HuffPo writer aborts daughter with Trisomy 13
Click the above link to read the story of writer Kimberly Cates Escamilla explaining her decision to abort her unborn daughter after being diagnosed with the genetic disorder, Trisomy 13 (Huffington Post, April 10). Go to the Huffington Post (linked on Jill’s site) to read the whole story. I did not directly link to that publication.
The story is disturbing on many levels, but underneath the anti-life words is a woman who is suffering. I read the many crude and hateful comments directed at this woman from people who are pro-life, and it bothered me. Aren’t we supposed to be better than that?
The picture of the woman caught in adultery, thrown at the feet of Jesus by those who believed themselves to be righteous, flew into my mind. The question I had to ask is, what would Christ do with this woman? Would He condemn her? Or would he offer her mercy, not because she deserves it in any way, but because of Who He is? What would He call us to do?
This woman, and her husband, need prayer, not judgement. They will live with this decision for the rest of their lives, and they will be haunted by it. They will hear the cry of a newborn baby, they will know when the due date arrives. They will picture Sophia as a toddler, starting school, on her first date. They will remember 20 years from now. They will remember until they die. They are deluded and misguided, but they are people and Christ desires for ALL to come to Him. If we, in the pro-life movement, condemn and judge are we not just fueling the fire? Are we not affirming the idea that we are rigid, self-righteous, and unforgiving? What are we to do?
This couple may one day find themselves speaking to others about the pain and tragedy of their choice, as many of us do. While the story in the Huffington Post was full of anti-life propaganda meant to inflame the ridiculous idea of the ‘war on women’, the last sentence the author wrote is one I can agree with: “we need sacred ways to honor both women and the unborn that are loving, free of dogma and condemnation”.
Post-abortive women need the love of Jesus and the freedom to grieve the loss of their child. They should not be made to feel that the church of Christ is the last place that they can run to. It should be the first place.
Too many times, those of us who bear the name of Christ deny them those things. We speak of life, but not of mercy for the woman who made the choice, and that, to me, is very sad. And it is most decidedly not what our Lord would do.
He would likely kneel down and write in the sand as we stand with stones in our hands…
TN Smart Girl 