Front Parking Spot – Choose Life for the Preborn

It wasn’t a regular Thursday night. On this particular evening, a message was delivered unlike any other I had ever heard.  I was at a banquet supporting The Hope Center ministry based out of Woodstock, Georgia. The Hope Center supports women in a crisis or unwanted pregnancy. They provide pregnancy tests, counseling and ultrasound pictures of the preborn child. This organization also equips mothers for two years after the baby’s birth with educational resources on successful parenting, along with an opportunity to receive needed baby items.

The keynote speaker for this event was Dr. William Lile, a Pro-life doctor and the former OB/GYN Department Chair of Sacred Heart Hospital near Pensacola, Florida.  In his presentation, Dr. Lile provided some incredible illustrations on the proof of life for the preborn from the minute of conception. I would like to share a few of the eye-opening medical facts that he shared with a room filled with over 600 people.

Let’s start off with the word he used to describe developing babies in the womb; “preborn,” as opposed to the word, “unborn,” commonly used in legal documents. Doesn’t it make sense that this should follow the same prefix grammatical logic as words like preschool, pretest, or preview? We certainly don’t use “unschool,” “untest,” or “unview.” When we hear the word “preborn” it indicates a life before birth, as is certainly the case. So, why did the 1973 Supreme Court Justices in their Roe v. Wade opinion statement refer to the preborn as “unborn” in the context of a women’s right to privacy as protected by the 14th Amendment? The explanation can only be that it was due to a lack of knowledge about the preborn at the time. Author Malcolm Nicolson, a professor of medical history at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, notes that it was well into the decade of the 1970’s that ultrasounds became widely used in American Hospitals. Prior to this, when the Roe vs Wade decision was reached, ultrasounds were not commonly used. Therefore, the earliest stages of life were not easily witnessed nor acknowledged. Further developments in ultrasound technology allow us to hear heartbeats, see thumb sucking, leg and arm movements, and even facial expressions.  This advancement reveals that babies in the womb do many of the same things as babies outside of the womb, and this makes them real people who have yet to complete the birthing process.  Therefore, they are preborn people, because human life is undeniably present.

On the flip side, isn’t it ironic that also in 1973, just months after the Roe v. Wade decision, the US Endangered Species Act published this statement:

“U.S. Endangered Species Act of 1973: No person may take, harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap or capture any marine turtle nest and/or eggs or attempt to engage in any such conduct. Any person who knowingly violates any provision of this act may be assessed a civil penalty up to $25,000 or a criminal penalty up to $100,000 and up to one-year imprisonment.”

Can it be possible that our government views the life of a preborn turtle and other forms of wildlife as having more value than the life of a preborn child? I just have incredible difficulty in reconciling this belief when compared to a human life.

Another point Dr. Lile makes involves the statement that many women chant, “my body, my choice.”  Is it really your choice once conception has happened? That choice came prior to fertilization. Medically, a baby has its complete set of DNA at the moment of conception and this DNA will never change in a person’s lifetime. Also, in half the cases, the baby is a different sex than the mother and could have a different blood type.  When the baby is in the womb, it is undeniable that the women’s uterus is the host of that child. However, as Christians, we believe that the baby has been formed by God himself, in His image, and the woman’s biological role is to provide the home needed for the preborn to develop. This child is a complete and separate person from the mother. It is God’s decision when the miracle of life begins because only He can begin life for this new person.  Client advocate at The Hope Center, Sandi Tompkins states. “When women are given the right information; truth about fetal development and when the heart beat starts, the mothers will often choose life. However, when misinformation and untrue facts are given by abortion providers to a pregnant woman, it can give them a false sense of peace about an abortion.”

Dr. Lile also shared many stories of doctors who have completed complex intrauterine surgeries, including heart and spinal surgeries, just to name a few. These surgeries take place on the tiniest of patients, the preborn, who have ultimately been born healthy. To highlight this reality, he cited a medical case involving a pair of twins. One baby was ready to be born early, while the other one needed further incubation, and had to remain inside the mother for a longer period of time. The baby that was born was, of course, given all the premature neonatal medical treatment necessary for survival and the preborn baby developed an additional 5 weeks inside the mother’s womb. These two lives began at exactly the same time, so isn’t it fair to say that each baby should receive equal protection, even in spite of one having been born, while the other remained preborn? In this case, the twins were both healthy and thriving, living the lives that God had orchestrated for them. Please see Dr. Lile’s video below which explains this in detail.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=5&v=gm6P5ve-8Ps

In addition, Dr. Lile shared some facts relating to the RU-486 abortion pill. This pill stops the release of progesterone, which is the hormone needed to sustain life, and this causes the abortion.  The drug can be administered up until the 9th week of pregnancy and is 98% effective within 3 days after being taken. Interestingly, the letters of this drug, one can be seen as follows:  R (Are) U (You) 4 (For) 86 (Regarded in the cooking world as throwing out, or getting rid of food).  Thinking about it this way makes it exceedingly difficult to comprehend how anyone could be for “86-ing” a preborn baby.  Many women end up deciding not to “86” their baby.  Dr. Lile compares those women who change their minds after taking the drug to the lost souls who survive suicide attempts by jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge. Psychological researchers interviewed all of the 29 survivors (out of over 1,800 attempts) and every single one of them stated that upon falling, they wished they hadn’t jumped. The good news is that if women have this same change of heart and want to keep their baby, there is a drug, that if taken within 24 hours, will reverse the abortion pill with no ill effects to the mother or child whatsoever.  Women in this situation should consult their doctor immediately for this medical option.

It is impossible to deny that life begins at conception. Any amount of research into the topic easily proves this as fact. Women who find themselves in a surprise or inconvenient pregnancy can be scared, desperate and have feelings of hopelessness. However, the good news is that there is hope and support out there for women who look for it. Places similar to The Hope Center in Woodstock, Georgia are available all throughout the country and just a mouse click away. Also, organizations such as Focus on the Family (www.focusonthefamily.com), are available for support and direction. You will never regret having your baby, but choosing to end your baby’s life brings only regret and sorrow. It will become obvious through the course of your baby’s life that the child you have was meant to be! In choosing life, you are following God’s plan and you will most certainly see the hand of God upon not only your own life, but also the life of your precious child.

Jeremiah 1:5- Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; Before you were born, I sanctified you; and I ordained you as a prophet to the nations.”

For more detailed information and videos go to Dr. Lile’s website at www.prolifedoc.org