Juno is definitely a LIFE movie!

Adoption is not the beautiful option at all, have you lost a child to adoption?

KimKim, No I haven't personally. BUT I have had a front row seat to countless adoptions and while there is no denying or minimizing the real pain and heartache involved in giving up a baby, it remains a beautiful option all the way around. It's a God-like thing to do to give up your only begotten to bless others. If you've done it, He can surely relate to how you are feeling. The alternative ideology is far worse - if you can't keep it, kill it. I know women who've aborted who tell me that pain is far, far worse later on. One of my dear friends used to roll over in the middle of the night and wake up crying searching her bed for a baby and then remembering she took it's life. She tells people here they took the baby from her womb but it never left her heart. People who give away a child to adoption don't "lose" a child, they give the little life a chance. Adoption is what God does for us in welcoming us into his family - this is one of the key reasons I say it's beautiful. Again I've seen it up close on either side numerous times. I'm discerning some real pain in your comment, perhaps you've been closer to this than I. If so I'll pray God brings you some comfort, peace and healing today. Thanks for your comment.

If you can't keep it - kill it?

When I was pregnant in the 1980's abortion was safe and legal, it was not something that I wanted to do, I felt very protective over my child.

Losing my child to adoption was not what God planned for me, it's what the shame about being unmarried and pregnant did to me. My family didn't support me in keeping her and to be honest I didn't want her to grow up around my family because I wanted so much more for her.

A better option to adoption and a far more Christian and God like approach would be to support young and vulnerable mothers. Financially and socially we could welcome mothers, young, single, poor and needing someone on their side.

I'm sure you mean well and that your heart is in the right place. The only thing that God had a hand in with my daughter being adopted is that the laws got changed and made it possible for me to locate her when she was 18.

It's really not my job to create children for infertile couples, I don't think God planned for that to be my life. It was more my own lack of foresight as a teenager and my own lack of having a great family, oh and the father of my daughter not helping me - oh and the pressure from the social worker in the hospital - oh and the man at social security who sent me away and said I couldn't have the single mother benefit - oh and my mother withdrawing her love from me everytime I spoke of keeping her - that and me just not having any feeling of personal power when I was pregnant and feeling all alone in the world.

So no, it wasn't that God was guiding me into the "beautiful option" there wasn't a choice between abortion and adoption - the choice is not between life and death for us mothers - it's between being able to raise our children or feeling pressured to "do the right thing" and give our babies up to couples who have more money.

I did lose a child Steve, I lost her childhood, she lost her mother all those years and we can never get that back. I do have an adult daughter, I don't intend to lose that.

Again, I'm sure you mean well, your heart is probably in the right place….thanks for your thoughts too….

KimKim, I hope a lot of people read your story here and I really thank you for sharing it. When I talk about abortion from the pulpit I always encourage any pregnant girl in any circumstance to make a beeline for me so I can give her a hug and tell her our entire church is behind her. I strongly speak out against a self-righteous spirit and name things like "pride" which push fathers from accepting their pregnant daughters. I tell them if their daughter gets an abortion because she's afraid to face him the blood guilt is on his hands. My offer of support includes financial help - housing, cars - whatever they need. God spoke to me about this a while back saying… "I've heard the cries of the single moms and I want you to be a blessing to them." So, that's what we are trying to do. Your story is hugely motivating to me.

Speaking of abortion, I am so often frustrated by my Christian friends (I am a Christian myself) who use a candidate's opinions on abortion to decide who they'll vote for. Since an election is approaching us this seems to come up a lot lately.

Before reading the rest of what I’m about to write it should be noted that I am a Republican and have been registered as such since age 18.

It should also be noted that it is MY opinion that abortion is horrible.

That being said:

I really think the abortion issue is a political hot button for Republicans, and nothing more. Not one of the Republicans who have been in office since Roe v. Wade have seen it overturned, and there have been DECADES of Republican “rule” in which to accomplish such. Not one of them will change it in the future either. It is used as a political tool during elections, and then forgotten about it until it is time to run for office again.

A Republican was in office when abortion was made legal. He was powerless to do anything about it. The same can be said for any future Republican candidate: they’ll also be powerless to change the legality of abortion.

Ah! But what about the SUPREME COURT, you might ask?

We can talk about possible nominees to the Supreme Court until we’re blue in the face, but the reality of life is that yet another conservative nominee will not change a thing!

Here is what I mean:

Of the 9 Justices currently serving,

1 was appointed by President Ford,
2 were appointed by President Reagan,
2 were appointed by President Clinton,
2 were appointed by George Bush Senior,
2 were appointed by George Bush Junior.

So with 7 out of 9 Justices appointed by Republicans I ask, has abortion gone away?

No.

Will it?

Highly unlikely (see above).

When deciding which candidate I’ll vote for, the abortion issue is not part of my consideration simply because I know that no matter what a candidate’s opinions on the topic, pro or con, they will not change anything in this matter.

To KimKim

I have been on both sides of this issue. I have place a child for adoption at the age of 15 and had an abortion at the age of 22. I can tell you that the abortion was FAR MORE painful than the adoption. I can also say to all of those people that say…"I don't agree with abortion, but it is not my place to say anything"…YOU ARE WRONG! Speak up! I was one of those people. I NEVER agreed with abortion. Until I was put in a situation that I did not know how to get out of. I was not a Christian at the time of either pregnancy. But I have received His forgiveness.

I've tried typing a response to this several times and delete each one instead of submitting. Perhaps I'm just too tired to articulate so for now all I can say is Ditto KimKim.

Jessy, I am so sorry you have suffered so much as a mother, my heart goes out to you.

Steve, if you are a pastor then you have a wonderful opportunity to help pregnant women not lose their children to adoption. Your church can have an "adopt a mother" programs and can support and bless single mothers. It would make me very happy if you didn't promote adoption as the wonderful option to abortion. If you can encourage people to be loving and supportive to pregnant women in need that would be indeed amazing.

The other thing is that everyone is always targeting the women who have abortions, I think it's good to go after the deadbeat dads and see what changes in the laws can be made to stop so many men abandoning their children. Not only that but how about creating more childcare, making the world more child friendly, making it easier for women to be mothers.

It's all very well to go on about abortion and how terrible it is, and it really is a terrible thing for any woman to have to go through, what we really need to do is to make the world a friendlier place for mothers - ALL mothers.

I wish you all the best, thank you for your polite dialouge.

I appreciate your kind words, but please don't feel sorry for me. I was abused as a child which led me to have no sexual morals. And that led me to having a baby at 15. What 15 year old knows how to raise a child? I did what was best for my daughter, not what I wanted. My story is long and too much to go into here, but now I know that God had plans for my daughter and they were not to be raised by me.

What if you could not have children? Would you want adoption to be an option for you?