Beat Still My Heart

....or more like the baby's heart.

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New York passed abortion-rights bill to allow abortion up until the baby's due date, if the mother's health is at risk. Quoted from The Wall Street Journal, abortion-rights advocates chanted outside of the Senate Chamber, "Women must decide our fate, not the church, not the state...now to see New York pass a bill to be sure that right is protected, is just a dream come true."

My heart shatters into pieces hearing such words & seeing such a twisted law go into effect. Clearly, abortion laws have already been in full establishment, I know that. So what makes this anymore earth-shattering from a pro-life standpoint? I mean, shouldn't every eye see if the mother's health is at risk, it should warrant a game changer to late-term abortion terms & conditions? Before that question can be answered, do a little experiment for me, if you would. Take 7 seconds to place your two fingers on the side of your upper neck, just below your jaw, until you can begin to feel your heartbeat. Now, go ahead & count a few of those beats. Can ya hear it? Boom boom. Can ya feel it? Boom boom. Yeah, me too. Now, answer this. Are you alive? Hmm, well you hear & feel a heartbeat, don't you? It's your beat, isn't it?

At 6-10 weeks of one's pregnancy, one can have an ultrasound & literally hear the child's heartbeat. Boom boom. Hmm, one can hear the heartbeat, yeah? It's a human's beat, isn't it? So, are they alive? ...

(Disclaimer: I fully believe & support that life begins at conception. The 6-10 week age heartbeat does not stipulate that life merely just began at this time).

OK, to all of us women, our body is our right, absolutely it is. But please, how is another human's? One can argue that "the mother's health" constitutes her personal right. This is precisely where lines become blurred, & black vs. white becomes a spilled mixture of gray. The "health" of an individual can be a broad spectrum, allowing several means of interpretation, depending on who is the performing the analysis. For example, NARAL Pro-Choice America Vice President Adrienne Kimmell said, “This is a major victory for women and families in New York, and sends a powerful message across the country reaffirming a basic truth: Every woman deserves the fundamental right to choose if, when, and how to grow her family” (Fortune 2019). This analysis of "health" sounds nothing like a life or death situation, which is what I would assume the "health of the mother" is to suggest. Interesting.

Galatians 5:13 says that we were called to be free (hence, free-will, & "it's my body"), but the latter half of the verse says to not use your freedom to indulge in the flesh. That can be a tough pill to swallow for such a complicated topic of discussion when "health of the mother" is defined as life/death, no argument on that (still does not justify it), but, it sickens me to see a portion of this world who is entirely engrossed in "women deciding our fate...to choose when & how to grow her family."

We as a nation seem to be enthralled & consumed by the conflicting opinions such as, what bathrooms a specific gender should or shouldn't be allowed to use, or what types of mental illnesses should or should not be permitted to serve in the US military, (yes, I am allotting to gender dysphoria, as defined in the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual-5). or the "racist" motive behind a white police officer fired at or detained a black individual. Sure, it can be oppressing for specific communities to feel such discrimination. But we all, black or white, transgender or gay or straight, rich or poor, Christian or atheist, at some point, will deal with persecution in this lifetime. But, I am unconditionally not sorry. Why? Because while we all have the opportunity to feel oppressed, laws like full-term abortion strip away any opportunity for that God-given life to feel any tyranny of this world. Yep, there will always be cruelty. There will always be malice. There will always be war. There will always be evil. There will always be sickness. Life will always be unfair. But - there will always be beauty. There will always be love. There will always be adventure. There will always be health. There will always be joy. This life is bursting at the seams with chance. Chance for a wholesome life, yet chance for affliction. We experience both, as many can attest, but that's just it - we can experience.

My prayer: God, give me clean hands & a pure heart to chase after you, going against the grain of what may be popular opinion. Knock me on my knees to remind me of how great you are in every crack & crevice of this broken world. Help me to always seek your face in the midst of confusion, chaos, & oppression. Help me to be a voice for the voiceless, a heartbeat for the still, a hand to hold for the weak, & a light to someone's dim. In Jesus name, I pray, Amen.

The picture of this cover photo has one flower that has not yet blossomed. It hasn't had its opportunity to, but given the time & chance, it will become a beautiful little orchid, just like the others. Unless something or someone stops it, that is.