“Too poor for an abortion?”

An anonymous story on XoJane relates the account of a married college student who was “too poor for an abortion.” She writes she was also “too poor to have a baby.”

There is one thing she was not too poor for – even by her own standards. Adoption.

And before everyone jumps on the band wagon of, “you can’t force a woman to carry a baby for nine months for someone else!” and “adoption is hard; you can’t expect any woman to do that!” let me say something.

Yes, adoption is hard. Yes, carrying a baby for nine months is hard. But killing that baby is cruel. Not just hard, but inhumane. Mothers should be willing to do hard things so cruelty and murder aren’t inflicted on the children they helped to create.

Humanity in general should be willing to do hard things to save others from cruelty and murder. Sometimes these hard things are cloaked in responsibility, other times in unselfishness, and still other times in basic or even un-ordinary kindness.

The woman in the XoJane story wrote:

I was unemployed and attending college (fully paid for by a loving relative). My husband was working full-time at just a few cents above minimum wage. We could barely afford ourselves. …

“I want an abortion.” … There was no hesitation; I had known for years that if I had ever gotten pregnant, I would terminate. I had no moral qualms about it, even though my family was all devoutly pro-life.

She goes on to write that, even though state health insurance was available to her, she hadn’t applied. Sadly, whatever state she lives in would reimburse her (with taxpayers’ money) for her abortion if she had the insurance.

She applied; it took 30 days to be approved. Once approved, she charged the abortion to her credit card.

Even putting the innate cruelty of aborting your own child aside, the abortion never should have gone forward. The woman explains:

A few days later I had just finished with the counseling session and was undergoing an ultrasound to see just how far along I was. No one had ever actually verified where in my pregnancy I was, other than a guess made by my doctor.

My doctor was wrong. How far wrong, I’m not actually certain and will never know. The ultrasound technician had an unreadable expression on her face, and let me know that I was further along than I had been told. However, she was going to mark it down as 19 weeks and some number of days.

Most likely, I was 20 weeks or more along, which meant that had she not done so, I would have been unable to get an abortion, as there was no medical need for it.

So here is an illegal abortion, paid for with taxpayer money, done when the baby undoubtedly and scientifically feels pain.What other options did this woman have?

1.  Get on the free state health insurance for the pregnancy and birth (instead of for an abortion). The available health insurance would have paid for this; in fact, it’s usually one of the main purposes of state health insurance.

2. Ask her “devoutly pro-life” family for help. Yes, this can be humbling. But this woman had a support system in place; she had people who would have supported her, possibly paid for her and the baby’s needs, and probably even taken care of the baby so she could keep going to college. How is murdering a child – and in her case, specifically a child who could feel pain – more humane than this? Go here to watch non-graphic videos that show abortion takes the life of a real, living, individual human being.

3. Adoption, adoption, adoption. So many parents shut out adoption because they are unaware of the details. Adoption is so different today, and well worth checking out. Many times, all medical expenses will be paid for the mother (as well as maternity clothes, prenatal vitamins, and even nourishing food). Biological parents can handpick the adoptive parents. They can choose closed, semi-open, or open adoptions. Adoption is a difficult but incredible choice for parents who are unable to raise their child at this time but also unwilling to take their child’s life. You can read more about it here, here, and at the blog here. Here are 10 reasons not to choose abortion.

It’s time to make the hard choices, take responsibility, and be plain unselfish.