This past Monday, Jan. 22, marked the 45th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. In 1973, the United States Supreme Court legalized abortion, ruling that access to abortion falls under the right to privacy protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. Since the Court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade, more than 60 million innocent lives have been lost. Sixty million people are missing, and my sister could have been one of them.
When my mom was pregnant, her OB/GYN informed her there was a problem with the baby. She said the baby would very likely die before birth, and if the baby were to live, it would be only a short amount of time. The doctor advised my mom that abortion was the best option. My parents quickly, firmly and bravely rejected this advice, but that didn’t seem to be good enough. The doctor continued to advise my mom to abort my sister saying, “think of how this will affect your two children and the rest of your family.”
My mom responded that her children would have to learn that not everyone is perfect and that God has a plan no matter what. My sister, Mary Grace, was born March 29, 2001. While she’s had some struggles physically, she is healthy and happy.
I am so thankful that my mom did not choose what so many others choose out of fear and desperation. I am thankful that my sister did not become another stat on paper, another innocent unborn life violently snuffed out, another voiceless human being killed in the name of choice. The first right we have as human beings is the right to life, and that right should be extended to every class of human beings, including the unborn.
With the advancement of science, we now know that the heartbeat of an unborn child begins 22 days after conception. We know more about fetal development than we have ever known. Unlike in 1973, there is no denying that the unborn are in fact a human entity worthy of legal recognition as a person and deserving of the same legal protection granted to every other class of human beings by our Constitution.
Had my mom made a different decision — had she taken a doctor’s advice and chosen to undergo a 10-minute procedure performed legally more than 3,000 times a day in America — my sister would be completely missing from my life. I often reflect upon the hypocrisy in the fact that the same OBGYN who pushed for my mom to abort Mary Grace, also cares for and delivers babies for a living. She can affirm the humanity of the babies she delivers but could not see the same humanity in my pre-born sister.
In the words of former abortion provider Dr. Bernard Nathanson, “fewer women would have abortions if wombs had windows.” Abortion destroys families, and I’m blessed to have courageous parents who didn’t let it destroy mine.
Ben Parks
Co-president, Pro-Life LSU