Angels for LIfe

For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well (Psalm 139:13,14).

What would cause a woman to give up her life for her unborn child? It goes without saying that there is tremendous love involved. But there must be more than this.

Some women who destroy their unborn children claim that they love children, too. They say that the best thing for the child is to never be brought into this cold, cruel world. Consider this quote from an abortion advocate –

“With my choice I was fighting for the right of all women to define abortion as an act of love: love for the family one already has, and just as important, love for oneself. I was fighting to reclaim abortion as a mother’s act.”

Anyone with half an ounce of sense sees all of the contradictions and lies in this statement. But, there really are women in trouble out there who desperately want to see abortion as an act of love so they can assuage their conscience over the killing of the unborn child.

So what is the difference here? Why isn’t “love” enough to convince women to bear and raise children?

Faith is needed. This week I am going to share the stories of two women who not only had tremendous love for their child and their husbands, but they had faith in the Creator Who gave them the children.

For a woman to risk dying in order to save her child, she must believe at least three things:
1.  God creates human beings. God creates them from the beginning in the womb.

2.  God is in charge of life. Only He gets to determine who lives or dies. Humans do not get to decide to end the lives of other human beings.

3.  There is a Heaven. There is a place where believers go when they die where they will be at rest and peace with God. No more sickness or death. They will get to see their loved ones later. The loved ones they leave behind can know that their mother is enjoying fellowship with God and is waiting to be reunited with them.

These blessed thoughts give a woman the courage to risk her life in order to save her child.
Consider the tragic, yet beautiful stories of two women who chose to follow God.
(These stories are from LifeSiteNews.com. You can visit that site to read more encouraging stories as well as news about the Pro-Life battle to protect the unborn.)

From LifeSiteNews – June 25, 2012, When Chiara Corbella learned she was pregnant with her third child, it was a great joy that ended in bittersweet tragedy for the young Italian mother, who died this month after postponing cancer treatment to save her cherished baby. Chiara had already lost two babies, Maria and David, soon after their births. This time the baby was healthy and Chiara and her husband were overjoyed at the prospect of having a healthy child.

Chiara had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and she was advised to begin treatment right away. The therapy would harm the baby however, so Chiara chose to postpone it until after the baby was born. The cancer progressed over the following year, depriving Chiara of sight in one eye before she finally succumbed on June 13, 2012.

“I am going to heaven to take care of Maria and David, you stay here with Dad. I will pray for you,” Chiara wrote to baby Francisco in a letter, one week before her death.
Her husband, Enrico, said in an interview, “I spent a lot of time this year reflecting on this phrase from the Gospel that says the Lord gives a cross that is sweet and a burden that is light.” Enrico said that he would tell his son of his mother’s love later when he was older.

Another woman who demonstrated her love and faith in God was Barbara Castro Garcia.
Barbara and her husband, Ignacio, had dated for eleven years and finally gotten married. Soon they were overjoyed to find out about her pregnancy with their first child.

Little did they know that this pregnancy, which had already brought them so much joy, was also the beginning of a saga that would test their faith to the limit—and ultimately take the life of the young mother.

Four months into the pregnancy, Barbara took a trip to the dentist complaining of a sore in her mouth. The dentist sent her on to a specialist, who diagnosed her with mouth cancer.

The couple was presented with a problem: Barbara urgently needed life-saving treatment, but the treatment had the potential to harm their unborn child.
Barbara refused to take all treatments except for a surgical procedure on her mouth that left her in a lot of pain.

Their child was born on November 1, 2010, healthy and of great comfort to her parents. Within days Barbara’s cancer flared up and she went to Madrid to see a specialist. The doctor told her that there was little hope. She began the rounds of chemotherapy and other treatments that left her without a tongue and part of her jaw. She had to be tube fed from then on.

Ultimately the cancer won and Barbara died earlier this month after having sacrificed her all for her daughter. Her grieving husband honors her memory knowing that she gave her life for her baby girl out of love “for her daughter, for me and for God.”

Many women would have made a different decision. Some have said, “Save the mother. She can always have more children.” This is a very hard thing for anyone to do. I could not condemn a woman who tried to take the cancer treatments hoping for the best.

The one thing that I believe would be absolutely wrong would be for the women to decide to just abort the babies. There are numerous stories of women in difficult circumstances who got that advice from their doctors. To just do away with the child shows an utter lack of faith and dependence on God.

The real issue here is – who gets to decide? Who is in charge – our Father the Creator or the parents?

It takes great faith, but knowing that there is indeed a loving Savior waiting for us in Heaven helps. This Savior already showed us the way Himself.

Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).