The following article was written by Tom Grenchik, on December 29, 2006.
" Just a few days before Christmas a tragic event occurred at a local Catholic pro-life agency. This program is strategically located next door to one of the busiest abortion centers in the region. A young mother, on the third day of her late-term abortion procedure, was lying in pain on the hallway floor, outside the abortions facility's locked door. Having been in tremendous pain throughout the night, she arrived too early for the final part of her "procedure."
When the religious sisters and staff arrived to work at the pro-life agency that morning, they immediately offered to help and she asked to use their bathroom. Then in agonizing pain, she delivered her 19-week-old baby, dead.
This mother will never be the same. The sisters and staff members who held her and prayed with her, will never be the same. The nurse who ran from another physician's office to assist her, will never be the same. The rescue workers who had to console her and pick up and swaddle her dead child, will never be the same. The pro-life agency staff member who accompanied her in the ambulance, with her dead child, will never be the same. The hospital staff who received her, will never be the same. And the homicide police who were called to investigate the death, will never be the same.
The policeman, after conferring with headquarters, had to report back that no "death" occurred, only a "legal" abortion. They quietly voiced their opinion that while the abortion may have been legal, it was still not moral. The young mother revealed that she had no idea that it would have been like this. No one told her. She is now overwhelmed with how selfish she was, and how hopeless she feels. She confided that, had her boyfriend insisted that she not have the abortion, she never would have. She wanted him to stop her, but he was afraid to interfere with her decision. These parents will never be the same.
This is the tragedy of abortion and this is the impact of one little life.
Variations of this tragedy, more or less hidden, occur over 1.3 million times every year. each has impact on countless lives beyond those of the child and his or her parents. In his World Day of Peace message for January 1, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI states: "I invoke peace upon children, who by their innocence enrich humanity with goodness and hope, and by their sufferings compel us to work for justice and peace." The innocence of this child affected everyone involved that day. And the sufferings of this child must now compel each of us to redouble the efforts to end the hopelessness that allows abortion to continue. As we begin this new year, let us remember that this little life, without a name and without a grave, was meant by God to make a difference...so are we. "
Tom Grenchik is the Executive Director for the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, DC.
By George Konig
3/11/2007
www.georgekonig.org
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