Heartbreak on the Border

Last updated on: October 30, 2017 at 1:17 pm by Ericka Andersen

Heartbreak on the Border 2017-10-30T13:17:01-04:00 Ericka Andersen

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As my blog was getting back up and running yesterday, I wrote a little something on Facebook I wanted to share. Looking up an article to link for reference just now, I found this one, which the headline: “Undocumented Teen Immigrant Has the Abortion She Sought For Weeks.”

It broke my heart even further over this situation. I’m pregnant right now, and like many women, I have a copy of “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” on my night stand.

Each week, I flip it open to see what’s happening with my baby. Everyday cells are doubling, organs growing stronger, finger nails developing, brain functions gaining full capacity. The miraculous growth that takes place from week to week, even day to day, is absolutely incredible. Which is why it’s even worse to consider how much more life this little babe has grown since this situation started…she was “safe” and growing her mother’s womb, with no idea she’d soon be ripped out, her life lost to an inhumane legal system that — like a barbaric regime — allows the killing of unborn children.

Say she was 12 weeks, which is entirely possible, based on how long it takes to know you are pregnant and the length of this legal battle. Here’s the life that was ended yesterday — the cheers of the ACLU & feminist groups across the country...actually the left is 12 weeks and the right is MY baby at only 9 weeks (7 weeks gestation!):

babies12weeks

Here’s what babies are doing at 12 weeks (10 weeks gestation):

“The most dramatic development this week: reflexes. Your baby’s fingers will soon begin to open and close, his toes will curl, his eye muscles will clench, and his mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, if you prod your abdomen, your baby will squirm in response, although you won’t be able to feel it.

His intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into his abdominal cavity about now, and his kidneys will begin excreting urine into his bladder.

Meanwhile, nerve cells are multiplying rapidly, and synapses are forming furiously in your baby’s brain. His face looks unquestionably human: His eyes have moved from the sides to the front of his head, and his ears are right where they should be. From crown to rump, your baby-to-be is just over 2 inches long (about the size of a lime) and weighs half an ounce.”

So this is what people were cheering about yesterday. Here’s what I wrote:

People say the day will come when we will look back on this time as barbaric and cruel and regret all the lives we snuffed out. I’m not sure that day will come, as this is a fallen world and if good people can look past it now, I’m not sure how they ever change. We weren’t meant for this world and it will never be “good” but I hope I am wrong on this issue.

Every bit of evidence we need is there. If you were looking at the screen, at those fingers at toes, as early as 7-8 weeks and you had the suction in hand, would you really be able to say “do it” and feel good about yourself? Feel like this was the right thing to do? The answer, for nearly everyone, would be “no.” But most people don’t see the screen, or the movement or the fingers or toes. They simply say it’s a “woman’s body” and no one else’s business. I didn’t know a woman’s body had two heart beats, two brains, to full sets organs and two separate sets of DNA. I thought that meant someone else might be in the room.

I am so sorry for this young girl, who felt abortion was her best and only option. I’m sorry people have made her feel that her life would be over or unmanageable if she chose life for her child. I pray and work for a world where women are empowered to choose life and believe their dreams are still possible. And I pray for her healing as she processes this trauma.

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