In ancient history, some cultures sacrificed children to their “gods”. Succeeding generations were appalled by this practice and wondered how anyone could do that.

Fast forward to 1973, when the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of Roe v. Wade, and abortion-on-demand became legal nationwide. Our culture allowed the sacrifice of unborn children to the modern day “gods” of sex, reputation, education, career, prosperity, and power.

I always hoped I would see the overturn of Roe v Wade, and I did on June 24, 2022. There was joy and celebration all over the nation! The issue of abortion was returned to each state, and many succeeded in passing strong prolife laws. Thankfully, Michigan had an abortion ban from 1931 on the books.

For one brief, shining moment, we were a prolife state! Then Michigan doubled down.

Lawsuits against the 1931 prolife law were filed. Petitions to get the abortion proposal on the ballot were signed. Political campaigns ensued. Elections were held. And we were once again a state that allowed abortions … without restrictions.

I always thought that women were being tricked into having abortions they really didn’t want to have. Maybe they had been caught up in a moment of passion, their lover had abandoned them, and they had nowhere to go. In their distress they made a secret decision that seemed the lesser of two evils and regretted that decision long afterward. I thought that because I’ve met some of these women. I have great compassion for women who became pregnant and found themselves alone and scared. This was something that could happen to anyone.

However, during the battle over Proposal 3, I saw another kind of woman emerge. One woman with a megaphone screamed, cursed, and declared she had a right to kill and rip that little #&@% out of her womb. Other women were more graphic by indecently acting out their rage against dolls that represented their babies. The violent rhetoric and actions these women displayed jolted me to the core. I wondered what could make a woman hate her offspring so intensely. I was deeply troubled by what I saw.

Do women believe that because birth control is easily available, they are free to have sex anytime, anywhere, with anyone, without consequences? Do they think there will be no change in their soul for deliberately getting rid of the offending life they helped to create? Do men coerce them into having sex and then offer abandonment rather than marriage? What went wrong?

Our society has traded lust for love, and abortion is one ugly result. Lust says, “I want what I want when I want it, starting right now.” But “love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” (I Corinthians 13: 4-8)

Today, these two attitudes reside parallel in our society. Lust breeds selfish, temporary gratification and love builds caring, committed relationships. How we live our lives and the choices we make will generate hatred or love, death or life.

I choose love. I choose life.