Is making abortion illegal the wrong way to go?

I'm wondering if I'm the only one who didn't know abortion is usually illegal after the first trimester unless the woman's health is in danger. I honestly thought you could have an abortion all the way into the third trimester. Although, Planned Parenthood's website does say "The cost for an abortion is usually more in the second-trimester." Which makes me doubtful of the enforcement of these laws that say you can't abort a baby after 24 weeks.
Not that it makes any difference at all in my fight for the children under 24 weeks, but that really made me think about what we're fighting for. At the March For Life, the endless chants of "Overturn Roe vs. Wade!" were easy to blindly mimic without thinking through the aftermath.

Now that I've thought about it and done some research, I realize that making abortions outright illegal might not be the best idea. In that equation, the babies live and people on the waiting list for adoptions are happy, but there's a missing factor: the mother.

One of the problems with abortion is that women feel that they have to get rid of their baby to gain control of their life again. Some are terrified of the shame and anger they'll bring upon their families, boyfriends, friends, etc. At Planned Parenthood, (where the name of the company is incredibly misleading) they make an immense amount of money off abortions ($350-950 per abortion), so instead of "helping you make the right decision," they'll obviously pressure you into having an abortion. People have called Planned Parenthood, posing as a pregnant teen, and it's true: they do pressure you into coming in for an abortion instead of discussing the other options you have, such as adoption.

I believe 100% that human rights begin at conception, because God does.

However, I also believe that the world is in the midst of its moral downward spiral, (Note that everything that happened in the Holocaust was legal, and the fact that brutally ripping a child out of your womb is perfectly legal) Since no one is ever going to agree on when life starts, we should meet in the middle and fight for a few things:

1. Abortions should be illegal for babies over 3-5 weeks, or somewhere in that range. (Again, I absolutely believe that life starts at conception, but my occasionally pessimistic side doesn't think anyone non-Christian will ever agree) Anyway, absolutely no abortions for women more than 10 weeks along. A baby is quite obviously human at 10 weeks. (See picture below and dare to disagree):

2. Law enforcement is obviously minimal on abortion clinics. That definitely needs to be fixed. There needs to be a defined week limit for abortions and it needs to be enforced.

3. "Planned Parenthood" needs to be bulldozed. I know... it's a multi-million dollar company that services thousands upon thousands of people, but it is living a complete and utter lie. How can you plan parenthood if you get rid of every baby that comes through your front door? There's no planning involved. Bottom line: They want women to have abortions, and women should go through counciling before they even think of the word. If women's options were laid out before them and given time to settle in, I have no doubt that the abortion rate would be significantly lower. Maybe we could even show pregnant women a picture of a family who would adopt her baby if she had it. Think of how different things might be if we were fair to women with unexpected pregnancies and treated them like we treat people with other medical needs. The doctor sits down with them, explains the situation, goes over the options, and doesn't have a bias that results in the personal financial gain of him or her. Ta-da!

Easier said than done? As always, yes.
Just some thoughts.

For some awesome insight on sexual abstinence and purity (The very root of the abortion problem), see Nikki's blog post here.

and Then It Happened!

I was right.
In 4 days, I've been moved to tears more times than I can count on my hands, I've been motivated by a cause so profoundly important it's become a part of me, and most importantly, I've become determined to bring this experience back with me and shout it out to those who will hear me. Since the March For Life experience was such an overwhelming amount of information in such a short amount of time, I'm only documenting day one of the trip to D.C., on January 22. It was the most foundational day for me so I think it's enough.

I'd love to say I had a good attitude when we landed in the Baltimore airport and walked at least 3 miles to finally reach the house we were staying in. However, I was running on 4 hours of sleep and no Starbucks (there was no time to putz around in the airport) which didn't help my mood at all. After we walked forever to drop our luggage off, we walked some more to go to a hotel where some conference-type things were being held for pre-marchers.
I'd heard a lot about this man named Bryan Kemper. He organized youth summer mission trips with his group called Stand True that went out and not only defended and expanded the Pro-Life movement, but motivated teenagers to put their heart and soul into this cause. Before I had even met him, I had categorized him into the "ultra-conservative Lutheran" stereotype since he was one of Pastor Clausing's friends; I was wrong. A man of about 5 feet 7 inches, he had faded tattoos up and down his arms and a laid-back, youth group pastor air about him. I instantly liked and respected him.
We all filed into a conference-type auditorium to hear Bryan speak, and the story he told sparked the passion that would continue to build in the following days. His life story was a depressing one - living in Sacramento, California, unwanted by his parents, he grew up in a physically and sexually abusive home, and was severely mistreated by his schoolmates and family members. He grew up unloved by everyone he had ever met. Drugs became his outlet at too young an age, and he continued living his life as a dealer and user for many, many years.
His testimony was one of the most incredible I've ever heard. God very forcefully
jolted him out of his lifestyle through an amazing series of events too lengthy to even explain here.
Ever since, he's devoted his life to saving the unborn. He created the teen-driven Stand True group, and also the Pro-Life Day of Silent Solidarity.
Hearing him speak made me cry so incredibly hard. He went on to explain why he got involved in Pro-life, and what we can do.
His speech was the foundation for the rest of the trip. It's like God intentionally laid it out this way so I could get the most out of it. From his speech, I became aware of just how mind-blowingly important this cause is, and the incredibe crisis we face.

One of the main things on this trip that struck me the most was "the bottom line." I realized that none of this, NO murder of our preborn children would happen if we had any sense at all of sexual abstinence. We're so far into this sin that it's now considered normal in society. It's almost expected of teenagers and the unwed to have sex before they're married. The funny thing about sin is that it has naturally occurring consequenses. God created sex inside marriage not only for the protection of our children, but for our own protection as well. It saves us from so much of the heartache that results from pre-marital sex, and abortion is one of those natural consequenses of the immorality we face.

March For Life

I've been presented with an amazing opportunity!
The March for Life is coming up on January 24, and I wanted to go with the Teens for Life group at my school that I'm a member of, but my Italy and Taiwan trips are this summer and I couldn't afford to shell out another $400.
The campus ministry director at my school, Pastor Clausing, called me into his office before winter break to tell me that he had really great news. I honestly had no inkling of what he was about to tell me. He told me that the organization that helped us to go on this trip every year was giving out full ride scholarships to students who wanted to go on the trip but couldn't afford it, and he wanted to know if I would like to take the offer and go for free. I was completely shocked, that's 2 plane tickets, and all my other expenses, even food, paid for. The first thing I said in reply was, "Wow... God must really want me to go on this trip."
So, I'm leaving tomorrow morning to go on the March for Life in Washington D.C., and I won't be back until Tuesday the 25th!! I'm taking this whole thing as something God intends for me to experience, since this scholarship is an obvious work of His hands. I can't want to be changed by this and become even more Pro-Life than I already am. :)

Why this tattoo?

I got a tattoo about a month ago.

I probably don't seem like the kind of girl who would even get a tattoo. The funny thing is that I've been voicing my desire for one, but no one really took me seriously until I showed them the newly scarred Agape tattoo on my ankle. I used to want a horseshoe in between my shoulder blades as a reminder of my past experience with horses, but now I think that was a really stupid thought. My tattoo is the word Agape in it's original language, Greek. This is what it looks like: αγάπη

I just wanted to share a little bit about why I got it and what I think about the meaning of Agape. First of all, people usually carry around an idea for a tattoo in their heads for a very long time. I got the idea about 2 weeks before I got the tattoo, and people might say that's a pretty rash decision. I heard it first from my youth paster a while ago because he's big on the Greek meanings of words in the Bible and he'd mentioned it in a message before. I'm not sure where I heard it before the idea got stuck in my head, but I looked it up and the definition told me all I needed to know.

"The Greek word agape is often translated "love" in the New Testament. How is "agape love" different from other types of love? The essence of agape love is self-sacrifice. Unlike our English word “love,” agape is not used in the Bible to refer to romantic or sexual love. Nor does it refer to close friendship or brotherly love, for which the Greek word 'philia' is used. Nor does agape mean charity, a term which the King James translators carried over from the Latin. Agape love is unique and is distinguished by its nature and character. Agape is love which is of and from God, whose very nature is love itself."

There you have it. Agape love is perfect, self-sacrificing, unconditional love that only God can have for mankind. It is perfect, and it is God if you think about it. God is love. This just struck me as completely amazing and mind-boggling, and that's when the idea for a tattoo implanted itself into my brain.

I have two reasons for having the word "Agape" permanently etched into my ankle. First, I'm a Christian, and having the perfect love of God on me sounded like a pretty good thing. :) The second reason is that I am unsure of the future, just like everyone else on the planet. I am still growing in my relationship with God, and right now all I want to do is learn more and grow more. I'm so afraid that something will sidetrack me or deceive me and when I'm older I won't have the same open mind that I have right now. Things will change, but I don't ever want to lose sight of what is absolutely most important, what should be literally everything in my life, and that is God. I can't be sure of a lot of things, but I can be sure that in 10, 20, 40 years from now I will have this tattoo of God's perfect, self-sacrificing love, and that will have to mean something for the rest of my life. It's like keeping a verse on a piece of paper next to your mirror as a reminder to you every day. I don't, and won't ever regret getting it, because it has a meaning that in my opinion no other word can hold a candle to. Just as God's love is permanently bestowed on me, my tattoo will be with me for my entire earthly life.

Nuevo Songo

I'm pretty happy with this one. It's really upbeat and cute, and it's to one of my best friends. :)

Sometimes I wonder
Where we’d be right now
If it weren’t for these
stars above our heads.
Maybe we’d be fast asleep,
But the world is anything but unchanging

And baby, we’re just two leaves
drifting through a giant sea of trees.
Bound to be swept away sometime.
But rest assured,
We’ll always land, we’ll always land
In the same place that we started.

Sometimes I wonder
If we’ll ever grow up
and lose sight of what we’re sitting on right here.
And whenever comet number 200-whatever passes,
I always wish that time would stop dead in it’s tracks.