The Walk For Life–West Coast is tomorrow, January 27th. In celebration of this beautiful event I wanted to share why I am pro-life.

Abortion is the leading cause of death in the United States. There are studies all over the Internet confirming this and you don’t have to be Catholic to believe the statistics. I am so proud to see my pro-life brothers and sisters taking a stand for the unborn amidst the face of adversity. I went last in year in San Francisco and was moved by the unwavering love I witnessed. If you haven’t gone yet, you have to. It’s a life-changing experience.

For as long as I can remember I have always been pro-life, even before I considered myself “religious”. As a child, the thought of a woman deciding to take her baby from her body seemed terrible and unnatural. But even then, I figured if a woman had a good reason to get an abortion she should be allowed to do so. However, as I got older and learned the details of what an abortion entails, my pro-life stance only grew stronger and I wanted to help women see there are other alternatives to abortion.

Then one day during an argument with my dad, he told me and my little brother that he never wanted to have kids and that he wanted my mom to abort us. Wow, thanks Dad. That’s so nice to hear (#sarcasmfont). I wasn’t sure if he was just saying that out of anger, because he was known to do such a thing. So I asked my mom about it and she said yes, in fact, my dad tried to convince her to get an abortion when she became pregnant with me and then later with my brother. She was so aghast that my dad told my brother and I this, and went on to say that never in a million years who she even consider the thought of aborting one of her kids. Then it hit me, that had my mom given in to my dad’s demands, my brother and I would have been goners. Say goodbye to our hopes and dreams, and everything we accomplished.

If my mom had decided to get an abortion, society would not have blamed her. After all, my dad was abusive and she already had two children from a previous marriage. Why bring two more kids into a less than ideal situation? But my mom, God bless her, chose to stand up for the voices of her unborn sons and to choose life. My mom at the time wasn’t a staunch Christian or involved in the pro-life movement. She was a mother and knew that ending her own pregnancy was not only wrong, but unnatural. She also saw children as a blessing rather than a burden. Thanks to my mom, my brother and I have our own beautiful families and lead great lives.

So, yes, I am pro-life. Not because I am Catholic but because I believe every person has a right to life and the right to pursue happiness. My brother and I are living proof that women are strong enough to bring children into this world and flourish amidst adversity. Abortion doesn’t empower women; it only hurts them.

On another note, Science is proving that life begins at conception, and not at birth. So when we abort a fetus we are committing murder. There is no way around it.

If you or someone you know struggles with the topic of abortion, please click on the hyperlinks in the text of this post. The answers are there, you just need to look.

Thanks for reading.

Here are some other resources to help anyone experiencing a crisis pregnancy.

https://www.optionsforpregnancy.com/

http://byyoursidela.org/

http://hopeafterabortion.com/?p=109

http://surrenderingthesecret.com/