Disposable People

What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?  ⁵ For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor.  ⁶ You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet.    Psalm 8:4-6

Human beings are trying to make us all just disposable commodities.  I have to wonder if they’ll feel the same when their time comes.  Or, perhaps, they really have drunk the Kool Aid they’re pedaling.

As you may know, I almost died this year.  More accurately, almost killed.  I was in an induced coma due to contracting COVID pneumonia.  I was taken off at least some of those drugs to let me wake up, but I wasn’t coming out of the coma quickly.  The attending physician and even at least one nurse pressured my wife to give permission to insert a gastric feeding tube and send me to hospice.  She’d have to make the difficult decision to “deny sustenance” and let me die.

Fortunately for me my wife wasn’t that ready to let me go.  Backing her up was her sister, a forty-year nurse with a master’s degree and years of experience in an ICU.  My wife sent her pictures of my monitors and medical information.  Neurological tests showed I had normal brainwaves for an unconscious person, and I was responding positively to physical stimulus tests.  My sister-in-law said they just needed to stop giving me fentanyl and other such drugs to let me wake up!

After countless prayers from friends, family, co-workers, and one final prayer my wife had with the hospital chaplain I woke up that same day she and the chaplain prayed.  A miracle!

I was sixty-four at the time, and I honestly believe a younger patient would not have been written off so easily.  Why am I convinced of that?  Well, you’d have to go through all the articles I’ve written about euthanasia on that topic heading below.  There’s a world-wide push to cheapen life in general both in the womb and in old age.

I recently spoke to someone who’s mother-in-law was in a fight against being killed by her medical team, because of her poor physical condition even though she was conscious and alert.

Then there’s an article from Answers in Genesis, What Will Future Generations Think?  And does it matter?, that looks at Euthanasia in Canada.  From the article:

Will Canada owe those with disabilities an apology in the future? That’s the question featured in an opinion piece by Charles Lane published in The Washington Post regarding Canada’s euthanasia policy, which from 2016–2021, resulted in the deaths of 31,000 people. The majority of those physician-inflicted deaths were of cancer patients, but some were people suffering from “chronic disabling conditions.”

Euthanasia Targets the Disabled

The column highlights three stories of individuals who chose (or almost chose) “medical assistance in dying.”

Lane says that it’s “Horrifying that killing patients is now considered the humane and compassionate thing to do.”

He compares Canada’s current loosening of euthanasia standards to how they had ripped native American children from their homes and put them into schools that only taught them English and Canadian history so they could be better assimilated into Canadian culture.  It was considered the right thing to do at the time.  Now, of course, it is seen as barbaric!

What will future generations think of current euthanasia policies?

Finally, California has passed a law that will allow another alternative to burying or cremating one’s deceased loved ones; composting.

…a method in which human remains naturally decompose over a 30-to-45-day period after being placed in a steel vessel and buried in wood chips, alfalfa and other biodegradable materials. The nutrient-dense soil created by the process can then be returned to families or donated to conservation land.

They join Washington, Colorado, Oregon, and Vermont in allowing human composting, because it is considered more eco-friendly.

Whatever happened to the idea of desecration of a corpse?  What does “desecration” mean?  Some synonyms are violation, profanation, and sacrilege.  It is a misuse of something regarded as sacred.

I will admit that the above words can be considered subjective.  For example, cremation is now socially acceptable even though it is not everyone’s personal choice.  Cremation does have its precedents going back centuries if not millennia.

But composting?

Here’s my problem with it when I try to find a place for it within the whole subject of life and death.  Our culture is already moving more and more in the direction of not valuing life at its earliest stages or ending stages – regardless of age.  Some people talk about death with dignity or merciful death.  You can dress it up however you like, but when it comes to that very real moment it’s still death.

I recall one account of an alcoholic who just couldn’t kick the habit after several rehab stints and opted for “death with dignity.”  He held a going-away party with family and friends and, of course, the executioner.  Once the deed was done, his brother was quoted as saying that it would have been beautiful if it hadn’t been so terrible.

You can argue that it’s an eco-friendly solution and even take some sort of comfort in that, but at that point you’re elevating the planet above the individual; a human being!  A person created by God is left without honoring him or her for what they are. The planet says they aren’t a contributing member of society, so away with them. Regardless of age.  Or convenience.

All the pretty words in the world won’t change what is really happening.  A child of God lived and now died, and that’s worth something.  Whether they lived a productive life or not, one can at least say now they’ve made a contribution to the planet – they’ve been composted with dignity.

*sigh*

Drag Queen Curriculum

²² You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination. ²³ Nor shall you mate with any animal, to defile yourself with it. Nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it. It is perversion.    Leviticus 18:22-23

¹³ If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death…¹⁵ If a man mates with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. ¹⁶ If a woman approaches any animal and mates with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal. They shall surely be put to death.    Leviticus 20:13, 15-16

Today’s foundational verses are to show unequivocally that God does not condone homosexual behavior.  In fact, the assigned punishments are very harsh.  Yes, these are Old Testament references, so let’s throw in some New Testament.

² The Pharisees came and asked Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” testing Him.

³ And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?”

⁴ They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to dismiss her.”

⁵ And Jesus answered and said to them, “Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. ⁶ But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ ⁷ ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, ⁸ and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹ Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”    Mark 10:2-9

First, this is Jesus talking.  He is not a homophobe as Liberals would now label Him.  He’s talking about God’s designed creation.  Second, the point here is that one man and one woman sexually come together in exclusivity and become one.  It isn’t about two men or two women or any sort of threesome.  Nor is He talking about men dressing as woman getting a pass due to their clothes and makeup.

Anything other than one man and one woman as they are created is wrong.

It isn’t about hate.  It’s about the rules as God laid them out because this is what He created us for.  Sin causes problems for us; we all have our temptations and sex is no exception.

Are we clear?  This is the groundwork for today’s subject – no pun intended – about drag queen curriculum.

My wife showed me a news article on her phone while we were out for breakfast the other day.  It was about how a Christian grade school had several drag queens come in and perform in the sanctuary.  Kids told how they felt high pressure to join them dancing in the aisles.

This is grooming, plain and simple!  In a so-called Christian school!  I was unable to find the article when we got home to give you a link here, but here is what I found.

First is a YouTube video about how a school arranged for drag queens to have drag performances for a school: A Drag Queen Show at School.

Elsewhere we have an April 25 drag show at Hempfield High School was approved event:

Gay Sexuality Alliance advisors Kelly Tyson and Carla Vicidomini organized events with drag queen performers annually since 2020, with the permission of ninth-grade Principal Beth Becker, according to email correspondences received through a Right to Know request filed by school district resident Peter Taraborelli.

Again, this is outright grooming!  Parents need to keep a close eye on their school’s activities, whether during class hours and anything extracurricular.  Attend church and Bible classes there with your kids.  Don’t let promoters of sexual confusion and sins be the only ones doing the talking.  After all, that’s how our society got to this point in the first place.

Know your Bible so you can speak knowledgably about this and other topics like evolution vs. creation that all chip away at the foundations of the Bible and it good news!

Ultimately, Jesus does love everyone, even the drag queens.  He died for them just like He did for you and me.  The difference between them and true followers of Christ is that they preach an impure gospel that leads people astray.  Jesus does not condemn them.  They condemn themselves and refuse Jesus’ outstretched hands to save them.

Meanwhile, check your school’s curriculum!

We Can Influence God!

I posted My Testimony last month and spoke of how the prayers of family, friends, co-workers and, capping them off, my wife’s prayer with the hospital chaplain shortly after which I woke up!

Here’s the thing.  No one prayed just once.  Everyone prayed many, many times.  It’s the persistence that God looks for.  If we ask once and stop, God has to wonder how much we want Him to help us!  It isn’t about just wanting something, but also about wanting Him to grant it.  As parents, we are the same way.  If a child asks just once, we think they must not want it very much.

Yes, God knows our hearts, but actions count!

¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray without ceasing, ¹⁸ in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.    1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Prayer should never be a “one and done!”

³ About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!”  ⁴ And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?”  So, he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God. ⁵ Now send men to Joppa and send for Simon whose surname is Peter.    Acts 10:3-5

Think on it!  A sinful human being’s actions became a memorial before the Supreme creator and Ruler of the Universe!

⁵ Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. ⁶ And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were ^[c]keeping the prison. ⁷ Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands.    Acts 12:5-7

Again, constant prayer provides proof to God – and ourselves – how much we really want something.  You might think you really, really want something, but if you’re not willing to spend time praying for it, well, how do you think it looks to anyone else…including God?

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;    Philippians 4:6

Yes, He wants to hear from you!!

Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.    Colossians 4:12

Laboring?  Yes!  Prayer should not be a casual thing!  Give God your full attention when praying.  Take the effort to clear your mind of all else.  I’ll add a personal caveat: when I see an accident or an emergency vehicle with lights and siren going, I’ll prayer then and there for whoever need help and the first responders for a good outcome!

And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.  Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.  Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.  And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.    James 5:15-18

So, if I want something bad to happen to my enemies, all I need do is pray earnestly for it?  NO!  Elijah’s prayer for drought was in line with God’s will.  Let James speak to us again.

Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? ² You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. ³You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.    James 4:1-3

In short, pray a lot, pray in earnest, work at it, and study God’s Word so that your prayers align with His desires for us.

More Blessed Than I Realized!

I just had an enlightening email exchange with fellow blogger https://kennethmbriggs.com/.  I had inadvertently deleted a comment he entered on my latest posting.  I emailed him instead so I could reply to him anyway.  He’s been praying for my continued recovery from COVID, and it got me thinking just how blessed I am.

Let’s start with my 21 days in an induced coma and on a ventilator.  I already knew that most people don’t survive that; only about 15%.  After Julie’s prayers herself and then with the hospital chaplain – on top of everyone else’s prayers – I woke up the morning after her praying with the chaplain and no longer needed the vent, although they left me hooked up in minimal setting just to be safe.

That already makes me a miracle!  But that isn’t all.  My lung damage from the pneumonia was minimal enough that I don’t need to carry an oxygen tank.  My cardiologist has never heard of someone coming off a vent who doesn’t need to have supplemental oxygen!  That puts me in an even more rarified category of a miracle!

My daughter is a medical assistant at an urgent care clinic and has seen a lot of people post COVID.  Everyone carries an O2 bottle and has secondary conditions related to COVID, like a stroke or other cognitive issues.  I have none!  It almost makes me think I’m in my own category, because every medical professional I’ve seen says they have not seen this complete a recovery from such a bad case of COVID.  It doesn’t mean there’s no one else out there like me, but recovery like mine is extremely rare to the point of possible singularity!

The power of prayer is evident in me!  I didn’t see how powerful at first, because I was my only frame of reference.  I can tell you that both pastors from my church came to pray over me with Julie while I was comatose.  The head pastor came again to see me after I woke up.  He later confided to my daughter it was all he could do to not cry when he saw how completely alive and alert I was.

I still have a lot of work to do to regain my strength and mobility.  I have what is called palliative nerve damage in both legs that can’t be helped; I’ll have to walk with foot braces and a cane for the rest of my life.  All things considered, I’m content with that!  My left arm and hand also have a nerve problem, but we’re hopeful that an operation will improve the grip and dexterity of my left hand at least a bit.  The neurosurgeon says regeneration at my age is problematic, so minimal success is the most we can hope for.

We often hear of miracles in other people’s lives, but those people maybe far removed from us to the point of sounding like rumor and exaggeration.  But now you are hearing of one such miracle directly from the source!

The Big Bang Theory is Busted!

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.    Genesis 1:1

The new James Webb Space Telescope is sending some very beautiful images back to the scientists, but they are giving evidence that the long-held Big Bang Theory is turning out to be a Big Bust!  From the article I saw…

In the flood of technical astronomical papers published online since July 12, the authors report again and again that the images show surprisingly many galaxies, galaxies that are surprisingly smooth, surprisingly small and surprisingly old. Lots of surprises, and not necessarily pleasant ones. One paper’s title begins with the candid exclamation: “Panic!”

Panic indeed because the evidence for a big bang isn’t there!  Before the JWST was up and running, scientists were predicting what new images they should see, all based in the Big Bang Theory.  Guess what.  They didn’t see what they predicted!

It reminds me of the infamous Piltdown Man hoax.  Some farmers called in some anthropologists, because they found what looked like a fossilized man.  It was studied for years.  Some people even earned their PhD’s on this thing.  The farmers decided many years later to fess up that it as all intended as a bit of fun on their part and invited the scientists into the shop where they manufactured Piltdown Man.  Most everyone agreed it had been a pretty clever forgery and tossed the whole Piltdown Man thing out of the books.  But there were some holdouts who had spent their careers on it and claimed that Piltdown Man was real.  They claimed that the farmers were hoaxing them that they made the PM!

That’s where this is right now with the JWST.  Some astrophysicists still cling to the Big Bang while others are simply admitting that the evidence doesn’t seem to support it.

Click on Answers in Genesis to read the full article.

My Testimony

Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.    Psalm 50:15

I know I posted an article about my bout with COVID, being in an induced coma for three weeks in January and on a ventilator, and finally coming home in early April.  I finally got a chance to speak at my church last month to say thank for their prayers and tell them just how everything happened.  The video below is that talk.

I hope it’s useful to you!

The Black Portal

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.     Ephesians 6:12

Let’s call this one…The Black Portal.

Duh, duh, duuuuuuhhhh!

True story.   This took place in a very remote area of northern Michigan.   The nearest town I can recall is Interlochen, maybe an hour away.   My best friend from high school went to the arts academy there.  It’s a very prestigious boarding school that attracts students from around the world.

My friend’s dad was the engineering VP at a GM transmission plant, and one of his suppliers owned a huge log cabin, which is where my friend and I walked through The Black Portal.  It was about a quarter to half mile from a two-lane state route.  The “driveway” was simply a dirt road to the cabin, which continued past the cabin to a stocked lake for fishing.  His dad could check with his sales rep on availability.  If no one else had signed up for it on a given range of dates, he’d get it.  We stayed there a couple times to visit my friend and at least once more around October of ’79 just after I finished my apprenticeship at The Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival in Cleveland, OH.  It was this visit where he and I encountered the Portal.

The cabin was huge.  I remember it was my friend, his dad, and two of his sisters.  We were there for a long weekend just for fun.  The living room was two stories.  Any of us could almost walk into the fireplace without ducking.  The site manager had made sure there was plenty of firewood for us, so we had it going most of the time.

The basement has a small walk-in refrigerator, fully stocked, and a small walk-in freezer which boasted cases of steaks and other meats.  There was so much food and firewood there that we could have been snowed in all winter and come out in the spring fatter than we went in!

My friend – let’s call him Joe – and I decided one afternoon to walk out past the back yard to see how far we could go and what we might find.  There was a neglected orchard at one point and a rusted barb wire fence.  After about a mile we came to an old, one lane dirt road just big enough for a car.  We figured it was a seldom-used fire road.  There was not even the slightest indication of a track.  Beyond that was just wilderness – trees and brush.  We decided to head back.

One evening after dark we went for a walk along the dirt road to the lake, which was further past the cabin, deeper into the property.   We hoped to see some stars with no light pollution from a city.  I don’t remember the stars.  Maybe there were stars, but what was about to happen crowds out anything else about that walk.  I can tell you that there was enough light that we could see each other easily enough.

Then it happened like walking through a doorway.  We could see nothing.  Period.  I remember holding my hand in front of my face and not being able to see it in the least.  At first it was intriguing, but we both quickly realized we might be in trouble.  We could not see each other or the road.  We both got disoriented as to which way was to the lake, the cabin, or the sides of the road.  There was a real danger of walking off the road and either tripping or losing our way altogether.  We could hear each other, and that was it!

I started slowly pivoting in place, hoping that something would appear to give me some bearing on a way back.  As I turned, it so happened that I saw car lights for a second on the state route in the distance as it passed our dirt road.  I froze in place, not wanting to lose that direction.  I called to Joe to follow my voice.  I knew which way to go!

It was only a few steps in that direction that took us again through a seeming doorway to where we had normal, nighttime light.  We made our way back to the cabin and its welcoming fireplace.

I didn’t assign anything mystical to that experience at the time, but it was strange enough to stay with me all these years.   I can’t even say now whether it was a supernatural event.

I’ve come to believe what the American Indians have known for years; there are things that go bump in the night.  There are supernatural things that favor the dark especially.  Stories of Bigfoot abound all over the world.  There are hundreds of strange disappearances in remote places of our national parks.  Check out the Missing 411 materials both on books and videos.

I also believe that North American Indians are more knowledgeable of God than most expect.  See my article North American Indians and God.

To the point of the verse from Ephesians above, God is not the only being that works in our lives.  There are indeed principalities and powers whose only purpose is to hurt God by hurting us, His beloved children.  It behooves us all to not only know our God but to know our enemy too!

I’m not saying that I think Joe and I had a supernatural experience, but it was strange in that there were no tall trees anywhere near us to cast such a profound shadow, not even being able to see the road behind us.  All I know for certain is that it remains the strangest thing that has ever happened to me!

Dealing with Tomorrow

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.    Ephesians 2:10

First, my apologies for not having posted anything in so long.  As you may know, I caught COVID and was admitted to the hospital after a rescue squad ride to the ER with a blood oxygen level of 60.  For context, medical people get really worked up if they see a level below 92.  I was still conscious to everyone’s surprise, but I was far from firing on all cylinders.  My wife finally convinced me to let them put me on a ventilator.  That was January 3^rd.

Because I had COVID, I was isolated, so she wasn’t allowed to get in the room with me.  She had to wave at me through a window and talk to me by phone.

My memory cut out just before they put me in the squad and started back sometime in early February.  I didn’t finally start walking till mid-March.  Painfully.  Writing has taken a backseat to physical recovery.  I haven’t lost a step mentally, but there are a lot of emotions still to be dealt with.

Which brings me to today’s article.  I’ve been on disability since I was admitted, and there’s no end in sight as of now.  Long term disability payments are half my salary.  I can’t drive or do any lifting.  Both were a large part of the job as a sales rep.  Especially the driving!  I’m trying to pitch the company on bringing me back in a sales support role. I won’t bore you with the details.

I’ve always believed there are forks in the road to keep taking.  However, in my mid sixties and retirement age filling my windshield, I think I’m running out of options.  It’s all very de-motivating.  Reminds me of a meme I saw of a crowded field on long distance runners.  “For every winner there are dozens of losers.  Odds are you’re one of them.”

If the road is time, I’m at the back of the pack with everyone moving on while I slow down to a gradual stop.  But I’m still moving, and there is still a future.  God is there in the future.

I know this because of the verse from Ephesians above.  God has prepared good works for us to do in advance!  He is in the future and here with me at the same time!  I believe He’s prepared the rest of my life for me along with those good works.  That’s how Jesus could tell us in Matthew 6…

³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

So, I apparently don’t need to deal with the future.  God is doing that for me.  I like to compare us to drivers in cars.  The accelerators are ours.  It’s our job to keep moving and managing what God gives us.  The steering wheel and brakes are His.

I’ll grab my cane and continue hobbling into the future where God is waiting for me.  I’ll cling to faith that says He is there, waiting for me!

I’ll Let You Know

My recovery from my coma in January has been better than I hoped for, although it hasn’t always been easy.  There have been times in the hospital and since I came home that physical therapists have asked me if I thought I could do X.  My mental reaction was usually “no.”  However, I knew that I was there to work, to get better.

Pride kept me from saying no.  Fear of failure kept me from saying “yes.”  I adopted a standard response of, “I’ll let you know in a couple minutes.”  I felt it conveyed doubt but also promised an effort to find out.  It was a fairly honest response from someone who didn’t think he could do X, was afraid to try, but was willing to give X a go anyway.

The therapists found me amusing and laughed.

Truth be told, I succeeded much more than I failed.  It never ceased to surprise me.

I don’t know if this is a good parallel, but I identify with Peter stepping out of the boat in the open sea during a storm to walk over to Jesus walking on the water.  Jesus asked Peter to walk on the water to Him.  Peter’s response was a hard yes as he stepped from the boat.  That, as we all know, changed quickly to a hard, gurgling no as he looked at the waves coming at him.

I don’t think Jesus was especially happy that Peter failed.  I don’t think He’s overjoyed when He asks me if I trust Him, and I respond with “I’ll let You know.”  We would all be so much better off if we started with a faith-hard yes, but we can’t all muster that.  We’re sinful, flawed, defective.

Perhaps Jesus, in His boundless love, will accept an honest “I’ll let you know.”  Like my PT’s, He asks us if we can manage to do something on faith; give to church, be nice to a stranger, etc.  “I’ll let you know” is an honest admission of doubt coupled with a promise to step out of the boat anyway.

There’s a saying: Nothing succeeds like success.  St. James writes to us thusly:

¹⁴ What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? ¹⁵ If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, ¹⁶ and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? ¹⁷ Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.    James 2:14-17

Faith without works is dead.  Works is the food that builds and strengthens faith.  Jesus told us through the Gospel of Matthew that all it takes is faith as small as a mustard seed to succeed.

Can I use my life-altering adversity of 2022 in the service of God’s kingdom?

I’ll let you know.

Hate Neither Helps nor Saves

Kailee DeSpain is a cancer survivor who has also suffered three miscarriages.  She was told that the baby she carried was too disabled to survive.  She could no longer get an abortion in her native Texas and drove ten hours to New Mexico with her husband to get an abortion.

Sixteen weeks into her pregnancy she and her husband learned that Finley (her baby) had a rare disease called triploidy. He was also missing a kidney, had a heart with no valves and an improperly developed brain.

The Christians who staked out the abortion clinic she went to greeted her with shouts of “Murderer!!” They certainly didn’t know who she was past being another abortion patient at the clinic.  Name calling did not communicate the Gospel to her.  Heaping guilt on her did not convey the love of Jesus to her.  All they did was to heap more guilt on a woman who surely feels guilt over her miscarriages and current predicament.

If she was not a Christian before, it is doubtful she will be…ever.  After having her abortion and facing that gauntlet of hate once more on her exit, she had to have felt more hopeless than ever.

Those who yelled at her did not save that poor baby who was doomed anyway.  What they accomplished was producing a determined abortion rights activist.

Now, DeSpain continues to share her story and fight for women’s rights, alleging she will ‘not know a single day of peace until I can govern my own body, and everything that goes on inside of it, in the state I once loved.

Any medical options to help the baby would have put her life at serious risk, and her husband was not willing to risk her life for a baby that had practically no chance of survival.

”Don’t kill your baby!’ they screamed at me. ‘We have resources!”

”My baby has triploidy. He is DYING. He is going to SUFFOCATE,’ I yelled back.I was angry. I knew that I was making the hardest choice of all, and that those people would never bother to think of what it was like.’

She noted how the anti-abortion demonstrators ‘didn’t even ask’ before assuming she didn’t want the child she and her husband had tried so hard to conceive.

Hateful yelling – indeed yelling at all – is not the answer.  How would you respond to someone who yelled at you?  I wouldn’t hear the words.  Or, if I did, and the words were about love, the yelling would push me away.

Mrs. DeSpain.  A woman in pain and desperate to have a child still had her abortion of a child who was doomed anyway.  A woman yelled at by protesters outside the clinic galvanized against them.  They had just created their own enemy!