Choose Life

13th Jun 2021

In this very controversial and delicate month, a decision is going to be taken on whether a baby has the right to live or die. I hope this article will encourage some to reconsider, to realise that voting “yes” to legalising abortion is tantamount to voting “yes” to legalising infanticide …

It is with a very powerful message that the “Pro Choice” group puts forward their case. “My body, my choice” is their short but strong and contemporary communiqué.

Ever since the fearless Sufragettes endured attacks and even sexual assaults in their fight for equality, women have sustained a steady but constant battle practically right throughout the twentieth century, continually coming up against crusty old diehards who couldn’t accept that women were not possessions but people in their own right.

I have always been a firm advocate of women’s rights. I believe that women should be able to decide what they wear, who they marry or what job they do; an absolute right, as a free human being, to say no to violence, sexual harassment and rape – for the simple reason that their life belongs to them and no one else.

It is only recently that the entire world has flipped its magnetic poles and turned 180 degrees, though. Now it’s actually offensive and politically incorrect to consider women unequal to men; which is all fine and dandy – but I do believe it is all starting to get out of hand.

The bad news is that the “Pro Choice” ideal also incorporates abortion. The murder of a defenceless human being who doesn’t even get the chance to appeal for his or her life. This is where my fight for women’s rights ends and a new one begins - the fight to save those who cannot speak for themselves, those who deserve to live, to be born, just as we all were. They have the right too.

Quite a number of the women who cry out “My body, my choice” are surprisingly already mothers. I personally know of several who have at least two or three children. Yet they are willing to end the life of their next child, simply because it’s not convenient at that present moment in time or, worse still, just because it’s her choice!

It’s inconceivable that so many unwanted pregnancies should even occur in this day and age! There are numerous contraceptive methods out there to choose from, so there is really no excuse.
It’s far better to prevent a pregnancy than to live your whole life traumatised because you ended the life of a perfectly healthy baby.

When it comes down to it, the arguments against abortion far outweigh the ones for. On the one side, you have the “Pro Choice” people who, when asked to provide an explanation for their particular persuasion, are only able to keep repeating the same phrase over and over – “What about rape?”
When the “Pro Life” side are asked the same question, a myriad reasons are given –

“No one has asked the baby whether it wants to live or die”
“Basic Human Rights!”
“How can you vote for abortion when you yourself have been born?”
“It’s not a choice – it’s a Human Being!”
“Every life is a miracle”

… and so on and so on.

We have no right to kill or “terminate” any life on the planet. Who gave us the authority to become judge, jury and executioner? Who gave us the authority to coldly determine whether a living thing, a miracle of life, should live or die?

The latest hare-brained idea to emerge from the pits of hell is that abortion should be permitted all the way up to full term. Full term?? Honestly, what is the difference between “terminating” a pregnancy at nine months and actually knifing the infant sleeping peacefully in its cot when it's one week old?? I cannot believe there are people out there who seriously think this is a jolly good idea!!

Every life on Earth deserves our respect and protection. Every year towards the end of summer, I love to watch the little ants laboriously carrying bits of food into their colony; back and forth they go, relentlessly and with determination. I admire these small but intricate little creatures, and I fully respect their right to life; but there are others who mindlessly kill them, just because they are bigger and stronger, just because they can ...

Ever since I was very young, I have always stood against abortion. I discovered just how much I supported life when I was asked to write a composition about abortion at thirteen – I was taken aback by my vehemence.

This passion was truly put to the test almost twenty years later. I finally became pregnant, after more than a year of disappointments. I was over the moon and was really looking forward to my pregnancy.

In my fifth month, the bottom fell out of my world. After a blood test, I was brutally informed that my baby was not normal, that it was highly likely to be Down’s Syndrome. As a first time mother, right from the time I found out I was pregnant, I imagined what my baby would look like, would his eyes be blue like my dad’s, would he look like my husband, etc, etc. This piece of unexpected news completely shook my world to the core. Everything had changed.

The doctor said he would send my blood test to the UK for what he called a “Triple Test”; this would grant us more information. He also offered to fly me to the UK where a termination would be effected, if I so wished.

For three days, I cried till there were no more tears left. Every morning whilst I got ready for work, I would say to my unborn baby:-
“What, I don’t love you anymore just because you’re no longer beautiful?”
Then I would cry some more. My mind and my heart were in absolute turmoil. When I look back, it all feels like a very bad nightmare. However, the real test throughout those gruelling three days were my mother’s phone calls. I know she meant well, bless her, and she was only thinking of me; but her constant phone calls during those three long days, telling me to take the doctor up on his offer of abortion, only clouded my mind even further. I shudder to think that, at any moment, I could have faltered, weakened and gone against my deeply rooted principles; in all the confusion, I could easily have opted for the “termination” …

Then a miracle occurred on the third day, a series of events that altered the course of my path and sent me in the right direction. My sister Sylvia came to my workplace and took me out for a coffee. Her words soothed and unravelled my troubled mind.

She told me to listen to my heart. No matter what my baby looked like, he was sure to bring me much love and joy. Needless to say, the clouds dissipated and suddenly I could think clearly. Of course I wasn’t going to have an abortion! I wanted my baby, no matter what!

With that blissful thought in mind, to mark the occasion, I bought my baby his first little present from me – a cute baby bottle with a yellow top.

Meanwhile, my other sister, Frances, had gone to church to pray for me and the baby. She didn’t ask for any particular outcome. All she asked was for the Virgin Mary to illuminate me.

Imagine her surprise and amazement when she collected me just ten or fifteen minutes later and I wasn’t crying anymore. When I smiled broadly and showed her the yellow baby bottle, she knew I’d made my decision. Later on, she told me that the first thought that came to her head was “My goodness, that was really fast work! Thank you!”

A bit later that afternoon, my brother in law, Johnny, called the doctor and told him that I was sick with worry, that the way he’d talked so brusquely to me was absolutely uncalled for, that his manner left a lot to be desired and that, if anything were to happen to me because of the shock, he was prepared to take it further. Well, the doctor needed no more cajoling – he called the UK and told them my result was urgent; that he would wait in his office until the result came through.

And finally, at around ten o’clock that night, the final stage of that beautiful miracle - Doctor Saber called me at home and told me I could stop worrying. My baby was fine and perfectly healthy. I cannot express the infinite joy that I felt in that moment! My family were overjoyed.

This beautiful baby boy, born on the 07th May 1994, has given me so much happiness throughout the years. He is one of the kindest people I know. We have a very strong bond and so much in common! He is hilariously funny and so talented.

He sings like an angel and paints stunning pictures. I adore him – he is my world.

As if that wasn’t enough, my mother, who spent those three terrible days trying to convince me that abortion was for the best, went on to develop an amazing bond with my son.

She took care of him whilst I worked and she loved him more than anything in the world. Her last word before she died was my son’s name – Ruben.

And in 2018, we all proudly watched as he graduated in Cardiff with a Psychology BSc Hons degree.


I simply cannot imagine how empty my life would have been if I had terminated my pregnancy, all because the doctor told me he was no longer beautiful …



I hope that my testimony will help to illuminate others who find themselves in a similar situation, who are confused and at a difficult crossroads in their lives.
Remember - always choose life.