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NRL News
Page 5
Winter 2013
Volume 40
Issue 1
The Power of 40: Reflections on Four
Decades of Roe
By Melissa Ohden
The 40th anniversary
of the Roe v. Wade decision is rapidly approaching. As a
survivor of an attempted abortion in 1977, I live every day of my
life with an acute awareness of abortion–how I was meant to die and
how just in the United States alone over 55 million children just
like me did not survive.
But there are two days out of the year in
particular that raise a heightened level of distress in me: my
birthday, and the anniversary date of Roe. The first is the
day that I was supposed to die. The second is the day that made
possible that very death sentence.
Yet as we approach Roe’s 40th anniversary,
there is both pain and promise for me in acknowledging this solemn
day and all that it has done in my life, to our nation, and to our
world. I can easily understand how “promise” would sound more than a
little strange. But let me explain by beginning with the more
obvious–the pain.
The Pain
On January 23, 2013, as a nation and as a
Movement, we will be solemnly acknowledging the four decades of
Roe. Forty years of pain and devastation; over 55 million lives
lost; hundreds of millions of lives forever changed; our culture,
our nation, forever altered.
Every day when I awaken, the first words that I
speak are prayers of thanksgiving for being alive yet another day
and for being alive, period. The last words that I speak each night
are prayers of thanksgiving for the day, regardless of the
circumstances of it, along with prayers for the women and men who
are considering abortion, who are so much like my biological
parents, and the children, who are so much like me, whose lives hang
in the balance. Not a day goes by that I don’t look at myself in the
mirror and think about what a miracle it is that I’m alive. Yet
mixed in with the prayers of thanksgiving and the awe of gratitude
there is always the pain.
As a mother, I have to look at our little girl
each day knowing that she never would have existed if my biological
mother’s abortion had ended my life 35 years ago like it was
supposed to. There is nothing more painful for me than to face this
reality every day. As a wife, I have to look at my husband and know
that he never would have had a wife. And as I’ve learned through my
search for and contact with my biological family over the past 16
years, the pain and devastation has affected us all, and left an
impact on us for generations.
Of course it isn’t just one family that’s been
forever altered by abortion: whether we are aware of it or not,
everyone in our nation and in our world has been touched. And
because of Roe (and its companion case, Doe v. Bolton),
over 3,000 children will lose their lives today. Every day I live
with that awareness, that knowledge, and the pain. Once the
awareness that I survived when tens of millions of children died was
the source of shame, embarrassment, and even guilt.
And while the pain remains my constant companion,
it is accompanied by something far stronger: the motivation to do
something about it–to play a small role in ending abortion just as
the ripple effect of abortion in my family was stopped when we
brought forgiveness, healing, and openness to our experiences.
Through the efforts of the ministry that I founded in 2012, the
Abortion Survivors Network (ASN), there is now both a knowledge of
the prevalence of abortion survivors and the incidence of “failed”
abortions. As survivors we are able to put a visible face to what
for 40 years has been simply seen as a “woman’s choice” and a
“right.”
The Promise
As we approach January 23, we first reflect upon
40 years that have been full of great trial for the right to
life movement. Yet within that trial, there has also been great
promise sown that we are now reaping. National Right to Life is
instrumental in public policy, legislation, and elections. Other
ministries have united individuals and groups in prayer and fasting;
others reach out in support to workers in the abortion industry;
still other individuals and groups reach out to, and support, women
and men contemplating abortion. There have been amazing efforts in
protecting and respecting life that have been initiated and made a
great impact throughout the past 40 years. And although great
strides have been made throughout each of the past four decades, I
believe that the increased incidence of highly effective efforts in
recent years clearly points to the promise, the restoration that is
coming on the heels of 40 years of legalized abortion.
As we approach this solemn anniversary, many of
us are constantly aware of the powerful significance of 40. Whether
days, months, or years, a 40-something period has biblically
signified a period of testing or trial, and ended with a period of
restoration, revival, or renewal. Whether it be Moses’ face shining
after 40 days on the mountain or Elijah hearing the voice of God
after going 40 days to Mount Horeb, we see the major changes and
transformations that have taken place after a period of 40 (days,
months, years). I know that I’m not alone in praying for a revival
of a restored respect for all human life from the moment of
conception until natural death. And knowing what I know about the
significance of the number 40, and looking around at all that is
happening in our world and in the Movement today, I believe that the
change we have been waiting for is coming–that the renewal has
started.
Although it doesn’t directly reference the number
40, I believe it’s important to note that as we approach 40 years of
legalized abortion in the U.S., there is now a knowledge of
abortion, its devastating consequences on women, men, and
families–emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually–that has
been proven by empirically based research and supported by the
courageous experiences and testimony of men and women from groups
like Silent No More.
Since 2007, I have come into contact with almost
100 other abortion survivors. And as ASN provides support and
opportunities for both personal healing and growth for survivors, I
have no doubt that the visibility of survivors will continue to grow
greatly both in the Movement and in the larger society. All of these
circumstances, I believe, are a part of the revival, the restoration
that is occurring as we approach the significant anniversary of
Roe v. Wade. Abortion and its consequences, abortion and its
victims are known and visible.
And as William Wilberforce so poignantly stated,
“You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again
that you did not know.”
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