“Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.”
Luke 17:33

So, I’ve been thinking about this one for a while. Being the parent of a 3 year old, with another one coming any day now, it’s been on my heart a lot.

A few days ago, the South Dakota Senate passed a bill making it a felony for any doctor to perform an abortion, except to save the life of a mother. It is a small, but important step in the long process of overturning Roe V. Wade, and only part of the bigger picture of making sure we educate future generations about the sanctity of life and the horrific procedure that is the equivalent of murder.

I have been praying for President Obama – I hope that he is a good president, for America’s and the world’s sake. However, he has made, not surprisingly, a huge mistake (to use a generous word) when it comes to the life of unborn children. One of his first acts in the White House was to overturn a ban on federal monies going to fund overseas groups that condone or perform abortions. Put more simply, he’s freed up taxpayer dollars to pay for abortions in other countries. One has to wonder what kind of mindset would lead someone to so radically “defend” the right of a mother to abort her child.

We might get a hint in Obama’s own words. You might recall that on the campaign trail for the presidency, Obama stated that, if one of his daughters made a mistake and got pregnant, he “wouldn’t want them punished with a baby.” Now, I think we all know what he was trying to say. He wasn’t saying, as some conservatives argue, that babies are a punishment. What he was saying was, what we all know: if you get pregnant at a young age, your life changes and you have to grow up real fast – there are consequences for rash decisions and “mistakes”. The baby itself is not a mistake, but rather, having to take care of it is a reality that must be confronted once you get pregnant.

So, in essence, what President Obama is saying when he wants to keep abortion legal is that he wants his daughters to be able not to have to live with the consequences of their actions. This, I understand. I don’t agree with it, but I understand it. It’s simple. If you’re a parent you’ll (hopefully) know what I mean:

When you have a child, you must make a choice. Either you die or the baby dies. What I mean is, someone’s needs have to come first, either yours or the child’s. As a matter of fact, you could say that the entire act of parenting is a constant laying down of one’s life for the benefit of the life of one’s children. So, abortion allows you to “keep your life”… but not really.

Jesus’ words above were not spoken in reference to abortion. But I believe there is a universal truth present in them we can appropriate here. Getting an abortion may appear to allow a woman to keep her life, but many can testify that all it does is further perpetuate the long since debunked myth of personal gratification. Jesus’ words cut through that facade like no other sword. You can’t get life by living for yourself. Somebody’s gotta die. And when a woman chooses not to go through with an abortion, she finds that “losing” her “life” preserves a far great gift.