ODE TO THE UNBORN
THAT MIRACLE! The moment of conception.
In an instant you become.
You grow like rippling water rings in an ever-widening circle.
So fast, so precise. Yes, predestined.
You squirm and grin . . .
Even play a game of kick ball inside your cozy womb.
Every organ and muscle in place so soon!
Yet, you’re so very tiny. How can you be?
You cling tenaciously to life, oblivious to this world and me.
You feel, you hear, and dusty light is sometimes seen.
‘Til finally, you know the terror of unseen danger. . .
You sense it!
The suction that rips and pulls…screaming your mind apart.
The scalpel that cuts into flesh and bone. Oh, the pain!
The saline that sneaks steadily, stealthily . . .
Until you’re strangled life is gone.
Are you willing to be canceled, to be thrust into oblivion?
Your cries go unheard on the ears of you captors.
I cry for the promise you were.
I weep for the loss of your potential.
I mourn, with despair, your passing.
So very short you lived. I cry, “Not fair!”
I grieve, too, for your killers.
“Forgive them, Father, they know not what they do!”
Luke 23:34
~By Annette Gagliardi
In this day and age where folks are shouting their issues and defending their causes, I want to stand up for human rights. I wrote this poem back in the 1980’s and it was published in a small, local political rag, now defunct. Still, I believe the same today as I did then.
October is the month Catholics celebrate respect for life. The first Sunday in October is observed as Respect Life Sunday. We believe that every life is sacred, from the moment of conception until natural death. Every person is made in the image and likeness of God, and so each and every person has inherent dignity.
As Catholics, we are called to cherish, defend, and protect those who are most vulnerable, from the beginning of life to its end, and at every point in between. During October, the Church in the United States celebrates Respect Life Month, a time in which we’re invited to reflect more deeply on the dignity of every human life.
We celebrate that God is the Creator and Giver of all life, and because of that, we uphold the dignity and sacredness of every human life.
In 1970 there were 193,491 abortions reported to the CDC, which was 52 abortions per 1, 000 live births. That number has risen to 623,471 abortions performed in 2016, which is 186 per 1, 000 live births. In the United States, this year, there have been over 655, 939 abortions. My God. My God. Please forgive us !
An abortion is the disruption of life, the killing of an unborn person. The numbers are staggering.
I know the argument for abortion. But, consider this:
The following information is from the Abortion Clock Counter:
* Why is there a “After 16 weeks gestation” abortion counter? There is a lot of argument about “When does life begin” ? It would seem to be pretty hard for anyone to argue that a baby at 16 weeks gestation “is just a blob of tissue” based on what the scientific community knows today about the development of a baby at 16 weeks:
– The body is fully formed, the fingers and toes have fingerprints & nails.
– Is about 5 inches long and weighs about 3 ounces, about the size of a large avacado.
– The baby is moving about: may grasp for the umbilical cord , suck it’s thumb, and is capable of making facial expressions and kicking at the amniotic sac.
– The heart & circulatory system and the urinary tract are fully functioning. and the blood is pumping through these tiny veins
– The baby is inhaling and exhaling the amniotic fluid through the lungs.
-The eyes are in the proper position, and the baby can see straight ahead & blink his/her eyelids.
– The genitals have formed. In the case of a girl, the uterus has already developed and the ovaries are in the proper place.
– Umberto Castiello, University of Padova, Italy reported unborn babies have the ability to interact as early as 14 weeks into the pregnancy: “We conclude that performance of movements towards the co-twin is not accidental: already starting from the 14th week of gestation twin fetuses execute movements specifically aimed at the co-twin.”
Resources:
Catholic Relief Services at: https://www.crs.org/get-involved/learn/resource-center/respect-life-month
Respect Life at: https://www.respectlife.org/
Statistics taken from Wikepedia at; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_statistics_in_the_United_States
U. S. Abortion Clock Counters at: http://www.numberofabortions.com/
Featured illustration/photo credit: ksenia-makagonova–upxCuZ-QTA-unsplash.jpg