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Posted on 01/10/2003 9:27:57 AM PST by victim soul
The idea that abortion is "an act of despair" is one of the key points I have always tried to stress in my writing and speaking engagements. Despair is not only the driving force behind most abortion choices, it is also the greatest obstacle to post-abortion recovery.
In describing the despair which leads women to abort, Frederica Mathewes-Green gives us this compelling word picture:
"No woman wants an abortion as she wants an ice cream cone or a Porsche.
She wants an abortion as an animal caught in a trap wants to gnaw off its own leg."
Abortion is actually an act of self-destruction. When pro-abortionists view a woman in this desperate situation, their solution is to offer the woman a clean, legal way of cutting off the offending leg. But what they fail to tell women is that the loss of their "leg" will leave them crippled.
Pro-lifers, on the other hand, are committed to finding a way to open the jaws of the trap to save both the woman and her "leg."
They insist that there is always room for hope. There is always a way to avoid a destructive amputation a way which in the long run will be appreciated by both the woman and her "leg."
Despair inevitably leads us to accept abortion. Hope always leads us to embrace life.
Hope is a virtue. It is centered on God, the source of all hope. Despair is a sin against hope. It is one of Satan's greatest weapons.
By fanning the flames of despair, Satan can lead us into he greatest of sins, because desperate people do desperate things.
The moment one gives in to despair, one has suffered a loss of faith and trust in God. In the case of abortion, the desperate women has lost faith in the promise that God has a plan for her life much less that He has a plan for her child's life.
Desperate people try to take control. They try to save whatever they can by doing whatever needs to be done which may include betraying their own values. Abortion counselors encourage the victim-woman to view "this pregnancy" as a threat to everything she has her relationships, her family, her career, her entire future. She is assured that by sacrificing this one thing (a tiny unborn child), she can save the rest.
During this process, she is urged to view the abortion not as a moral choice, but as a rational choice to "save what she can."
The Devil vs. Christ
It is significant how differently Christ and the devil appear before and after any sin in this case, abortion. Before the abortion, Christ stands with His arms outstretched to block the way, saying, "Do not do this thing. The sacrifice you make now will be rewarded a hundredfold. I offer you life, so that you may live life abundantly. Place your hope in me and I will not abandon you."
The devil, on the other hand, insists, "You must get rid of it. Look at all you'll lose . . . you have no choice. You have already gotten yourself into this problem. Now you must get yourself out. Do this one thing and you will be back in the driver's seat of life. Things will be the way they used to be."
Christ asks us to trust in a plan we do not yet fully understand; Satan urges us to act now to save what we already have. Christ asks us to make a moral decision rooted in hope; Satan asks us to make a "rational" decision based on present needs, desires, and fears.
But after the abortion, how do they appear? Afterwards, Christ continues to offer hope: "Come to Me. I want to share your tears. I want to comfort you. Know that all is forgiven. Know that I am caring for your child and that I want you to come to Me when your day is completed."
Satan, on the other hand, continues to fan the flames of despair. He, who pretended to be on the woman's side, now stands as her fiercest accuser: "Look at what you've done! You've murdered your own child! There's no hope for you now. You're beyond redemption! You may as well seek what comfort you can in the embrace of an affair, in the bottom of a bottle of booze, or in the silence of suicide. And if you get pregnant again, you've already had an abortion once, so you might as well do it again .
. . And, oh, how you must hate the people who led you tho this. There is no one you can trust. There is no one who can love you a murderer. You are alone. Your best hope is to bury your past. Hide it from others. Hide it from yourself. But remember, it will always be yours alone to bear."
This is the devil's bargain. He encourages the woman to submit to abortion in order to avoid losing what she already has. But once she has chosen it, he tries to keep her trapped in despair so as to strip away everything else. Indeed Satan pumps as much despair into her life as he can generate and not just into her life alone, but into the lives of the child's father, grandparents, siblings, and everyone else he can touch with the poison of abortion.
His purpose is three-fold: to generate misery, to encourage more sin, and to create doubt in the unfathomable mercy of God.
Before the abortion, Christ condemns it and Satan makes excuses for it. After the abortion, Satan is the one condemning it, while Christ wants to forgive it. He wants to embrace post- abortive women in His life-giving mercy and love.
Condensed from "Despair vs. Hope: Part I, The Devil's Bargain," The Post-Abortion Review, Vol. 3, No. 2, Spring 1995. Reprinted with permission. The complete text of this three-article series is available online at www.afterabortion.org/healmor.html
Pro-lifers, on the other hand, are committed to finding a way to open the jaws of the trap to save both the woman and her "leg."
Very well written pro-life article I thought you'd like to see.
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