Last week a story appeared about a young woman who chose to forgo chemotherapy rather than risk killing the baby that was growing inside her. Diagnosed with bone cancer when she was ten weeks pregnant, 24-year old Ashley Bridges decided there was “no way [she] could kill a healthy baby because [she was] sick.” Eight months into the pregnancy she was told that her cancer had progressed, and it was terminal. Her daughter is now two months old, and Ashley is being held a hero as she fights a losing battle.
But what if she had chosen the chemotherapy? What if she had had an abortion to end the pregnancy faster and give herself a greater chance? Would she be a hero then?
In my first post about dying to save someone else’s life I mentioned this exact scenario, and then said that no one would blame the mother if she chose treatment over the life of her baby. Dying is a scary thing, and living every day with your newborn, knowing that you won’t be there to watch or help her grow up, makes the thought unbearable. But while saving your own life is understandable, it doesn’t make you a hero.
No one who has chosen their own life over someone else’s is considered special. No one who is willing to sacrifice someone else for themselves is remembered as brave. No one who protects themselves at the cost of another is thought of with admiration. No woman who has had an abortion, whether to save her life or her lifestyle, is hailed as a hero. No advocate for abortion is, either. A “pioneer” for “women’s rights,” perhaps. But not a hero.
Who doesn’t want to be on the side of the heroes? Who doesn’t want to be a hero? Why not join the heroes and be pro-life?
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