The Abortion That Wasn't

First Published: 07/15/2019 at 2:28AM

The year was 1978.

A man was recovering from knee surgery and was unable to work. With the help of financial aid, he began attending a technical school. His wife enrolled with him. They both hoped gaining a skill would help them to find better paying jobs when he was able to work again.

Times were tough.

Along with financial aid for school, some government assistance, and help from family, they were barely able to make ends meet. Due to conflicts in the Middle East, oil prices skyrocketed and soon there was a gas shortage. The couple rode a public transportation bus 30+ miles to school and back each day. Family members helped by babysitting their 3-year-old daughter.

And then the unexpected happened.

A positive pregnancy test.

Early on, the doctor thought he heard two heartbeats and the baby was extremely active. He ordered a sonogram and the woman waited to hear if she was indeed carrying twins. Unlike today when ultrasounds and sonograms are commonplace, they were not used as often then. She was scared to say the least.

It wasn’t that they didn’t want more children. The timing was just terrible: no jobs, attempting to further education, needing government assistance, and now, possibly carrying twins.

They were thankful to learn that there was only one baby on the way. The woman quit school because she feared that the travel on the bumpy bus could harm the baby in some way.

She went on to deliver that baby on a hot summer day the following June.

And, I am so thankful she did.

I would not be here today if she had made a different choice.

I started thinking about this a year or so ago as the abortion debate was heating up again.

According to society, my parents had every reason to consider abortion: low socio-economic status, no employment, attending school, birth control failure, and an unplanned pregnancy. Add to all this the fear of having not one, but TWO babies they did not have the means to support.

In 1973, Roe v. Wade gave a pregnant woman the right to choose whether or not to have an abortion. It was legal. So, why did my parents make a different choice?

They made a different choice because they believed that God is the giver and taker of life. Regardless of their circumstances at the time, they KNEW that if God had given them a child, He would also provide for them. It was not even a question to them.

While my life was “unplanned” by my parents, it was never “unplanned” by God. And, even though it was “unplanned” by my parents, it was never unwanted.

***Sidenote, lest someone think my parents even considered abortion for an instant: I was discussing this recently with my Daddy to make sure I had all the facts straight about their circumstances. He said, “Courtney, it wasn’t planned, but we were happy.”

If my Mother had made a different choice, my children would not exist. My husband would most likely have a different wife, and different children. My DNA and his combined to form our three children. Without me in the picture, those three children would not exist.

Abortion does not just delete one life; it deletes generations.

I am so very thankful that my Mother accepted God’s plan for her life and selflessly did everything she could to bring me safely into this world. In a world where babies are aborted daily merely for the sake of “inconvenience,” I am extraordinarily thankful that my parents valued life at all stages.

Today, on my birthday, I celebrate the life I’ve been given.

Growing older is a gift denied to many.

May we never forget that life is a gift.

James 1:17 (NIV): “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”