Yet I heard about girls from school getting them and had talked to one who told me her parents made her get one.
The first "offer" was made at the "San Antonio Free Clinic," where I had gone for a pregnancy test, because this was years before do-it-yourself pregnancy tests were available at every drugstore. When the test returned positive, the counselor, who was probably in his 20s, asked if I knew what I was going to do. I said that no I didn't, but that my boyfriend and I would probably get married. He advised me that I didn't have to have a baby and that if I decided not to, they could help me "make the arrangements."
After I told my parents I was pregnant, my mother took me to Wilford Hall US Air Force hospital where I had another pregnancy test. When that one also came back positive, the Air Force doctor asked to speak to me alone. I suppose I looked pretty vulnerable at the age of sixteen and I'm sure this doctor was sincerely trying to help me when he informed me that because I was a military dependent, the hospital could arrange an abortion if I wanted one.
When I declined this offer, the doctor said that just in case the tests were wrong and my cycle was delayed, he would prescribe some pills for me to take for a week. To this day I don't know what those pills were, but I took them trustingly. Looking back, I often wondered if they were some type of abortifacient. If so, they didn't work, for which I thank God.
The first "offer" was made at the "San Antonio Free Clinic," where I had gone for a pregnancy test, because this was years before do-it-yourself pregnancy tests were available at every drugstore. When the test returned positive, the counselor, who was probably in his 20s, asked if I knew what I was going to do. I said that no I didn't, but that my boyfriend and I would probably get married. He advised me that I didn't have to have a baby and that if I decided not to, they could help me "make the arrangements."
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| Wilford Hall USAF Hospital where I declined the offer of an abortion and later gave birth. |
After I told my parents I was pregnant, my mother took me to Wilford Hall US Air Force hospital where I had another pregnancy test. When that one also came back positive, the Air Force doctor asked to speak to me alone. I suppose I looked pretty vulnerable at the age of sixteen and I'm sure this doctor was sincerely trying to help me when he informed me that because I was a military dependent, the hospital could arrange an abortion if I wanted one.
It may be hard to believe today, but public funding of abortion at military facilities was available, albeit with some limitations, for military personnel and their dependents during much of the 1970s. Memoranda to the surgeons general of the military departments issued in 1970—three years before the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion nationwide in Roe v. Wade—stated that, although no physician was required to perform an abortion if doing so would be against his or her religious, moral or ethical beliefs, abortions could be provided in military facilities "when medically indicated or for reasons involving mental health and subject to the availability of space and facilities and the capabilities of the medical staff." Moreover, these memoranda stated unequivocally that abortions could be provided without regard to state laws—significant because, at the time, 30 states and the District of Columbia prohibited abortion except in cases of life endangerment, and three states (Louisiana, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania) prohibited all abortions without exception.
Heather D. Boonstra,Guttmacher Policy Review
Summer 2010, Volume 13, Number 3
When I declined this offer, the doctor said that just in case the tests were wrong and my cycle was delayed, he would prescribe some pills for me to take for a week. To this day I don't know what those pills were, but I took them trustingly. Looking back, I often wondered if they were some type of abortifacient. If so, they didn't work, for which I thank God.
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| Me and my precious daughter, Kelly, born 2 months after I turned 17 |
Roe V Wade has been in place almost forty years now. If I could have had an abortion in Texas before Roe v Wade, I wonder how hard it would really be
to obtain one if it ever is overturned after being in place for over 40
years.
Some pro-lifers talk as if overturning Roe v Wade would make abortion illegal or unavailable in America, but of course it wouldn't. States would set their own laws like they did before 1973. Abortion would be legal in some states and not in others, severely restricted in some states and not restricted at all in others. For most people it just isn't very difficult to travel from one state to another.
Some pro-lifers talk as if overturning Roe v Wade would make abortion illegal or unavailable in America, but of course it wouldn't. States would set their own laws like they did before 1973. Abortion would be legal in some states and not in others, severely restricted in some states and not restricted at all in others. For most people it just isn't very difficult to travel from one state to another.
I consider myself to be
pro-life. I consider abortion to be the taking of a human life. But the
hope of overturning Roe v Wade is not the sole factor in determining how
I vote, at lease not anymore. In the forty years since Roe v Wade, five
Republican presidents have held office, but I don’t
think those five presidents managed to save many unborn babies or
even made the issue a priority once they were in office.
Somewhere along the way, I became convinced that as a Christian who is morally opposed to abortion, I should always vote Republican in presidential elections in the hope that someday Republican
presidents will appoint enough pro-life justices to the Supreme Court to
overturn Roe v Wade.
I just can't do it anymore. For me, the quest to overturn Roe v Wade no longer trumps all other issues, some of which also involve life and death. I do not think Roe v Wade is going to be overturned, no matter how many Republican presidents are elected or how many conservative justices they appoint to the Supreme Court.
This doesn't mean that I've become a Democrat. I never was a Republican. The truth is that I've never felt at home ideologically with either political party and deciding how to vote always involves some compromise.
I do believe that Christians are doing much and can do more to help prevent abortions more effectively than our emphasis on politics and laws. But that will be another post.
This doesn't mean that I've become a Democrat. I never was a Republican. The truth is that I've never felt at home ideologically with either political party and deciding how to vote always involves some compromise.
I do believe that Christians are doing much and can do more to help prevent abortions more effectively than our emphasis on politics and laws. But that will be another post.
For a comprehensive view of the history of abortion
and Christianity, see
The Abortion Wars | Christianity Today
Knowing that my beloved wife and the mother of my three beautiful girls are indeed that little girl born to you in 1972 makes this post particularly meaningful to me. I have thought a lot about you and the decision that you made 40 years ago. Thank you, Gail. You made a brave decision and I will forever be grateful. Thank you also for this well articulated post regarding the politics of abortion. For the reasons stated above I have a personal connection to my conviction that all life is sacred. I believe that abortion is wrong. But I have also come to the conclusion that abortion is not the only issue that touches on the sanctity (or value) of human life debate. Care for the poor and the elderly and the fatherless and the widow were high on Jesus' priority list. I wish that "pro life" platform of the Republican party was known for these things as well.
ReplyDeleteThank you Greg. When I reflect on that decision two things come to mind. The first is that having made that decision doesn't make me more righteous than anyone else, but it has certainly made me more blessed. The second is that I had resources and a support system that many young girls in the same situation don't have. That is where caring pro-life Christians can make a big difference and many are doing just that.
DeleteErika left the iPad unintended and I stumbled upon your blog. Someone failed to mention you started posting. No doubt Erika got her love for literature and writing from you, so I was excited to read your posts, and quickly read all of them. I know you are a woman with deep convictions, and always encouraged by how you carry them without them being a heavy burden. I was delighted to read your posts and encouraged by your transparency. Thank you especially for this last post to be reminded to hope in God and not in our "chariots." the rhetoric is so loud around these issues that I commonly catch myself trusting in man thinking I am trusting in God. Thank you for sharing your story. I only knew half of it, and hearing the full story gives me Even more appreciation for you.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Darin. That is high praise that I'm not sure I'm worthy of, but I sure appreciate your kind words of encouragement.
DeleteWhen I think of what it means to be pro-life I think of you and Erika and Lucy's birth mother. Five years ago, you and Erika could have pursued extraordinary measures through medical intervention to conceive a child instead of being open to adoption. And Lucy's birth mother could have dealt with her inconvenient pregnancy without interrupting her education and her life. I think of the people in her life and family who walked with her as she took the harder road to choose life for our precious Lucy.
I also think of how you and Erika and your cousin, Julie, have supported the Ruth Harbor home and how you and Erika opened your hearts and home to one needy young unwed mother in particular.
I respect my fellow pro-life Christians who continue to make it a priority to vote pro-life, but I think living pro-life requires even more commitment.