By: Robert Morris, Guest Blogger

Last year, my wife and I saw, in a video sonogram, the first of our two expected grandsons. Only 10 weeks after conception, the boy was very much alive and kicking in the womb—clearly human, already a person. We felt both joy and awe at God’s handiwork.  

Not long after the 20-week point, we saw another sonogram—a still portrait I shall never forget.  This time we gazed at the face of the same baby looking back through what seemed like the small window of a waiting room.  It was as if he wanted to open his eyes and ask us from the womb, “When I’m ready to come out, will you care for me and let me into your heart?  Or will my life be traded for something else you want more?”

I’ve pondered why many women with unexpected pregnancies consider terminating their little treasures. Pressures from their parents or lovers—or perhaps promises of a sparkling career, a sunburst of fame, or some other fleeting wisp of happiness? And yet, it’s hard for any of us to know for sure why we want anything, when we’ll find it, or even what is genuinely good for us…much less how to get, keep, and enjoy it.  Life’s countless lessons have reminded me not to lean on my own understanding—particularly when pursuing a goal that may be a mirage.

Given these gaping unknowns surrounding anyone’s life, it’s reasonable to ask:  How does a woman in a surprise pregnancy know for sure what she would gain from an abortion?

Is she sure the life inside is not a person worth preserving, notwithstanding a sonogram’s reveal of what the U.S. Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004 calls “her unborn child”?

Will she really retain the love she imagines in a man who sadly may not want their baby so much as a quick fix of his commitment risk?

Will she be able to earn an academic degree only if unencumbered by a baby, and will that degree really deliver the job of her dreams?

If already in that job, will she actually be able to succeed in it only by eliminating the life inside her?

What’s more, will the career really bring her the satisfaction and rewards she desires—rather than a sawdust taste of worldly success followed by eventual frustrations and twilight doubts about her legacy there? 

Since my father, long ago, said he would not trade parenthood for a billion dollars, I’ve been blessed with children of my own and come to fully appreciate his point. 

Will a woman in crisis never realize that sacrificing for the next generation (and indirectly for innumerable generations beyond) is the greatest legacy most of us can ever give?

Will she never miss the profound joys that a new life would bring her—and never sense an empty place at the dinner table? 

If she seeks help from close family members in keeping the baby, is she certain they won’t come through when she needs them most?  

Even if her family can’t or won’t help, will she really fail to find compensating support for carrying the pregnancy to term—and caring for the baby once born—from pregnancy resource centers, Embrace Grace, and myriad other programs listed in the HerPLAN directory, as well as Community Health Centers and Federally Qualified Health Centers?

Should she believe the morally numbing phrases conjured by the abortion industry’s market research, such as bodily autonomy and reproductive health care, rather than the palpable horrors they hide?

Given so many uncertainties, shouldn’t she take a long, hard look before taking the irreversible step to end a human life?

For that matter, do the people encouraging her to take that step—too often including her parents or boyfriend—truly believe they will never look back with bitter regret on their own roles in echoing the world’s received wisdom and leading her to the brutal mercies of the abortion clinic?

Despite so much confusion and doubt, though, we do know what matters most. We know that God is in charge, the Bible is true, and the sonogram is clear when it shows a small child growing and waiting to join our world, and bless our lives. Moreover, my wife and I know from Psalm 139:13 that both of our grandsons (now born) are divine gifts made in the image of God, who created their innermost beings and knit them together in their mothers’ wombs.  In the end, that’s all we need to know about the value of any human life, born or unborn.

Despite the lure of other types of gain, there is only one right way to answer a baby’s silent plea from the womb for our love and care. “Yes, of course we will welcome you. We wouldn’t trade you, dear child, for the world.” 

ROBERT MORRIS, GUEST BLOGGER

Robert Morris recently retired from a career in management to devote more time to family, friends, travel, and volunteer work as well as writing. After attending AFL Life SUMMIT 2022, he was inspired to share his gift of writing with Anglicans For Life.