Action Alert: Conscience Protection Act

Guest blog post by Aly Jacko

I got pregnant when I was 21 years old. I am not the first, and I am not the last.

I was 5 months away from graduating with a bachelor’s degree from a nationally ranked program. I was five months away from going away to graduate school and finally starting my life. I was five months away from being an adult with freedom.

Abortion was never an option. Adoption was never an option. Being pregnant at 21, was also not an option. As soon as you see the “pregnant” clear as day show up across the clear blue pregnancy test, as soon as you hear “the test is definitely positive” from the doctor, all you want to hear is “everything is going to be okay.” The 6 words I never heard.

You expect to hear whispers from strangers when you walk around with a growing belly and the baby face of a 16 year old. Plenty of people stared, as the majority of adults think I am still in high school. You have to field questions like “how old are you?” “what about adoption, or abortion?” and you hear “You’re too young, think about you, think about your life, this is a time you need to be selfish”

Over the next 9 months, I lost my best friends that I thought would never abandon me. I no longer fit into their 21 year old lives of parties, and going out so they stopped calling. I couldn’t do much, I could only sit and watch the heel of my daughters foot stick out of my stomach and smile because at least I felt someone was in this together with me.

I had to give up my career goals, my dreams I’d had since the 8th grade. My life altered in a way that you can’t understand unless you’ve been through it. You go from the happy-go-lucky girl with her life together, to pregnant at home on your 22nd birthday, with no one to celebrate with but the life inside you. I met with the priest about getting her baptized, only to have him tell me there was a couple looking to adopt, if I was interested.

I had to watch everyone around me have fun with their lives all summer, while I was growing a human inside me, hidden away from others so I didn’t have to answer questions. I had to receive texts asking if it were true and how did I let this happen. I had to hear gossip behind my back. I politely smiled while people would tell me “wow I cant even take care of myself, I could never take care of a child right now.”

All I wanted was someone to say to me “you are amazing for graduating college 6 months pregnant.” All I wanted after she was born was validation that I was doing a great job on my own, that my sacrifices were entirely worth it.

She was 7 lbs 6 oz, 20 inches, and 100% amazing. She had 10 fingers, 10 toes, and my whole entire heart. She was an angel, my angel, that had just grown inside me for the past 41 weeks. She had no name. We were going back and forth for a while on a couple, none that we had fallen in love with, none that seemed worthy of her beautiful little face. For the next two days we lived in bliss at the hospital with our new bundle. I didn’t know how little I would sleep, or how much work motherhood was, or how hard it would be as soon as we left the hospital.

I had limited help. My parents worked, my boyfriends parents worked, and my boyfriend was playing football while finishing his senior year of college. I felt utterly and completely alone. Sometimes I still do. I am exhausted. I haven’t slept since she was born. I will never be the person I was before I found out I was pregnant. I am emotional, I am sensitive, I am anxious, I am a mother, and I am a great one.

My life is different now, but it’s a good different. I feel bad for the friends that left me, because they’ll never know the joy of spending time with my daughter. I feel bad for the people who judged me, because I know they would never want that judgment on their daughter, just as I wouldn’t. I don’t feel bad for me. I don’t feel bad for my daughter. My daughter is amazing. She is so beautiful, she is amazingly smart, she is the brightest part of my life. Her smile stops my heart, her laugh is captivating, I am so in love with her. She has my eyes; she has her daddy’s everything else. She is half of me and half of my best friend and I will never let anything happen to her. She is my biggest blessing. Being 21 and pregnant was not only an option that became reality, but it was the best option I never knew I had.

 

As we prepare for Independence Day weekend, I want to share with you some of my thoughts on the events that have transpired this past week.

Not all of it has grabbed headlines, but several significant legal and legislative actions took place this week, which will impact the causes of life and freedom of conscience for years to come.

Here’s what happened:

• In a decision striking down parts of Texas’ abortion legislation, HB 2, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that clinics that perform abortions don’t have to follow standard health and safety codes that any other healthcare facility is required to follow.

>>> Read the March for Life’s full press release reacting to the Whole Women’s Health v. Hellerstedt decision.

• By refusing to hear a case about a Washington state pharmacist who objected to prescribing abortion-inducing drugs, the Supreme Court opened the door to pharmacies across the country being forced to provide abortion-inducing drugs and devices regardless of personal or faith-based objections.

>>> Read the March for Life’s full press release reacting to Stormans v. Weisman.

• On Capitol Hill, the Senate Democrats defeated the House-passed Zika Prevention legislation that would have provided emergency funds to prevent the spread of this dangerous virus for women and babies. They objected because only hospitals and community health centers in Puerto Rico would receive funding, not Planned Parenthood.

>>> Read the March for Life’s statement regarding the bill’s defeat.

>>> Read an op-ed about the Zika Prevention bill by our Assistant Director, Bethany Goodman.

The Whole Women’s Health decision threatens other pro-life state legislative initiatives and indicates the hostile territory the Supreme Court has become to the rule of law when it comes to abortion-related decisions.

Furthermore in the Stormans decision, the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists shared this dire reflection: “This Court has set the stage for unfettered state coercion; a coercion that extends even to forcing American citizens to have to participate in the killing of other human beings.” In his dissent, Justice Samuel Alito wrote, “If this is a sign of how religious liberty claims will be treated in the years ahead, those who value religious freedom have cause for great concern.”

This is especially troubling as we prepare to celebrate the anniversary of our nation’s birth. Freedom of conscience, and the protection of life and liberty were paramount to the founding of the United States of America.

While this turn of events is disheartening, we know that there are millions of pro-life Americans who still hold those values dear. Here at the March for Life we are unequivocally committed to protecting life. Furthermore, we must remember that the fight for life is not just a political/legal/legislative battle, but it is more deeply a cultural and spiritual battle. We must remain relentless in praying for a culture of life and working to build a culture where abortion is unthinkable.

We have the truth on our side and we will not back down. We will not stop fighting for what is right for women, babies, and our country.