Nearly 25 years ago, I wrote a column for Commonweal after a high school girl was kicked out of the National Honor Society for becoming pregnant and bearing the child to term. If she'd had an abortion, she would have retained her "honor." And the child's father, whom she did not name, retained his.

As Christians, this is what we are still not getting. We join the world in shaming and penalizing young women who make the right choice today having made a wrong choice yesterday. And we let the young men go.

I'm not justifying abortion by any stretch. I'm simply challenging us as Christians to recognize that we're complicit. As long as we shame pregnant girls and insist that young people not marry until they can support themselves independent of the family home and business [a new standard of the last 50 years or so], there will be abortions. More and more of them.

I found this article extremely frustrating. No one is pro-abortion. No one WANTS to have an abortion. Women chose abortions when they have no other option. We cannot expect a woman with no means to support herself or a child for that matter to carry her child to term no matter what. And adoption can be just as painful as abortion! You get to see the life your brought into the world get taken away from you. So no. I'm not pro-abortion, I'm pro-choice because it's unrealistic to expect all women to come to term when they have no way of doing so without ruining their lives and possibly even the child's. And what about women who are victims of rape and incest? Do we really expect to carry to term? How inhumane and unmerciful is that? It is not as simple as a child's life. If it was,there would be no debate. That being said, it is tragic. It is tragic that we've lost so many lives through abortion, but maybe if we focused on helping women so that they never HAVE to consider abortion, there would be less.

Up to 40% of all pregnancies are ended by "natural abortion" (miscarriages), or as many would say "by God's will".

@ Emily Northam and others. Emily, you wrote" I doubt the author has ever been in the position of needing an abortion. Never experienced being abandoned by his partner only to find out he was pregnant, with no resources and no help. He was never a teenage girl who came from a poor or split family, who had no one to turn to and no money to even care for a child. Do you or the author know what the fear feels like? Like your world is crumbling. The world's weight is on your shoulders and you are beyond terrified because of what people are going to think, what is going to happen to your future plans, how are you going to work and care for a child?"
Well, I do know what that feels like and I completely disagree with your comments. Back in 1974, I was 17, pregnant and unwed. My boyfriend had broken up with me a couple of weeks before I found out I was pregnant. My parents had divorced when I was 12 and my teen years were very rocky, with drug and alcohol abuse, dropping out of school, a couple of foster homes, etc. I was terrified and alone, with no clue what I would do. I seriously considered abortion. Several of my friends had had one and said it was "no big deal".
Here is what I DID do. I turned to God and trusted Him. I was not religious at the time, didn't attend church, but somehow I knew that if I made the RIGHT decision, to give my baby Life, that He would honor that, and take care of me. And that is exactly what happened. I ended up marrying my boyfriend, (also 17) who is now my husband of 38 years. My daughter, whose life hung in the balance that day, has been the joy of my life and my best friend. She has blessed me with 3 grandchildren who have multiplied my joy a thousand -fold. Because I made the decision to trust God and step out in Faith, I have been blessed immeasurably more than I could have ever imagined.
This is what is missing in your argument and so many of the arguments that women are making today, in defending a choice for abortion. You are leaving God out of the whole thing. When we take that decision in our own hands , when we "choose" to abort, we prevent God from being able to do anything to help us. Basically, we cut Him out of the picture. God created that Life in the womb. He doesn't create a new life haphazardly or for no reason. He desires that child to LIVE. God CHOSE for that child to be created. No human should ever "choose" to destroy what God has created. We cannot base our decisions on what we can see today. Only God knows what the future holds. To say we must abort a child because we cannot see a way forward, is to say that God is powerless and can do nothing for us. He has promised to never leave us or forsake us. Don't you think that is true for the unwed teen too? I KNOW it is.
While I agree that God's heart is broken and that he also mourns alongside those who have made the choice to abort, He would NEVER condone the "choice" to end the Life that He created. There is NO circumstance in which God would "approve" our "choice" to terminate the Life that He so carefully formed and brought into being. (see Psalm 139) If you believe that, you are seriously being deceived by the Evil One. God is the Authority over life and death, not we humans. Our ways are not always God's ways. We cannot see what the future holds, but God KNOWS what the future holds. We are to step out in Faith (a scary thing to do, I know)and trust Him. He has promised to work in ALL things for the GOOD of those who love Him. And God always keeps His promises.

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