Adoption, Not Abortion
Adoption is a better choice than abortion when it comes to unwanted pregnancies. Many people fail to recognize the similarity that the two share, they are both choices. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the word adopt means “to take by choice into a relationship; especially to take voluntarily (a child of other parents) as one’s own child. “It is the choice to give life, hope, happiness, and second chance. The word abort means “to end a pregnancy deliberately by causing the death of the fetus. “It is the choice “to make life easier,” take life away, squander happiness, and take away hope. These two choices are the decision between the life or death of an innocent child.
Take a closer look at the abortion that many women choose. After a survey, 94% of women regret their decision of abortion? Abortion is not a new idea; in fact it was practiced as early as the 1800s and most likely even earlier. “At that time, American women could not vote or hold property. They could not control their own money, sit on a jury or even testify on their own behalf. Women’s rights to assemble, speak freely, attend college and maintain child custody after divorce or spousal death were severely limited. Marital rape went unacknowledged. The early American feminists – facing conditions similar to those developing countries today – were strongly opposed to abortion; despite their own struggles, they believed in the worth of all human lives. Sarah Norton and Susan B. Anthony successfully argued against abortion: ‘Child murders practice their profession without let or hindrance, and open infant butcheries unquestioned… Perhaps there will come a day when… an unmarried mother will not be despised because of her motherhood… and when the right of the unborn to be born will not be denied or interfered with.”
There are up to nine different types of abortions at different stages of development. A common process is pill taking, this cuts off all nutrients to the child causing it to die from malnutrition. A sixteen year old girl describes her feelings after she went through this process as follows: “A week ago today I took the medical pill. Then Friday last week I took the four pills that make you basically go into labor. I now regret it greatly and wish I had my baby. I never thought I would regret it, but now I regret it more than anything, and not a day will go by that I won’t tell that child how sorry I am. I will never forget looking at my dead child and saying I’m so sorry while crying my eyes out.” Many girls think that they will be able to get over the fact that their child is gone, but they become emotionally wrecked once they realized what they did.
The side effects of abortion on women are: sad mood, sudden and uncontrollable crying episodes, deterioration of self-concept, sleep, appetite and sexual disturbances, reduced motivation, disruption in interpersonal relationships, extreme guilt and anxiety, psychological “numbing,” and depression and thoughts of suicide. Dr. Janling did research and connected having abortions to the cause of breast cancer, in fact, they found that a woman who has had an abortion is 50% more likely to develop breast cancer; not only does abortion take life away from the child but also endangers the mother’s life.
Adoption, on the other hand, extends hope not only for the couple but also for the targeted unborn child. It is a free service for mothers whereas the abortion process is extremely expensive. “Over 1.3 million legal abortions occur in America each year. A sad irony: over two million couples wait to adopt – and that includes children of all races and those with special needs.” Adoption provides healing from the hurt of infertility among many couples. It allows a new family to be formed and gives each member of the new family the opportunity to become a family unit. Adoption has a lengthy process of paper work and background checks, but the child is able to grow up in a stable home with a loving environment. The outcome of adoption is happiness and joy.
After comparing the two choices a mother can choose to do with her unwanted child, it is clear that adoption is the better option. E.A. Bucchianeri once said, “Abortion should be listed as a weapon of mass destruction against the voiceless,” Throughout Scripture, God affirms the value of every human life – from children in the womb to the elderly. Psalm 139:13-16 says. “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb, I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well, my frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. “Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. “Isaiah 49:15 says, “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you. “Psalm 127:3 says, “Children are a gift from God.” Deuteronomy 27:25 says, “Cursed is the man who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person. “The Bible gives fair warning of the judgement that will come upon those that kill the innocent. Abortion is a choice to demolish innocent human life, and adoption is a choice to give hope not only to the child but also to the adopting family.
Devotional submitted by:
Karley Lawn
Southport Baptist Church
Kenosha, WI