The Most Selfish Act

What do we think and feel about motherhood?

When I think of motherhood I think of a kind, warm, giving, and loving woman comforting me with a hug as I cry. Oftentimes I feel awestruck knowing that I cannot experience as a man what all mothers do. In a conversation with my aunt about the experience of pregnancy I gained some insight of motherhood. She told me that she felt a rush of joy when she felt her child move inside of her womb. She expressed that pregnancy was a fulfilling experience that she would never trade for anything else in the world. She also mentioned how much of a bond she had with the child inside of her.

I cannot fathom the experience, nor will I ever experience it personally.

Soon I will be married. By the grace of God, I pray that I will be a father and that my fiance will be a mother. When I look into my fiance's eyes I can feel motherhood at such a deep level. When I feel her sense of motherhood I realize that there is something about a woman that a man will never have. Unexplainable in words, what man cannot have is the deep feelings that mothers possess. These are degrees of bonding with her children. Such an outpouring of love can never be grasped properly by a man. It is selflessness that is at the heart of motherhood.

If motherhood was so magnificent of a thing, how could therapeutic abortion be so prevalent? This has been a question that I have struggled with so much in my life. If motherhood during pregnancy and throughout the lifespan of a woman was so strong and wonderful, how could so many mothers be complacent to killing their unborn children? The problem was not that I didn't know the answer. The problem was being able to believe the answer.

Selfishness has grown, slowly but constantly, in our society. People demand that they should be able to have sex with whomever and whenever they want. People demand that whatever career they choose should be as easily obtainable as possible. People demand to increase every possible convenience to make their days easier. People demand so much just for their own self gratification. The eventual fruit of this selfishness is death! If what people demand is in the way, get rid of it!

To take it a step further, if a new human being is in the way of my life, kill it! This idea is so very hard to believe--yet it is very true. This way of thinking has become part of the fabric of today's society in the United States.

I have so often looked at the abortion debate from both sides. When I look at the side in favor of legalized abortion, I have always seen selfishness as the underlying cause. "A woman shouldn't be punished with a baby." When I look at the side in favor of protecting unborn life, I have always seen concern for least among us. "The unborn are human beings and should be protected." Instead of siding with those who already have power, I have decided to protect those who have no power.

I have taken a lesson from the understanding I have of motherhood, albeit elementary. The lesson is that I must not be selfish. I must give of myself fully to others. I have also learned that while mothers must strive to be true mothers, so must fathers strive to be true fathers. As a future father, I must protect those who are the weakest among us. As a future father, I must give of myself to all those around me.

Abortion is the most selfish act. It is the destruction of motherhood.