Melissa Anderson
Something about being away from my children makes me crazy. On days I’m not crazy lonesome or crazy melancholy or a crazy shopper buying crazy amounts of children clothing to send to my adorable children, I’m just a mama crazy in love with her babies. And I wonder where that crazy love went in the rest of the world.
When did we hit the point where we argue about leaving our babies dead in an abortionist’s trash can?
I find myself wondering if people actually sit and think a little about all the pre-born baby girls we’re killing in the quest for unadulterated women’s rights. It’s such a backward argument to say that we must allow for the death of girls to protect rights the women. We forget about the preborn and we forget about the men who often have absolutely no say whatsoever regarding whether their baby lives or dies.
But even in all my musings I was left with no way to change the world. I am powerless to fix the state of our children, to open the eyes of a world hell bent on not recognizing the humanity of a heartbeat. I’m left with no tool at all but a tablet and a pen. They say that the pen is mightier than the sword, and right now I’m hoping that’s true. The whole world lies in hearts and minds of its citizens. Here is my small contribution to the work of changing the minds of a world.
Here is my pro-life manifesto to anyone willing to read.
I am pro-choice. This only means that I am anti-rape and anti-incest. Only in cases of rape and incest does a woman have no choice. The rhetoric “pro-choice” diminishes the pain and the heartache felt by women who truly have no choice given to them when they were forced into sexual activity against their will and choice.
I am pro-consequence. When a man and a woman both choose to engage in sexual intercourse, the choice has been made. Pregnancy is the natural consequence of the choice to engage in sexual intercourse. The choice has been made, next comes only the consequence of that choice. The preborn must not be permitted to bear the consequences of a man and a woman’s choice to engage in sexual activity.
I am pro-family. I believe in families. I believe in the goodness of women. In the history of the United States, women were the driving force behind the suffrage movement, education reforms, abolition, emancipation, work force safety and child labor laws. All of that was accomplished and women have only been able to vote in the United States for less than a hundred years. Great works are accomplished when a woman works to protect and nurture. Current trends seek to isolate the woman from her family. What a woman cannot conquer alone, what a man cannot accomplish alone, a family can. Families are the most important unit. Abortion asks that a woman, in her weakest and most vulnerable state, make a decision regarding the life of her own preborn infant, with no counsel other than the abortionist profiting from the death of the child.
I am pro-liberty. John Stuart Mill was a leading political theorist. Many would place him in a category with such brilliant political minds as James Madison and Fredrick Douglass. Mill explained in discussing democracy and liberty that one person’s liberty interest ends where harm to another begins. For example, my liberty to swing my fist ends where it comes into contact with another’s face. I do not have total and complete liberty. My liberty of action ceases where another’s liberty interest in safety begins.
Such a simple principle in this democracy we all claim to love. We believed such principles as espoused by Mill when they were spoken in regard to a political system, about democracy, so why not now? I stand fast to the principle that such basic political theory as founded our country holds as much truth today as they did then. A man and woman’s liberty interest ends where harm to a preborn infant begins. We never have complete liberty. There will always come a point where our individual liberty ceases. Harm to another. What is more harmful than to make a beating heart stop beating?
I am pro-bold. Pro-life is the silent majority. I will not be silenced. I will not be swayed by rhetoric aimed at muddying clear issues. I will not doubt my own positions and I will not begin to believe that my positions are less worthy of defending than someone else’s. I strongly believe that when I personally stop fighting for life, I am just as much to blame as the abortionist.
I am pro-life. I stand for Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The foremost among these is Life, as without Life there can be neither liberty nor happiness to protect.
Here’s what you can do:
1. Legislatures are in session in many states in the U.S. and in parliamentary bodies around the world. Find out what pro-life bills are being proposed in your state or country and support them.
2. Write a letter to the editor, a blog post, or post on your facebook wall your thoughts about the tragedy of abortion and the empty rhetoric of the “pro-choice” movement. Share with others your feelings about life and the need to protect it – before birth as well as after.
3. Find out the positions of your elected representatives and commit to help pro-life/pro-family candidates get elected.
4. Treat all those around you with great respect and love. Let your actions reflect your commitment to the sanctity of life.
5. Be an active and articulate voice for the unborn.
Melissa Anderson is a lawyer in San Antonio, Texas. She is the mother of seven crazily adorable children and an author of children’s books. In her spare time, Melissa volunteers extensively with Court Appointed Special Advocates educating the community on issues related to child abuse and neglect.