One of the reasons I enjoy writing is that it forces me to think and evaluate. In fact, there's a saying painted on the wall of my office: "The act of writing is the act of discovering what you believe." It's so true.
I basically write two kinds of stories: one, in which a Christian character is challenged to live out his/her faith in the world (THE DEBT, THE PEARL), and two, a story in which an unbelieving character becomes aware of God's presence in the world (THE AWAKENING, THE ELEVATOR, UNCHARTED).
The Fairlawn books are the first type, and Jen, my protagonist, is encountering some sticky situations. She's discovered a long-lost half-sister and resolved to help this girl. The girl's husband is fighting in Iraq, and she discovers she's pregnant. So far, so good.
But then the sister discovers that the baby has hydrocephalus, and the doctor suggests that she might want to terminate the pregnancy. The sister has "gone to church" her entire life, but she doesn't know the Lord the same way Jen does. And Jen feels strongly that abortion is wrong. But the sister feels that an abortion would save the baby tremendous suffering.
So . . . when the sister asks Jen to drive her to the abortion clinic, how does Jen respond?
I have already decided what will happen in the story (in fact, the book's practically finished), but I've been tossing the question out to friends over the last few days. And I've received all kinds of answers.
So . . . if you were Jen, what would you do?
P.S. I pre-wrote this blog--and I think it's providential that it's being posted right after the Supreme Court upheld the ban on partial birth abortion.
~~Angie
12 comments:
No. I wouldn't drive her to the abortion clinic.
Now I have too many thoughts going through my mind to even explain why that would be my decision...
I wouldn't either. I have read too much about post-traumatic stress syndrome in post-abortion women. Out of love for my sister, I could not enable her to do something that would not only kill my neice or nephew, but cause her emotional pain for the rest of her life.
Yep, what she said. That's why I wouldn't either. Ha ha... Thank you, Carrie, for being so wonderfully articulate. :)
I would pray about it, but I think in the end I would drive her, just to pray with her and give her the opportunity to have a compassionate ear to change her mind. Maybe my being there would give the Lord the chance to use me in that way. This is a really hard question Angie, I'm glad you asked it.
I would pray and pray and pray. And pray some more.
I can't say categorically that I wouldn't drive her. I can't say categorically that I would.
I know of two sisters, one of whom was pregnant as the result of rape. She booked an abortion and her sister drove her there. When they went to get out, the driver locked her door and said "You can't do this." And she didn't.
I too would pray and pray. Then I think I would see if I could take her to a Pro-life Pregnancy Center where they could counsel her with more information and wisdom than I have.
Otherwise, my inclination would be to tell her that I love her and couldn't have any part in her killing her baby. She would have to find another ride.
BTW, I love that mask! Is that your muse?
LOL, Kay. I brought that mask back with me from the Amazon jungle. It's now hanging on the wall.
I'll have to take a close up picture. It's life-sized, and freaks my dogs out. :-)
Angie
we lived a similar situation involving one of my daughter's friends. as it ended up, no one
agreed to take her. she now has a precious baby boy.
God spared me from having to make that decision many years ago when a beloved daughter (recently living on her own) had been raped and took herself in to an abortion clinic. She confessed the event a day later and my heart was broken. In more recent years, this same daughter has had serious problems in her married life pregnancies and also suffered a miscarriage. Silently I have wondered how much the abortion effected these happenings. We have both come to know the Lord in more recent years, and I pray that if faced with another such situation we would have the strength and courage to resist the "easy" way out this time around. There is a little voice nagging inside my head that if we kept the child, would we subconsciously be judging any signs of aberrant behaviour? Could we truly love a child born from such a violent act, from such a heinous parentage? For obvious reasons and with heavy heart at my doubts, I sign this "Anonymous" ...
Well, if we're going to confess to personal involvement on this issue... I had an abortion 14 years ago. (I wasn't a Christian then.) The immediate after-effects were horrible and it's a wonder I'm even still alive. Even getting through that time period the effects of my poor decisions still haunt me. My husband and I have been unable to have children too and sometimes I live as if I'm always waiting for the other shoe to drop. I have to remind myself that I'm free from God's wrath and condemnation now - but I am not free from paying the consequences of my sins. When is it consequence and when is it punishment and when is it God lovingly steering me in a different direction? I may never know.
And because I know the devestating future of post-abortive women, or at least this one, I wouldn't aid anyone in going to have an abortion.
My sister had an abortion. I didn't know about the pregnancy until after the fact. She and I have 2 things in common. We have had 3 pregnancies and we have the same parents. Our lives are miles apart and have been for a long time. (not just the physical miles)
Her abortion came between child #1 by one man and child #3 by another. The father of the baby who died in the abortion was another man. Her life is a sad one, she still lives with our parents. I don't really have a relationship with my sister. Most of our adult lives she has not spoken to me for one reason or another. I was the labor coach for both of her children and when the younger was born she had not spoken to me for nearly 3 years at that point. Except to ask me about a month before her daughter was born to see if I would be the coach. None of her "friends" wanted to do it. She had asked our brother and he was feeling pretty uncomfortable about it. I said, she never asked me but that wasn't strange to me because she had not been speaking to me. He told her that he wasn't comfortable and that she should call me.
I just realized that this is a pretty long comment. One of the times she stopped talking to me was around the time of the abortion. She knew that I believed abortion was wrong.
I don't have much hope for this broken relationship with my sister.
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