Live, Serve, Embrace Life

Compassion is a wonderful quality in human beings. I would say that it’s an indispensable quality, a virtue even, in a civilized society. When an individual has compassion toward another human being, that can only be a good thing. Conversely, when compassion is warranted but not forthcoming, it often creates a tragic situation.
I came to the conclusion a few years ago that one of the disconnects between the pro-life and the pro-choice movements is misplaced compassion. It is critical that the needs of a woman, and the baby in the mother’s womb, both be considered. It seems, for some in our culture, though, that unless that child is wanted, a baby is quite disposable. In that instance, when an unplanned pregnancy causes challenges for the woman, their compassion engulfs the pregnant woman who is viewed as a victim. But the baby is not considered at all, except as an obstacle that must be swept away as soon as possible so the woman can go back to her ‘normal’ life. That’s misplaced compassion.
Actually, there is plenty of compassion to be heaped upon the mother and the child. The vast majority of the pro-life movement do consider both and are moved with compassion for both. Indeed, there are a myriad of non-profit organizations that exist to accompany the birth mother through pregnancy, delivery, and beyond. And many of those organizations are right here in the San Diego area. I have a list of them. There are more pregnancy resource centers in this area now than abortion facilities. The workers in these centers are the 2020 San Diego Walk for Life theme – Live Serve Embrace Life – in action.
The erroneous belief some people have, that those who are pro-life only care about the baby, is simply not the case. Whether it’s finding a place for the mother-to-be to live, or helping her finish her education/getting training, or finding subsidized childcare so the mom can return to a job, there are pro-life advocates who stand at the ready to assist. They know any help they give to the mom will only positively affect her child and the quality of life for both. Additionally, for the woman who decides she is not able to care for the baby she’s carrying, there are other agencies that can help with placing the child in an adoptive home where a loving, overjoyed couple is waiting for the new member to make their family complete.
Pro-life women and men are about abundant life for moms and kids, (and even for dads, should the father of the baby choose to be engaged in the life of the new little one).
It’s important, I think, that those of us who stand for life make it clear that we love them both, the women who carry the babies and the babies who are counting on their mothers to bring them into a loving world where they are very much wanted and where there will be much rejoicing at their birth.
Misplaced compassion for one over the other in a pregnancy situation is not good for either; it’s not great for our culture, either. And any misunderstanding of the desire to take care of both mother and child must be rectified. #LoveThemBoth #LiveServeEmbraceLife
Lynda is the author of one book (so far!) and has a blog by the same name, Drowning in Lemonade. She lives in San Diego with her husband. The above post was previously published on the San Diego Walk For Life website.