{"id":78724,"date":"2015-11-01T18:30:35","date_gmt":"2015-11-01T23:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=78724"},"modified":"2018-08-06T00:16:56","modified_gmt":"2018-08-06T05:16:56","slug":"before-you-have-an-abortion-remember-robbie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/before-you-have-an-abortion-remember-robbie\/","title":{"rendered":"Before you have an abortion, remember Robbie"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Three years ago today, a young woman had an abortion. Before she laid down on the cold, hard table, she named her baby Robbie<\/a>, believing he was a boy. This young woman debated her decision over and over, taking weeks to make up her mind. Before an abortion, she had a living son. But once she made her choice — to complete the abortion — there was no way she could bring her Robbie back.<\/p>\n

I talked to this young woman many times in the weeks leading up to her abortion, and I grew to love her. We discussed the pain<\/a> preborn babies scientifically feel in abortions<\/a> – as early as 5.5 weeks; she watched The Silent Scream<\/a> – a video made by a famous former abortion doctor, commenting that “that poor thing looked like it was crying when it died;” she saw pictures showing her how developed Robbie was at his young age. But there’s one thing I didn’t show her that I wish I could have.<\/p>\n

I wish I could have showed her this:<\/p>\n

\"abortions,<\/a><\/p>\n

And this:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

You see, at the same time I was talking to Robbie’s mother, I was pregnant with my own son. I didn’t know it at the time, but my son is only four or five weeks younger than Robbie would be today.<\/p>\n

Looking at my own son and knowing what an absolute gift he is – despite unpredictable circumstances and health issues we’ve encountered – makes me wish I could have shown Robbie’s mother the gift her<\/em> son would be today, too.<\/p>\n

I wish she also could have seen what a gift Christina is and realized Robbie would have been the same.<\/p>\n

\"

Christina’s mom walked out of an abortion clinic. Read her amazing story, told in Christina’s own words: “‘Do you want to have this baby?’ The ‘YES’ that changed everything”<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

If only she had listened to the truth she knew inside. As she told me:<\/p>\n

\n

Abortion seems like a sad way to die, being alone and unloved b[y] the only person who is supposed to love you and take care of you. …I think its a bit like killing an animal for food…its sad…<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But Robbie’s mother decided that her son wasn’t human enough<\/em> for her to avoid abortion. She was in her first trimester, and perhaps didn’t realize the absolute humanity of a child from his very first moments.<\/p>\n

\"Annabelle

Annabelle was 8 weeks, 5 days old when her mother had a miscarriage and took this (and more) photo of her<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n

Sadly for Robbie’s mother, she felt pressured into abortion for a number of reasons – just as so many other girls and women do. Maybe a doctor is urging them to make their “choice” now – <\/em>within the next ten minutes – <\/em>after an uncertain or scary ultrasound. Maybe they feel pressure from their boyfriend or their parents – as these young women did<\/a>. Perhaps they feel pressure from an unknown future, one they believe will be lost if they have a baby. It’s natural to feel pressure in unexpected, difficult circumstances. But there are so many more answers<\/a> than the ones we see upfront.<\/p>\n

\""At

“At 8 weeks, this baby can kick and straighten his legs, and move his arms up and down.” (Photo credit: Life Dynamics.)<\/p><\/div>\n

Practical, emotional, and physical help is offered to pregnant women around the nation by pregnancy resource centers, groups like Stand Up Girl<\/a>, Embrace Grace<\/a>, and Teen Mother Choices International<\/a>, and helplines (phone, text, online chat, and email) including Pregnancy Line<\/a>, Option Line<\/a>, Life Call<\/a>, and Pregnancy Decisions Line<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There are beautiful answers that include a smiling, chubby-cheeked toddler like my son. A toddler who, just like Robbie and every other child, deserves to be born, to take a breath, to fill the air with his laughter. A toddler who started out small, and equally precious, as real photos and videos of fetal development<\/a> demonstrate.<\/p>\n