Abortion is often in the news, but it has reappeared again lately in three guises: the controversy around Planned Parenthood and the supposed sale of fetal tissue, the violent attacks and murders in a Colorado Planned Parenthood facility by an anti-abortion radical, and the comments by GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump that women who have abortions should be punished. Wow, what a sad, tragic commentary on our national discussions…
As someone who is pro-choice, I would like to state at the outset that I do not believe that abortion is something to be taken lightly, nor should it be used as an easy-to-come-by form of birth control. Like millions of other Americans, I believe that abortion should be a woman’s prerogative in consultation with her physician and loved ones, should not be hindered by church or political leaders, and should be safe, affordable and accessible to those who need one.
I have great respect for sincere, well-meaning men and women who believe in the sanctity of life – and I would ask that those people respect my viewpoint as well. With American values trending leftward over recent years, it can be concluded that the majority of pro-choice Americans are also against the death penalty, abhor murder, love and want to protect animals, and care for the earth and the environment. That is, pro-choice Americans have great respect for all life. The dialogue around abortion, in my opinion, would have been much more civil over the past several decades since Roe v. Wade if we had honestly acknowledged some basic agreements on these issues.
In conducting research for my recent book, Paranormal, I came across some evidence that can add another perspective to this discussion. First of all, pre-verbal deceased babies and aborted fetuses have been known to communicate from the other side through several media – because they grow on the “other side.” They not only are able to know their parents and others and see what they are doing on earth, but they also grow, mature, provide reasons why they died young, and help those left behind in the physical world. (See examples on pages 144-46.)
Recall too, from our post on Past Lives, that we make decisions about our earthly incarnations, in conjunction with spirit guides, before we are born. Sometimes we are destined in this lifetime to come into the world only for a short time; to not come into the world in a particular woman’s body at all; to be a woman who experiences a miscarriage; or to be a woman who, for whatever reason, decides she needs to abort her fetus. When we begin to understand these things, we can expand our views and have a more nuanced perspective.
More specifically with regard to abortion, renowned medium James Van Praagh has gleaned important wisdom from his spirit guides. A new spirit being born into the physical world is linked to its earthly mother “and picks up everything that is around and within the mother’s aura. Once life is set in motion, nature takes charge and fulfills what it knows to do.” At times, an event in the mother’s life or psyche ends the pregnancy through miscarriage; the soul then waits for another opportunity to grow. Abortions often occur for the mother’s spiritual growth. Van Praagh learned that, “before incarnating, a spirit will set up a situation like having an abortion to work through lessons of self-worth, guilt, failure, and love of self.” There does not seem to be any ill karmic effect on a woman who has an abortion. (Van Praagh, Reaching to Heaven, 83-84.
If sincere Americans on both sides of the abortion debate truly wish to understand each other and move the discussion forward – without violence – here are some suggestions.
- Avoid making sweeping moral judgments about the other person’s position. I would ask anti-abortion adherents to give pro-choice adherents the benefit of the doubt that, just because they support a woman’s choice to abort her own fetus, that woman is usually making an extremely difficult decision and probably for many complex reasons. I as a pro-choice advocate, by the same token, assume that someone calling himself “pro-life” is not necessarily a misogynist but believes that he is protecting an innocent, defenseless being – a potential human being.
- Avoid using extreme rhetoric to express opinions. While someone’s violent actions are his or her responsibility, it is also the case that, when someone with an anti-abortion bent also has mental health issues and/or access to weapons, s/he takes extreme anti-abortion language as justification for violence. Both the language and the violence are unacceptable; all anti-abortion adherents should attempt to change people’s minds, not provide any excuse or opportunity to injure or kill those who do not agree with them.
- We are a nation of laws. The current law of the land is that abortion is legal. Women who seek or have abortions and providers of abortions should have protection under that law. Those seeking to deprive women and providers of those rights should be prosecuted.
- Fraud is illegal. The efforts of the Center for Medical Progress, the distortion of facts about organizations such as Planned Parenthood, and the like in order to deprive people of care or pass restrictive legislation should be strongly protested.
- Keep in mind the reason that women in the 1960s and 1970s fought so hard for legalization: back alley procedures and thousands of dead women, many of them seeking to abort fetuses because they were raped, had been victims of incest, were only children themselves, or knew that they could not afford to raise a child. A civilized people does not revert to a time when such a situation existed.
- Consider the probability that reincarnation is true and that an abortion is an avenue of possible growth for the woman. Also consider that the supposed aborted fetus is not a murder victim but rather has a particular destiny to fulfill, in the service of love and growth.
Resources
Abrahamsen, Valerie A. Paranormal: A New Testament Scholar Looks at the Afterlife. Manchester Center, Vermont: Shires Press, 2015.
Van Praagh, James. Reaching to Heaven: A Spiritual Journey Through Life and Death. New York: Penguin Books, 1999.