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Protect against Title IX and submit a comment by September 12, 2022.

The US Department of Education released their proposed changes to Title IX regulations that would dramatically change the future for women and girls in federally funded activities and programs. There are many negative impacts that will harm girls, women, and families.

A government portal has been set up for you to make a comment submission.  It is very straight-forward and easy to do.  In addition, this governmental body is required to read every submission, large and small – before they can finalize the new “Rule.”  So rest assured, your input will be read and considered.

TAKE A STAND TODAY

newbornAlicia Alley and Erica Arguello

Take a minute and think about the one person you enjoy spending time with; maybe it’s your wife, your husband, your mom or dad, a close friend, or a sibling. Now think of why you enjoy spending time with them. Is it because they make you laugh, help you feel loved, or just listen to you when you’re struggling? Now pretend that relationship is gone. How do you feel? Now think about all your other significant relationships and pretend they’re gone. In fact, you never became acquainted with any of them, because you were never born. The only time you existed was as an embryo waiting to become fully develop, but instead of being born a decision was made and it was decided you would be aborted. All those relationships you would have had are gone, and realize all those people you love don’t love you, because they never knew you. You never existed.

Every 26 seconds an abortion is performed in the United States. Since you’ve spent probably at least 30 seconds already reading this article one abortion has already occurred, and by the time you finish reading this, another seven or more will have taken place.

Of course there are only a handful of scenarios that would explain why an abortion might be necessary. Maybe the mother is at risk of dying upon going through with the pregnancy, or maybe the woman was a victim of incest or rape and the pregnancy was forced upon her. Other reasoning and justifications for a mother choosing to go through with an abortion, such as financial worries or an unplanned pregnancy, are just that – attempts at justifying a bad decision. Please understand this: Going through with abortion portrays selfishness and ends a child’s opportunity to live and be loved. Abortion is never something that brings feelings of accomplishment or joy, yet taking part in an abortion often brings feelings of despair, shame, and regret. Justifying an abortion will only bring a false sense of relief, when in reality a life was just ended because of a selfish belief in erasing something…only this wasn’t something, it was someone.

Dr. Anthony Levatino, an obstetrician, shared his personal story of his practice in performing abortions. He was involved in the practice of abortions for eight years. Dr. Levatino said carrying out abortions became uncomfortable when he and his wife discovered she was infertile. After this realization that he and his wife wouldn’t be able to biologically create a child he stated, “I kept doing abortions, I didn’t stop. But it was tough. We started desperately looking for a baby to adopt, and I was throwing them in the garbage at the rate of nine and ten a week. It even occurred to me then: I wish one of these people would just let me have their child. But it doesn’t work that way. So the conflict was there.”

With time, Dr. Levatino and his wife adopted a little girl. They named her Heather. He now had a family, and continued to perform abortions. He wasn’t particularly fond of doing them, but it was part of business. He continued with abortions for the next couple of years, until Heather’s accident. One evening “We heard the screech of brakes out in front of the house. We ran outside and Heather was lying in the road. We did everything we could, and she died.” After the incident, performing abortions was difficult and after a few months Dr. Levatino realized while performing an abortion, “This is somebody’s child. I lost my child, someone who was very precious to us. And now I am taking somebody’s child and I am tearing him right out of their womb. I am killing somebody’s child. That is what it took to get me to change. My own sense of self-esteem went down the tubes. I began to feel like a paid assassin. That’s exactly what I was.” Dr. Levatino quit performing abortions.

As a future mother, to steal experiences of an unborn child to learn to walk, laugh, ride a bike, kiss, and get married is unfathomable. Every unborn child has a right to life. The choice to end a life would be far more devastating than giving a baby up for adoption.

Choices have consequences

No matter what choices you make, there will be consequences, both positive and negative. As a woman, you have the ability to give your tiny, precious, vulnerable baby the opportunity to live. As a father, you have the ability to support your significant other in having the baby. Though there are no pleading, spoken words, begging, or endless sobs, to say, “I want to live! Give me a chance,” this unborn child has already begun developing. At just six weeks after conception, the unborn child starts to move, at eight weeks, reacts to touch, at 12 weeks already has finger prints, and at 20 weeks feels pain.

A pregnant woman is not an entity unto herself. She has a son or daughter developing within her. Imagine the infinite possibilities of that unborn child to become whomever they want, if given the opportunity to live. Maybe your unborn child would be a scientist that finds a cure to cancer. Maybe he becomes an Olympic gold medalist. Maybe, just maybe, the tiny human being, that has a heartbeat at three weeks after conception, helps change the world. Or maybe this child will be a normal, happy, well-adjusted human being who lives a fulfilling life – it’s enough.

These babies that will develop certain of your facial features, like a nose or chin, live in an environment that was made especially for them in a mother’s body. Some women may feel desperate to get rid of the baby they have been housing for a number of weeks and then have regrets. Women like Carol.  Carol stated after her abortion: “The abortionist did not speak or look at me except to growl, ‘Be quiet and keep still.’ when I began to shake and cry against my own will as I felt his cold, sharp instruments cutting out the life that had been growing inside me for the past three months. The sound of the fetus dropping into the plastic bucket held between my legs is a sound I cannot erase from my memory.” When you throw a rock into a pond, it creates a ripple effect. Just as ripples extend out, that unborn child was meant to have its own ripple effect by touching lives. Having an abortion is the equivalent of never throwing that rock.

Think of someone that changed your life. Appreciate the friendship you have, because had their mother chosen to abort them, they never would have been an influence in your life. Perhaps you never would have learned to ice skate or found your spouse. How would your life be different had they not been in it? A life is what you make it and the people in it make it worth it, unless you never existed in the first place. In the end, it starts with the beginning.

Erica ArguelloErica Argüello was born and raised in Quito, Ecuador, but has been living in Colorado most recently.  She recently graduated with a B.S. in Child Development from Brigham Young University –Idaho.  After graduation, Erica plans on working with children and families to help them during challenging times to have a better life.

 

Alicia Ally

Alicia Alley will be graduating this summer from Brigham Young University-Idaho with a Bachelors of Science in Child Development. She hopes to attend graduate school this fall and study Social Work. Alicia is from Indiana and comes from a family of eight. “My family is one of the most important things to me and they have helped in becoming who I am today.”

 

 

References

A baby’s first months. (2014). Retrieved February 7, 2014, from National Right to Life website:   http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/firstmonths

Abortion Stats. (2014). Life Issues Institute, Inc. Retrieved from:  http://www.lifeissues.org/abortion/

Fetal pain: The evidence. (2014). Retrieved February 7, 2014, from:  http://www.doctorsonfetalpain.com/

Levatino, A. (2014). Former abortionist dr. anthony levatino. Pro-life Action League. Retrieved from:   http://www.prolifeaction.org/providers/levatino.php

Women not prepared for horrors of abortion. (2014). Retrieved February 7, 2014, from:   http://www.suewidemark.com/the-catholic-vote/abortion-horror.htm