Life. When does it begin? It is celebrated in its smallest forms. Tiny feet. Tiny toes. We post pictures of our sonograms on Facebook, rejoice when we hear the tiny heartbeat on the ultrasound, stuff pink or blue ribbons in boxes and have parties to reveal the baby’s gender. We prepare the nursery, complete with the baby’s name across the wall. Life. It is celebrated in the pulsing of tiny feet pushing against a mother’s womb. Celebrating life is universal across cultures, languages, and religions.

When I turn on the news and hear the angry voices of women screaming for their right to take the life of their unborn baby, it makes me angry. With every argument posed, I wonder, but what about the baby? Why is a baby celebrated as life in one instance, and viewed as a blob of cells in the next? Taking the life of an innocent one is always murder. Plain and simple.

But the news also makes me sad. I 100% recognize that for some women, finding out they are pregnant does not initially cause them to celebrate. For those of you in situations in which you feel trapped, I see you and acknowledge that your situation is complex. Maybe you’re in an abusive relationship or struggling to make ends meet. I acknowledge that these scenarios are not easy or simplistic. You’re living with pain and fear that no one should have to live with or experience. God sees you too. He loves you and wants to offer you a way out. But you don’t have to resort to abortion, legal or otherwise. You do have a choice.

For the woman who was raped, your choice was taken away from you. If this happened to you, I am sorry they took away your choice. You are living the unthinkable. God sees you in your suffering and He wants you to find healing. But causing additional pain or suffering by taking the innocent life of your child will not bring you healing. Believing this, is believing a lie. Hurt never heals hurt. One wrong does not make another wrong right.  By contrast, God makes all things new. Jesus sees you in your suffering, just like He saw the woman at the well. He longs to wrap you in His arms and heal you. He can, if only you will lean on Him. Trust in Him and the salvation He offers. No one on earth is more equipped than Jesus. He rose from the dead and He will raise up your dry bones and bring you back to life. He will make a way. Perhaps healing will come in the friendship you form with a woman who desperately wants a baby but can’t have one, one who is willing to love your baby as their own. Or perhaps, in giving birth, you will look into the eyes of your Creator and know that God brings beauty from ashes through love for a tiny human you never thought was possible.

You can choose abstinence, but for those who choose not to be abstinent, you can choose contraceptives, which are more readily available than they ever were in times past.  In these cases, yes, it is your body. It is your choice.  This option should remain available, even if there are some who believe using contraceptives is wrong. Taking away this option for those who do not agree with those religious beliefs would be truly taking away your choice.

For those who have gotten pregnant unexpectedly and face financial difficulty or an abusive relationship, you can choose adoption. Millions of women are waiting to give your baby love and life.  It is one of the beautiful ways, God can turn a difficult situation good.

I know none of these options are ever 100% perfect. We live in a society that doesn’t always support motherhood and we need to do better. But let us not forget the life of the baby. You don’t have to choose death. Fight for life.

“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.” -Psalm 139:13-14.