Mary’s daughter squealed and ran around the living room, laughing hysterically. Her mother chased after her, wielding a onesie and raising her voice multiple octaves.
“Margaret, come back here! It’s time for bed!” Mary said, trying—and failing—to corner her. She sighed as her baby slipped past her, screaming all the more joyously. She turned and stared down her diaper-clad daughter, hands on her hips. Margaret was a bald baby, her few tufts of hair incredibly blonde and unnoticeable. She was rather chubby, with short little legs and a round belly. Margaret had learned how to run early and enjoyed the activity immensely. She looked up at her mother, so incredibly happy in that moment. Mary shook her head and chuckled.
She surprised her daughter and scooped her up, causing her to explode with giggles. Margaret pulled on Mary’s corkscrew hair as she was wiggled into the blue onesie with the owl on the front. She was the cutest baby Mary had ever seen, if she did say so herself.
“Ok, Margaret, time for bed.” She wrapped Margaret up in a fuzzy pink blanket and sat down in the Mahogany rocking chair Mary’s father had gotten her. Mary’s apartment had three rooms: her bedroom, the living and dining room combined, and the kitchen. Every inch of her space was covered in photos of Margaret, toys, and baby furniture.
She rocked Margaret gently and sang her the lullaby her mother used to sing to her.
Go to sleep, go to sleep
Go to sleep little baby.
Close your eyes, say goodnight
Rest in peace.
Margaret soon fell asleep, thick eyelashes fluttering and snoring softly. Mary laid her gently in her crib, snuggling her bunny stuffed animal, Bun-Bun, next to her. A sigh of contentment escaped her lips. She ran her hand over Margaret's beautiful face, completely in love with this precious girl.
And to think she could have missed this all.
Mary took a deep breath. Then another. She thought of all the problems facing her as she sat in her car, staring down a brick building.
She was just trying to make it through college. Her time was completely taken up—working night shifts at fast-food restaurants and trying to take her classes and finish her homework on time. She lived in a crumbling dorm room, old pizza boxes littering her floor. She barely had any money, between all her debt and bills.
This was really, really not the time to be pregnant.
She was torn, though. She thought of when she was a teenager and she dreamed of having a daughter, and all the fun they would have together. Of the time her mother had a miscarriage when she was 14, and how she had sobbed on the floor of the bathroom. And of the time she spent with her little cousins, holding and playing with them.
But she shoved those thoughts down, telling herself that this was the right thing to do. She was in no position to care for another human being. She would be a single mom working two jobs just to make ends meet. She could not do that. Besides, the doctors had assured her that whatever was in her stomach was just a clump of cells. She could have children when she was older, more mature. Had her life put together.
She tightened her jaw and slammed the car door, counting the steps to the front door of the abortion clinic. She gripped the handle of the door, closed her eyes, and--
“Wait!”
A woman ran up to her, worry wrinkled over her entire face as her dreads bounced on her back and she reached for Mary.
“Wait.”
Mary stared at her, shocked and confused and a bit confounded. She did not move a muscle or utter a word.
“Please, ma’am, don’t do this. You can’t kill your baby,” the woman said, grabbing onto her arm. Suddenly, Mary felt indignant and angry, rearing and jerking her arm away. She glowered at the grief-stricken woman, ignoring the fact that she had said those very words during the weeks she had debated this decision.
“Who are you to tell me what I can and cannot do with my body? This is my choice,” she stated to her, stalking towards her.
“Please,” the woman pleaded again. “God created this baby,” she said, shocking Mary and halting her thought process. “He has known this baby since before time began. He has been forming it, knitting it together. He cares about it and loves it more than you can imagine. He has been watching it since the moment it was conceived, and He has taken care of it! This baby is His image-bearer, a child of God. To take its life... that is the murder of God’s child. Please,” she repeated, “let me show you. I will take you to a pregnancy clinic, I will pay for an ultrasound. I think you will change your mind once you see your baby.”
Mary blinked hard. Then she sniffed.
“Please.”
“Fine,” Mary said. “I’ll follow you in my car.”
The woman gave her a small smile, then started walking towards her car. They drove to a pregnancy clinic, Mary in turmoil the whole drive. Why was she doing this?
The building was clean, a warm brown color, with a pink sign and pink shudders, and an open door. A receptionist gave them both an incredibly broad, white smile and directed them towards the waiting room. It was filled with canvas photos of babies, magazines about pregnancy and parenting, and fuzzy pillows. Mary was tense and avoided any conversation.
Quicker than Mary expected, a nurse was calling them for an ultrasound. She was a little uncomfortable and very worried, having no idea what was going to happen or what she was going to do after this was over. The nurse rubbed gel on her stomach that made her back shiver it was so cold then pressed a machine against her stomach. She moved it around a bit, and...
“Woah.”
What Mary saw on that screen was not a clump of cells or blob of goo. It was a baby. It was adorable, all curled up in a ball and scrunched. The baby waved its arms back and forth, tilting its head. Tears welled up in Mary’s eyes and she could not breathe properly, absorbed in how amazing and beautiful this little creature inside her was. Warmness filled her entire body until she was overflowing with love. In that moment, she vowed to protect that baby with her life.
“It’s a girl,” the nurse said, smiling. Mary shook her head in awe, starstruck.
She turned slowly to the woman who had brought her there. “What was your name?” She asked.
The woman was staring intently at Mary’s baby and seemed a little surprised before she answered, “Margaret.”
Mary reached her hand towards the picture of her daughter, and whispered, “Margaret.”
Today is Sanctity of Life Sunday, and I had to write something. My dad preached a sermon today on Psalm 139, and it was amazing. My dad called himself an Abolitionist, who doesn't want stricter regulations or increased laws regarding abortion-- he wants the complete and total abolishment of abortion, which is the murder of a baby. I am vehemently against abortion, and consider it one of the greatest atrocities America has ever allowed to happen.
You can donate money towards providing free ultrasounds to women here: https://donate.focusonthefamily.com/rescuebabies?refcd=856801
You can also read Bill Ascol's On Abolishing Abortion, which the SBC accepted as a resolution this past year, here: https://www.sbc.net/resource-library/resolutions/on-abolishing-abortion/
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