The Blessing of Choosing Life

By Sarah Hanks

The doctor told me to abort my daughter.

I was pregnant with my fourth, and they had me go in for a more in depth ultrasound because she seemed to have a marker for Down syndrome. At that second ultrasound, the doctor confirmed the marker and asked when I wanted to schedule the termination.

Not IF but WHEN.

When I told him I didn’t want to terminate, he argued with me, asking me multiple times to please make an appointment now before the termination became too difficult.

Fast forward to when my daughter was born, without Down syndrome or anything out of the norm. She’s always been a great joy.

We ended up adopting a child with Down syndrome after she was born and he is an absolute delight.

When my mother was pregnant with my brother, an amniocentesis showed he had a chromosomal deletion. Doctors pressured my mom to terminate him for the duration of her pregnancy. My brother is now an adult who bowls 300.

We ended up adopting a child with a chromosomal deletion and he is an absolute delight.

I mourn to think how many women are pressured into having abortions because their child might have special needs. A good percentage of those predictions are likely false. Like our daughter, the children would have be born healthy if given the chance. But even if the child has special needs, isn’t his life still valuable?

I doubt anyone who has raised a child with special needs would say it’s easy. But I think most would say it’s worth it. Parents of these children are thrust into a new world of medical appointments and therapies. They go on a crash course to learn a universe of information they never knew existed. But through it all, they also learn to love in a deeper, richer way. They learn to celebrate every little milestone.

Recently, a fellow author and friend Storm Shultz received hard news. She’s pregnant with her third, Solomon. They found out he has both hydrocephalus and spina bifida.

This diagnosis requires surgery before he’s born, and after surgery, Storm will have to stay within 30 minutes of the hospital for an extended time, which is two hours from their house in Kentucky.

It’s the holidays, and this is a hard load to bear, but Storm has her armor on, ready to fight the good fight. The following is from one of her social media posts.

Today a woman thanked me for not aborting Solomon.

Her exact words were, “thank you for not aborting him.”

I’d just finished telling her about his diagnosis of spina bifida and hydrocephalus. I’d told her that I had three weeks to get him a surgery that would improve the chances of his gross motor function and improve the chances of his hydrocephalus reducing on its own. I’d even told her about how this surgery was a big deal not just for him, but for me and my family because I’d be on bed rest and have to live 30min or closer to the hospital that performs the surgery until he’s born. How Christmas would be so different for my two girls. The pressure and stress. The fear of making the wrong choice.

This sweet woman, a stranger who reminded me of my late Oma, smiled at me and thanked me for choosing life. For protecting my son. For simply loving him.

She said the quiet part out loud. I’m glad she did.

Since coming to Christ, I’ve been an advocate for life. An abolitionist. I’ve encountered the aggressive pro-choice comments. Been told I’m a murderer for my miscarriages. Asked if I ever had a child with special needs. All the things. And now I’m standing here, ready to fight any doctor that might dare to mention termination. Because my son is an image bearer. A whole, wonderful person. He is worthy of love, protection, and life. Every person is.

We all have one thing in common. . . we all bear the image of God. No matter our size or capabilities, we are image bearers of the One who loves us most.

Friends have set up a Go Fund Me for Storm’s family. I know at this time of the year, money is often tight, but if you have the ability to give, I encourage you to do so.

Here’s the link: https://gofund.me/53dd0784

And to all those who have fought for life, thank you.