Dear readers, I’m delving into a controversial issue today—abortion. There are several things that I am passionate about. However, if you’ve been following my writing for long, you know my biggest passion is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and sharing with others how to grow in that relationship. It is because of my relationship with the Creator God, His Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit that guides my life, that I am sharing a powerful message written by a very gifted writer friend, Mary Mack.

But first, I want you to share something personal.
I’m not proud of this, but nonetheless, it’s part of my testimony. When I was nineteen, I found myself in the position of considering abortion. I was young, unmarried, and frightened. I was told having an abortion wasn’t any different than taking birth control pills. I anguished for several days. Fortunately, all my fears were quelled when I found I was not pregnant, after all. But the idea that I even considered having an abortion haunted me.

Seven years later, I was married and attended a woman’s church retreat. It’s an experience I’ll never forget because prayer was offered to women who had had abortions. At first, only a few weeping women slowly made their way forward for prayer. The room had been silent, so their cries bounced off the walls, reverberating within me. But then more wailing broke out from behind me. Then to the side. And more toward the front. The room was pulsating with palpable anguish like I have never heard—loud sobs from women, some literally writhing on the floor.  

I sat there and heaved my own tears, knowing although I did not have an abortion, I seriously contemplated it. I was shocked at how many women had buried the indescribable pain—some for many years. My heart shattered for them because I could have been one of them. Please understand, I’m not judging here. It is certainly not my place. However, I do know that Jesus is the Healer and Forgiver that those women were looking for. And as a woman who has since been blessed to carry three children to birth and raise them, I know those babies—my sons and daughter— were ALIVE as they grew in me. They responded to my voice, they kicked when music played, they had hiccups. They were tiny, growing people that God “knit together in my womb” (Psalm 139). 

As Christians, I feel we must be a voice for those without a voice. I’m not going to throw a bunch of statistics at you or even scientific findings of biology and conception. I just want to appeal to you as another human being. There are many tragic things happening in our world, but this is one I will not be silent about. I don’t care if my stance is not “politically correct” because this is not really about politics. This is about the value of human life. And every single life is precious. 

Thank you for reading Mary’s post: 

In studying the technique of writing I have learned that the works that resonate most with readers/movie audiences are those that penetrate the heart. A great story moves the reader’s soul. In order to do that, a great writer must be willing to expose his/her own heart and soul.

It is the same with creating memorable characters in your writing. Writers must explore and develop the psyche of both their protagonists and antagonists and must be brave enough to delve into the Dark Side and uncover the Shadow Soul.

Through my research into this topic, I have reached certain irrefutable conclusions about the human soul which have been rocketed into stark focus by the abortion debate. Ireland is holding a referendum in May 2018 to decide whether to honor and uphold the rights of unborn babies, and I have taken a hard look at the pros and cons of the issue during the past months.

We know that the instant a person’s soul leaves his/her body, the body falls to the ground and immediately begins to decay. This proves an undeniable link between a person’s spirit and his/her flesh. Without being occupied by a soul, a human body cannot survive; therefore, the sole purpose of the body is to house a spirit. Ergo, the human body must contain a soul from the instant it is formed. Everybody that is begun in the womb is designed to be powered by a spirit. Now, is the spirit placed in the womb as soon as the body is fully functioning, or is it there from the instant the egg and sperm unite, or does the mother’s spirit sustain the fetus until it takes its first breath outside the womb?

Abortionists would try to convince us that a baby does not have a soul until the moment of birth; that to end a baby’s life right up to the moment of birth is not murder, because they claim the baby is just a mass of cells that have invaded the womb like a cancer. As a woman who has carried four such ‘anomalies’ to full term, I can testify that the mass of cells that grew inside my womb during each pregnancy was alive and kicking; each one was capable of sensing my mood, reacted in startlement to loud/sudden noises, and would become excited when I would laugh and play with his/her boisterous siblings. Music and conversations had the ability to either calm or stimulate each of the occupants of my womb.

I don’t know the precise moment the souls of my children entered their bodies. Nobody knows that. All we know for sure is that once the soul leaves, the body dies.

Fathers and mothers are the protectors of their children, but that protection starts way before the child is born. It would be stupid for parents to say, “We will wait and see what this cellular anomaly in the uterus turns out to be once it is expelled by the host body.” When they discover that they are pregnant, most mothers prepare in advance for the birth of… a BABY. They buy a crib, baby clothes, a car seat, and stroller, etc. Some even start a college fund. I have yet to meet a parent-to-be who bought a set of matching petri dishes and graduated cylinders in which to place their cellular anomaly. Their birth announcements do not read, “We are proud to announce the expulsion of our fetus!”

The purpose of a pregnancy is to produce a child. When pregnancies are deliberately aborted by killing the developing baby, there can be no doubt that the baby ends up dead.  If it is murder to kill a baby one minute AFTER it is born, then it is murder to kill that same child one minute BEFORE it is born.

People whose viewpoints diametrically oppose mine often tell me that my viewpoints are extreme. Hmm… If my opinions are on one side of the spectrum, and the opposing argument is directly opposite mine, then BOTH opinions are extreme.

When there are only two ways of looking at an argument — either for or against, with no in-between, nuanced areas — then both ways are extreme opposites. That’s what an extreme viewpoint is. The term does not imply a radical, fringe, or fanatical mindset, as people who disagree with me would like to imply.

On the abortion issue, there are only two outcomes for the baby: Either she lives or she dies. There is no in-between choice since she can’t be partly dead or partly alive. Therefore, no matter what side of the abortion issue you take, your choice is extreme by default. You either want the baby dead, or you want her alive.

Abortion is one of those unambiguous issues that are black-and-white with no shades of gray. People have to take an extreme position when they weigh in on the argument, a position which is generated by a morally absolute decision that is made on an individual basis. Therefore, if you call me extreme in my stance against murdering babies, you are in effect admitting that you are extreme in opposing me.

There is no backing away from this, or arguing yourself into a murky area of half-dead babies; abortion is intended to kill every baby, every time. And don’t try to introduce a Strawman Argument by focusing on the health of the mother, or the woman’s right to choose mantra. Those are sidebar arguments that detract from the real issue. When it comes to abortion, either you are pro-life or pro-death.

And if you choose to sit on the sidelines and not speak up when the lives of helpless babies are on the executioner’s block, then your silence is a tragic act of inhumanity.

 Mary Mack is an award-winning screenwriter (Table Read My Screenplay contest, Best Fantasy Screenplay, 2015) and has taught screenwriting workshops for the California Writers Club. Mary is the Editor of The Mohahve Muse, the official newsletter of the Mohahve Historical Society, and Assistant Editor of The Inkslinger, the newsletter of the California Writers Club (High Desert). As a freelance editor, Mary has earned a reputation among her clientele as an insightful story consultant and eagle-eyed proofreader. As a freelance graphic designer, she creates logos, book covers, business cards, letterhead, and promotional material for clients across the world.
Contact Mary at mary_mack@outlook.com

Respectful comments welcome below. Thanks!

“There is no backing away from this, or arguing yourself into a murky area of half-dead babies; abortion is intended to kill every baby, every time. And don’t try to introduce a Strawman Argument by focusing on the health of the mother, or the woman’s right to choose mantra. Those are sidebar arguments that detract from the real issue. When it comes to abortion, either you are pro-life or pro-death.”

—Mary Mack