A Gift of Life

I read with horror that since Roe vs Wade was passed in 1971, over 46 million abortions have been performed in this country alone. Abortions are horrible and I am thoroughly against them not only because of the procedure itself murders a human being but because I am speaking from the viewpoint of a child who escaped the process itself.

I was born in 1967. My mother discovered that she was pregnant with me in the summer of 1966. My mother, a lifelong diabetic, was advised by her doctor that she should abort me instead of carrying me to term. He warned that carrying me would be an incredible burden to her body; putting a strain upon her kidneys and possibly costing my mother her own life.

My mother, raised a Catholic, scoffed at her doctor's suggestion and took it upon herself to carry me to full term. My mother and I both survived the birthing process and I was granted life. My mother was ill for some time but she did not die. An abortion, therefore, would have been pointless. My Mom was so determined to be a 'mother' that three years later, she gave birth to my brother. Again, she survived the process.

I am very grateful to my Mom that she took such a courageous stand. Because she did, I have experienced the joys of growing up in a family that loved me completely. I experienced sunrises, sunsets, laughter and sorrow. I learned to love to play baseball and to swim in the ocean. I saw the stars shine brightly at night and listened to birds sing in the sunlight. I learned to appreciate sublte joy of petting a cat and the brittle coldness of a snowball thrown in winter by my brother; laughing all the time.

I learned to read and to write. I learned about teamwork and about responsibility. I graduated high school and enlisted in the US Navy. I learned meteorology as a trade and even became somewhat of a writer.

I can play a harmonica and am learning the keyboard. I've also learned what it is to love someone and to have them love me back. I learned what it was like to be alive.

I never would have learned or experienced any of this had my mother been a selfish person and placed her own safety over mine.

As a survivor, I believe that every child has the right to know what it is like to be alive. They need to experience the same joys and sorrows that I did. These experiences make up that which we call life. It's an amazing journey.

Thank you, Mom.