:: The S.I.C.L.E. Cell ::

:: Thursday, October 28, 2004 ::

I know someone who had a difficult pregnancy last time around. Lots of bedrest. We'll call her "Amy". Amy's baby is almost two years old now, and Amy's in the middle of a messy divorce. It's a typical Jerry Springer situation: the husband cheated on the wife and then the wife cheated on the husband. Only... she got pregnant. D'oh!

She wants to work her marriage out, but the husband isn't having it. She doesn't have a college education or a good job or even a job at all. She's out of work, going through an unwanted divorce and pregnant with a 1-year-old in tow... and don't forget the very real possibility that this gal is going to be put on bedrest at some point in the pregnancy.

Abortion started lookin' mighty tempting. How could it not? Amy is in a fix and has been told abortion is the answer. She talked to her mother about it. Her mother, who aborted a child, didn't want to sway Amy either way but did tell her that since the abortion her body has never been the same.

Amy's best friend, who also didn't want to sway her either way, told her that she would support any decision but confided that she believed Amy wouldn't be able to live with abortion. Amy, a girl in a very difficult situation, decided that she would not abort her baby but would hang in there against all odds.

She told me, "I thought about it a lot, and I figured... if I aborted, there's a chance I could regret that someday. But if I didn't, no matter what trouble comes my way, I know that I'll never regret my child. So I decided I'd rather regret trouble because you can get out of trouble, but you can't un-abort your baby."

I was speechless. I know Harvard grads who can't figure out what this uneducated welfare mother instinctively knows. Her accuracy floored me. It occurred to me that this was not rocket science but common, common sense. I was filled with hope and encouraged by her gutsy approach. I saw, not some country bumpkin having another baby and sapping the system dry... but a woman taking responsibility for her actions, holding herself accountable, and being uncompromisingly strong. Her bottom line read: "I don't know how I'm going to do it. I just know I can." And she will.

Amy is taking on the world. She is afraid but standing her ground. Courageous! Heroic! The gal o' the hour here at the Cell! She is woman, and I'm surprised this whole county didn't hear her roar.

Hey, girl! This blog's for you!

:: ashli 8:43 AM # ::
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