Posted on 01/30/2003 5:06:38 AM PST by Skooz
Please forgive the vanity.
I received this email from my mom yesterday morning. Amanda is my niece. She is 18 years old and she lives with my parents. She just started college on a full paid academic scholarship:
Hi, Just wanted to fill you in on the latest around here. Miss Amanda is dropping school because she's...............................are you ready................ take a breath....................pregnant. She's going with her boyfriend tomorrow for counseling before having an abortion. His folks told him that unless she has an abortion he can never see her again. She wants him more than anything, so that's probably what she'll do. It's been a bad few days around here. She was going to wait until the end of the quarter (March) to tell us, but she got real sick a few weeks ago and came home. I think part of it was the flu, and part "baby" sickness. She still doesn't feel well. One of the worse things is he won't be 17 until April. So anyway.......I thought I'd give you a little shock to have with your coffee. I'll keep you updated.
Of course, we are stunned. I am really seeking some advice about what I can do or say. My entire family (except for Amanda) is staunchly pro-life. Her mother is beside herself.
Oh, and how about the "His folks told him that unless she has an abortion he can never see her again" thing? How about it pro-choicers? She is being coerced into having an abortion she doesn't really want. She has said (in other correspondence) that she wants to keep the baby. Her "choice" is being made by the father's parents, who want to be spared the embarassment.
She went to see a "counselor" at an abortion clinic yesterday, and they scheduled the "procedure" for today. Of course, the "counselor" at the abortuary is just a salesperson whose job it is to sell abortions.
Anyway, I have run out of options. I have prayed and will continue to do so. I have offered to adopt the baby and have referred her to a wonderful woman who has dedicated her life to finding good homes for children who would otherwise have been aborted, but my niece is not interested. She is ready to have her baby killed to make her boyfriend's parents happy.
I really don't know what else to say. God help us.
Since I don't know what I'd do under similar circumstances, I don't feel morally qualified to advise anyone.
However, the whole debate has always revolved around the public funding of this most bizarre and brutal form of birth control. I always have felt and continue to feel that in matters of conscience, any government involvement is criminal.
As with so many other issues of a personal nature, I believe the only place this debate and decision belongs is at the family level, for better or for worse.
I used to do sidewalk vigils outside of Planned Infanticide on Saturdays and the young women were escorted in by their boyfriends or mothers in equal proportion.
However moving the girl to a different town far away might..
That email you provided us was breathless in tone, and included phraseology that looks nothing less than snide.
I realize that in some families people talk like that in all sincerity, and nothing negative could be inferred, but given your headlong rush to confer with the internet, I tend to doubt it.
Oh well, I'll leave you to your devices. Hope everything works out for the girl - she needs comfort and compassion regardless of what she decides.
Wont she be away at college?
I know this is a serious subject and I pray that someone will intervene in this madness and save the baby's life you are all in my prayers.
But I must say the above line is the most righteous putdown I have ever had the pleasure to read. You are to be commended!
Sounds like you know exactly what's going on here. Amanda doesn't realize these people and their boy will dump her in a heartbeat afterwards. Thta's what she needs to see now. She needs to be told to look at that guy, she thinks loves and see what he is telling her to do. He is empty, just an irresponsible lout.
I dearly love my niece and will continue to do so regardless of what transpires. It is not my intention to "gossip" or exploit her terrible dilemma. I needed ideas quickly, and this was the only place I could think of where I could get quick and compassionate ideas anonymously.
Is there any religious figure that she can speak to?
Send her the link to this thread. Maybe she can read this and realize complete strangers are praying for her and care about her welfare and maybe can make an informed decision.
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