Today is a sad day

* This post was brought to you by a sleep-deprived mom of a 3 week old, so if it doesn't make sense or I mis-spelled, mis-quote or otherwise made mistakes, please do not judge me based on that. The caffeine has yet to kick in :)*

This post may upset you. It may inspire you. You may love it or loathe it. But it is MY opinion, MY thoughts, MY words. Get pissed off. Go ahead. Comment. But know this: It will not change my mind. Also, be aware that I will comment back and have the right to remove comments that use bad language so please keep it civilized. I promise to do the same, even in my postpartum state ;) I am not judging you. I do not hate you. I may disagree with you. I may feel sad for you. If you have made this decision at some point in your life, I may not like that decision, but I do not dislike you. What's the phrase? Hate the sin, not the sinner.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, today is the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. The anniversary of a sad day, when the killing of innocent babies, human beings, was made legal. Many people on the pro-choice side say they are not babies, they are embryos, fetuses, etc. My thinking? When does that tiny being become a human? The moment they take their first breath? The moment the mother feels a first kick? The moment the heart begins to beat? To me, they are a human from the moment of conception.

I chose to become Catholic about 6 years ago, when my middle son was just a few months old. I went through RCIA classes. I learned what the Church taught. I was baptized, confirmed and received Holy Communion for the first time at the Easter Vigil 2006. What, you may ask, does this have to do with anything I'm writing? Well, as most people know, the Catholic Church, as well as many other religions, Christian and otherwise, is pro-life. Before I joined the Church, I was on the fence. I said, Oh, it's a personal decision. I didn't change my thinking just because the Church said so. I learned about abortion and what happens to a baby when they are aborted. All the gory details. If I hadn't gone through RCIA and become Catholic, I probably never would have looked into any of it. Because that's who I've been. Follow the herd, the majority, etc. Never look into stuff on my own, I guess you could say. Just do what others say.

Well isn't that what I'm doing now too?, you ask! Maybe in a way, but really it just opened my eyes up and showed me things I'd never known about. Since then, I've also learned about how birth control pills and other contraceptives work, and about vaccines (not because of the Catholic Church, but because a good friend opened my eyes about them), and about breast feeding. I've looked at alternatives for the "treatment" of Autism for my oldest son. It started as one thing and has spiraled in to many.

But I digress. This post is not about those things. It's about abortion.

When someone has a miscarriage, they mourn for the loss of their child, their baby. Regardless of being pro-life or pro-choice. They do not mourn the loss of a fetus or group of cells or embryo. It does not matter if they were 9 days, 9 weeks or 9 months along. They mourn for their child. Why is it any less of a child if the mother (or father) does not want them? Why are they not mourned? Now, I know in some cases they are. I understand that many people will say, what about rape, incest, health of the mother? Those are sad cases. But is that child any less of a person? Is it that child's fault? Should they be ripped apart, or burned from saline, or maybe most grotesque be aborted through a procedure known as partial-birth abortion?

The medical term for miscarriage is "spontaneous abortion". Yet we don't treat the mother as if it's a good thing or that it's not a loss, not a child. With an elective abortion, women, girls are told nothing or that it's not a person. They are not shown the child on the ultrasound screen, they are not educated about the baby or their choices most times.

I know at least two women personally who've had abortions, both friends of mine, and I am sad for them. I don't judge them, I know it was a deeply personal and hard decision. I do not, however, agree or support that decision. I pray for them, that their hurt, their sorrow is healed because I know, deep down, they are hurting. I can't even imagine.

I have not ever had to make that decision but always knew, from the moment I found out I was pregnant with my oldest to the moment my youngest was born, I would never consider abortion. I look at my boys and know that God has chosen these 3 little ones to be my children. Even before I was "officially" a Christian. I believed in God and what he had in store for my life.

I am sad for the millions of babies that have been killed, taken too soon from this world by abortion. I pray that others will open their eyes, religious or not, and see that they are people.

"A person's a person, no matter how small" - Horton Hears A Who by Dr. Seuss