Chills

Yesterday on my way to pick up Eli I was listening to the radio and heard the DJ talking about a movie called "180".  I had to check it out and after watching it, I have to share.  It gave me chills.  This movie is a documentary-type film and is about abortion (and so much more).  It is 33 min. long so I suggest waiting until you have time to watch the whole thing before you start it.  Amazing how one question can change it all....



If you haven't watched the movie, don't read below...

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A few things in this movie really stood out for me.

1. The picture of the 24 week old baby... obviously, this one is tough for me personally because Logan was born around that time.  He lived, he breathed, he cried, he sucked a paci... the baby in the bed next to him was born at the same age and he thrived and went home with his parents... how could anyone think that's "not a baby".

2. At one point someone mentions that if the quality of life of the child is going to be bad, then it's okay to have an abortion.  How do we know what the quality of life will be like?  I've encountered people who thought their baby was perfectly healthy until the day the child was born or even discovered the illness/disability much later than that.  I've also encountered people who were told their child would be very, very sick for their whole life, if they even made it to birth and now the child is thriving (case in point, Stellan).  And just because we think a certain life is of "bad quality", who's to say it really is?  So many illnesses/disabilities are or have been very misunderstood.  People who were at one time sent to a hospital or group home because of their "condition" are now living on their own and doing just fine.  God can and does continue to perform miracles every single day.  Some are small, like the A on the test you didn't study for or the smile you know you saw from a child too young to smile.  Some are big, like remission from cancer.  Either way, if we step in we're taking away the opportunity for a miracle.

3. One of the girls said she thought it was okay for a mother to choose abortion in some situations.  Then Ray Comfort asks her what situation is okay, she hesitates and then says she can't think of one.  How many times in life do we just simply say "it's okay, sometimes"?  Not even talking about abortion here, about everything in life.  We accept excuses without stopping to think about whether they are valid.

To me, this video is about awareness.  We all have to hold ourselves responsible for being aware about what's going on.  Sometimes so much is going on in our lives we just let things slip by, we think "someone else will take care of that" (I count myself in this group sometimes).  We have all these ribbons and months and weeks marked for awareness: a pink ribbon and the month of October for Breast Cancer Awareness, November is Prematurity Awareness Month, this week is EB Awareness Week (if you don't know what EB is, please visit "EB"ing a Mommy).  I think we need a ribbon for awareness itself, it would remind us to be aware of what is going on in our community, our state, our country and our world, all the time.