Comment

Comment by Peggy F. Talbert on January 24, 2011 at 11:15pm

Billie,  thanks for this story, and all that you do to make this a better place.

Comment by Armando Delgado on January 24, 2011 at 6:45pm

Thanks, Billie. Well said.

Comment by Kurt R Langenfeld on January 24, 2011 at 3:15pm

great story thanks for the great words and feelings. my wife was talked into an abortion when she was younger by her doctor,said it would be benefical to her health.[long story] but she lives with it every day, and when she hears the word abortion or hears bout young women having abortions she just breaks down.some of y''all know what i as her husband goes thru some don't it's absolutly heart breaking.but all i can do is hold her till it's over,but as rambo says it's not over till it's over and then it's  really never over.but thanks to GOD and our belief it's getting better.

Comment by Valerie Sawyer on January 24, 2011 at 1:52pm

Anita, I hear that response often too from the pro-abortion crowd. What they don't understand is that the pro-life people ARE supporting these women and children! Pro-life people take unwed girls into their homes all the time, they often adopt babies, they provide money and care to the women and their children, they help find adoptive parents or run adoption agencies to help place these babies. In other words, the pro-life crowd is putting their money where their mouths are. The difference is that they don't go around patting themselves on the backs about it. They do what they do quietly and consistently.

The pro-abortion crowd told us 40 years ago that if we would make abortion "safe" and "legal", if we would allow sex education in the schools, if we would provide abundant birth control, then you would see every child be a "wanted" child and teen pregnancy, abortion, etc., would become less and less. Well, we've seen how well that has worked.

Comment by Anita Thompson on January 24, 2011 at 11:36am

Last week a caller to Bill Bennett's Morning in America radio program asked if the pro-life movement was willing to financially support babies who are allowed to live for the next 20 years.  I could not respond since it was near the end of the show.  My response is: we only ask that the mother keep the baby a few months until it is viable outside the womb then she can go her merry way and allow one of the thousands of childless couples, who want a family, to raise the child.  People are going to China, Poland, Romania, etc. to adopt because there are not enough babies to adopt in the US.   Granted, our adoption regulations may need to be adjusted but that would be better than mass murder.  We are killing off our next generation of workers and taxpayers.  This should especially concern the baby boomers because it is the next generation that will have to pay for their retirement whether Social Security, government or private pensions.  It is the next generation that will keep our society running so we can enjoy retirement.

Comment by Rosemarie Brenneman on January 24, 2011 at 11:11am

I did join the pro-life group at my church in the late 80's, my father was with
Operation Rescue and Randall Terry.  We were able to get Doctors, apartment and all kinds of help to keep girls from making desperate choices and indeed, REALLY have a choice.  We provided for all their needs so that the babies could be adopted and loved.

I remember vividly the harsh criticisms that were thrown at us but I also knew in my heart that what we were doing was right. It is probably the one thing I am most proud of in my life

Comment by JSC on January 24, 2011 at 9:30am

God Bless you Joan for your beautiful and personal story.  Praise Him, you had the courage and faith to act on your decision.

Comment by Joan Reynolds on January 24, 2011 at 8:33am

Thank you Billie, for the strength to post this. I found myself divorced at age 38 with a five yr old child, and pregnant. I was amazed at how many women I knew then offered to drive me to have an abortion, yet could not discuss their own, in fact hung up in tears when I asked them to share. It was difficult to be so visible, to ask outright for responses, but I wanted honesty. To possibly go against the advice of even some family and friends, having had a child already, I could not pretend this was only tissue.

One friend offered me advice over a long distance phone call the night before my scheduled abortion saying "What were you doing the next nine months you couldn't do pregnant?" In fact, there was nothing. He offered me 'grey' area in a black and white issue; once that decision was made to abort there was no undoing it. I instead followed through with the pregnancy and checked out adoption agencies, later deciding I would keep this child. I went against the advice of my own father who said I would never have enough money, love or time to raise two children alone. I know he was expressing his own deepest fears for me, and he had reason to be cautious. I may not have had much money, but love and time were never an issue.

I turned my life over to Christ twenty seven years ago, when that baby was born and his father failed to step up to the plate as he had promised, and I have never for a moment regretted that decision. When my son turned 21, I located that phone friend and thanked him for the twelve words that gave me time and courage to make the decision for real life and real choice. We have a choice, and that choice begins at the moment we decide to be intimate in any relationship, and after that we have responsibility. As with any freedom, responsibility follows close behind. I know from years of work with crisis pregnancy centers that everyone making this choice is not a teenager, and that sometimes the least safe place to share our situation is within our own churches. We need to examine our hearts continually and see if we are speaking and acting in a pro-life way, giving encouragement and a safe place to work through this decision, or if we are unconsciously just going along by staying silent, or worse, quietly damning the woman in that position of decision making.

Those twelve words let me know someone was there for me, and from there I was able to get courage for the next step, and then the next. Offering someone a safe place to stay, or help when they make the choice we would have wanted them to make(and thought we ourselves would make), then following them with our prayers for the next eighteen years or so is also critical. We need to hold those women in our hearts as they will continually face hardships based on their decision, and to think they only need our help on the day they decide not to abort is what makes many of them choose to terminate, knowing they will be alone to face the consequences. That fear, widely promoted, can drive the decision. God's love can overcome it, but we do need to see if we can continue to support them with His love as the years go on, so that they make a choice they will be able to speak about years later.

That was the one question I had asked that friend on the phone,"How do I make the choice I will have peace with twenty years from now?". Those twelve words were his answer to my question. I made that choice, so I am able to share it with you now. We need to love the women who didn't have a friend or parent to turn to who allowed them to find that safe place to decide for themselves, and to provide that place for anyone who may be facing it now or in the future. I have been fortunate God has continually put those people in my life. We can be that person for someone and turn this around, perhaps two lives at a time.

Comment by Valerie Sawyer on January 24, 2011 at 8:19am

Bravo, Billie! Thank you for taking such a strong stand on this issue. Because of abortion, we are now looking at euthanasia for the elderly and disabled.  Disrespect for one level of life leads to disrespect for life at every level.  Our crisis pregnancy centers here in Jacksonville do tremendous work to help women have an alternative to abortion. Most people have no clue what all the crisis pregnancy centers do. They provide food, clothing, shelter, counseling, education, baby care needs, medical care, etc. You can go to www.runfortheirlives.org and see a list of area crisis pregnancy centers there. Please look at their various websites and then get involved! And just like Billie did, TALK to the young people in your life and inform them. Tell them abortion is murder and that there is not only a heavy emotional toll that goes along with it, but there are multiple studies out that show abortion does things like prevent future pregnancies and is also linked to breast cancer (which, on a separate note, makes it hard for me to understand why the Susan G. Komen organization donates millions of dollars every year to Planned Parenthood, the largest purveyor of abortion in America). As you can tell, this is an issue which is near and dear to my heart.  Thank you again so much Billie for your commitment to this!

Comment by Joe Wright on January 24, 2011 at 8:02am

This article is right on for life, and the video from Andrea Bocelli is truly thought provoking, but the most important decision about life can be seen in God's Holy word, the Bible.  John 3:16 says "For God so loved the world, he gave His only Son, that whosoever believed on Him shall have everlasting life."  I hope you have that hope of eternal life in your life.  I do in mine.