Children Sent Back to Their Maker Like Unwanted or Defective Christmas Gifts Returned the Next Day
Topic: Musings

Are children a gift from God? You tell me.

I never quite understood the logic of aborting a pre-born human because they were not going to be normal - because they will arrive flawed like an imperfect diamond.

Like most expectant mothers, I was always very anxious before the birth of each of my children. I knew that so many things could go wrong and I could end up with a child with any manner of abnormality. I wondered if that were the case, would I have the strengh and endurance to take care of them properly or even if I would have the quantity and quality of love that they would need. I understand that it is a great tragedy when a child is born with major defects. It's difficult to even imagine the love and commitment which would be required to take care of a little human with severe birth defects. But this is what I don't understand. Since life has never been a promise of perfection and there is never any guarantee of easy sailing and good times, why do we destroy the imperfect?

I always realized that each time I went out in my car with my children safely secured in their seats, that a drunk driver could swerve over the center line and change our lives forever. I could end up with a child missing body parts, deformed, or with brain damage. An electrical wire could short out in our home and cause a fire that could change a family member beyond recognition. Would I love them any less? Would I allow a physician to end their life (like Dutch doctors in the Netherlands are currently doing) because a future with them in it would be too unbearable?

Life is scary. Really scary. Sometimes I am terrified of what comes next.

To me, though, it is just not logical to kill a pre-born child because they have imperfections. Any one of us could end up with imperfections at any time for any number of reasons. Like Terri Schiavo. Does that mean we would not deserve to live or be loved unconditionally?