Ultrasound Has Supported Life 

 For nearly all of my adult life, abortion has been a legal option for parents. Initially, it seemed to me impossible that anyone would believe that removing a “clump of cells” from the safety of a womb would be a moral option. We didn’t have ultrasounds. Technology hadn’t progressed to the place where we could actually see the cells dividing, dividing, dividing, until…amazing…there was an outline of a tiny human, complete with beating heart. And we certainly faced an uphill battle. We determined to be the voice for the voiceless. The champions for the innocent victims. Banners depicting the horror of abortion were deemed “unsuitable” or “in bad taste.” People simply did NOT want to face the truth: At fertilization, a human being is created. Just as human at that moment as at birth, age 5 or 55! 

 But in an interesting development, ultrasound has supported life in a way not dreamed possible when Roe vs. Wade was first decided. We can SEE this is NOT just a clump of cells! We can SEE the beating heart! We can SEE the infant swimming around, responding to stimuli, alive and distinctively human. The fetus has been given a VOICE through SOUND. And this voice is being heard by pregnant couples in WI, where laws require a pregnant woman to view an ultrasound of her baby before going ahead with abortion. Many abortion-minded couples change their minds when they SEE their baby, moving, swimming, ALIVE! 

 We can be encouraged by statistics, recent legislation, and cultural changes in attitudes regarding abortion. And we are encouraged! BUT we must not stop praying for our government officials, praying for more workers in pregnancy care centers, praying for open hearts to accept the truth. We must support LIFE with every resource at our disposal! As we have opportunity to counsel or support pregnant couples who are choosing LIFE, we must be willing to sacrifice time and finances to help them face the challenges of LIFE. 

 Early in human history, people were tasked with the blessing of multiplying, filling the Earth with people. “And God…said unto them, ‘Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.’” (Genesis 9:1). Pregnant couples were expected to choose LIFE. Their children and grandchildren were to choose LIFE. God initiated human government to protect LIFE. And none of that has changed, over all these centuries: God wants ME to choose LIFE and to support others who are choosing LIFE! 

 Carole Vawter
Secretary of Baptists for Life of Wisconsin