It is fair to say that abortion is one of the most targeted topics that divide people in this country. It divides families, friends, religions, politics, states and others. One way we deal with it is to refrain from bringing it into a conversation. But a serious question with this approach is: Does our avoidance on this issue displease God? In honesty, the answer has to be YES because God wants us to take a stand on this issue and not put it out of our mind.
God wonderfully and lovingly created mankind on the sixth day of Creation, and He had a unique mission for each individual in every generation. So when children are aborted and not available for their missions, then God has to change His original plans. I remember a story about Saint Padre Pio, who spent countless hours in the confessional and people would travel from every part of Italy and elsewhere because he was gifted with being able to read souls. He was hearing the confession of an Italian woman, and when she was finished, he asked if she had anything else to confess and she said no. So he told her, what about that abortion you had, and your aborted child was destined to become a future pope.
At the moment we are conceived in our mother’s womb, we receive our soul, our will, and our intellect, which are eternal. Additionally, we receive our guardian angel to guide and protect us throughout our life. Every conception is part of God’s plan, and we certainly don’t have God’s wisdom on why He conceives a child in a woman that’s been raped or suffered incest. What a difficult decision for a woman conceived under such circumstances: do I abort or keep this child, even if I will eventually give it up for adoption? More than likely, the woman’s decision will be based on advice from family and friends and, hopefully, her relationship with God. But what choice would God want her to make? If you said life, then you are right!
Life is so precious in God’s eyes because we are His creation and His children, predestined to be saved in this life in order to share in His eternal glory. But there is a “catch” – we have to live a life according to His will, which means following the Ten Commandments. We are called to follow the Truth in our life, and that is Jesus Christ, and to be guided by the promptings of the Holy Spirit desiring to lead us through the valley of sin into eternal glory.
The Fifth Commandment states “You shall not kill.” That is exactly what abortion does, it murders God’s innocent children, which is the sin that grieves God the most. These children that God lovingly knew before He formed them in their mother’s womb (Jeremiah 1:5), that are brutally killed by abortionist’s hands or the morning after pill anger God. All those involved in abortions in any way will be held accountable because there is no compromise with God on this issue, either we are with Him or we are not. Despite our past actions, there is hope. With a willingness to change, God’s mercy offering forgiveness is always there, and no sin we have ever committed, including abortion, can alter His gift of mercy and forgiveness.
For the people that say that it is not a human being yet, science shows that life begins at conception and that a child in the womb is a distinct, developing, whole human being. There are abortion mills that tell the women that it is only tissue and not a baby yet. Don’t believe their lie!
For every abortion, there are two victims: the baby that dies and the mother who is wounded and possibly scarred for life. For some, they have to live with the emotional pain of not seeing their child grow up, especially if there were doubts about getting the abortion and were talked into it by a boyfriend, husband or parents.
After the abortion, there may be remorse and guilt that needs to be dealt with. Fortunately, there are organizations offering support to help women, and men too, through their guilt and pain. Two such organizations are Project Rachel and Rachel’s Vineyard, and there are many others.
I want to believe that the aborted children are taken by their guardian angels to the arms of the Blessed Mother who takes them into Heaven, where they gain full knowledge and begin to pray that one day they’ll be reunited with their mothers. This means that they are praying that their mothers will repent to God for aborting them and come to know God’s mercy. Now this would give tremendous hope to mothers who have aborted their children that one day they will be reunited with them. Now the burden is on these mothers to repent to God, asking for his forgiveness.
God’s mercy is so much greater than their sin of abortion, and He is waiting with open arms to welcome them back to a covenant with Him. We need to encourage them to make that decision to repent and ask for His forgiveness. Remember that God is all-knowing and already knows their sins, for which He died on the Cross to save them. He did His part, now they have to do their part, pushing through pride to humility in order to have the correct mindset to truly ask for forgiveness from the heart.
Likewise, every person with a heartbeat should be supportive of pregnant women, who could be feeling frightened, desperate, and alone, maybe soon to be homeless, thinking only about survival. We need to be encouraging and give them hope that they are not alone on their journey, helping them as best we can. God too will help them protect the precious life that they are carrying, and He will provide for them if they ask Him, trust Him, and surrender their child in the womb to His loving care.