Such a Sad Loss

Here for your kind consideration, is the sad story of  loss.. a lovely young woman, only 16, who died of a bad choice, at the hands of an illegal abortionist, never again to hear her favorite hymn, ‘I Come to the Garden Alone.’  Her last flowers, the sympathy cards… they can only hint at the lingering pain and loss a mother feels at her forever-absent child.  Consider for a moment all the conflicted feelings and pain of a younger sister, now strangely an only child. In this case imagine if that sister had come home to that awful discovery.  What scars would remain, if abortions were so taboo that no ministers would speak of it, let alone attempt any healing for the family that suffered such a loss?

Abortions have been performed since the time of the ancient Greeks, as has the laying out of babies in the snow and the leaving of babies at orphanages.  And agonizing deaths were sadly all too common¹ before choices were legally the purvue of doctors — that’s not an end anyone wants to imagine for our own children.

Regardless of provocative language, nobody ‘likes’ or wants there to have to be abortions, but males are in an especially tenuous position in setting policy, never having experienced this area. The good news is that, according to Sojourners magazine, the left and right in America seem to be finding a new middle ground both sides can embrace: reduction. This includes looking earlier in the young girl’s life to pregnancy reduction.

We’re encouraged when we see trends fostering hope for life chances and better directions. We’re discouraged when we see increases in dropout rates,  bleak prospects, broken homes, and higher unplanned pregnancies.

Advice: when in doubt,  work towards mitigation, fostering an environment of encouragement, forgiveness, healing, wise choices, and good paths.  In preparing for ministering to the grieving, it is generous to study the traditions of the different cultural groups in your ministry or in your town, so that you can use the terms, imagery and language that will be of the most comfort. 

Below are the actual newspaper article from the local Berkeley paper, the actual sympathy cards, which her sister saved.

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1) it’s been estimated there were one million such deaths per year [source: livestrong.com]