Abortion.
Why?
Some people know this, some people don't. I was just days away from not being born...alive. My biological grandfather had scheduled for his daughter, my birth-mother Alisha, to have an abortion. Alisha had no desire to go through with it, but she was only 16. Finally, he gave Alisha the choice. Abortion, or adoption. She was estatic that she didn't have to kill me. She knew I deserved a good family, but even more, that I had the right to life. So, as you can probably guess by now, I was born...alive, and adopted into the Kotila family.
Obama quoted this, "I am going to teach them (his daughters) first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby."
Punishment?! This infuriates me. An baby, born or unborn, is the ultimate blessing, no matter the circumstances of conception. I am no punishment. And the same goes for every other unborn baby in the past, present and future. I am a person. I am a strong, unique, special, beautiful young woman. I have desires, feelings, hopes, dreams, likes, dislikes, hobbies, talents, unique physical features...just like every other human being. But I didn't recieve all these things after birth. It's who I am. It's who I was created to be. All these things were ingrained in me at conception. Like the well known Dr. Suess story Horton Hears a Who quotes, "A person's a person, no matter how small".
DNA. DNA is an amazing thing. But it is only ever created once. Our country has killed off over 50 million unique DNA codes, that will never again be duplicated. That child that was murdered, will never again have the chance to live. Every child deserves the same chance at life that I was given. This is a poem I wrote about 2 years ago, showing my heart for this issue:
Dear Birth-mother,
Thank you for giving me life,
I am ever so grateful.
You’ve never had a chance to be a wife
But you let me be your daughter.
When I think about every baby
Who has been murdered today,
It makes me very angry,
That abortion is legal in the USA.
Then I remember your choice,
Long before I was born,
To give me a life and to give me a voice.
I will not take these gifts for granted.
We have never met,
Because we are so far apart.
But you are really great I bet.
You have to be, for letting me live.
Why do people choose abortion?
They were a fetus once too.
There is always the choice of adoption.
Why choose death, when you can give life?
Oh if only every baby had a chance like me.
To have friends and a family,
To have fun and be carefree.
Then America truly would be the best country.
Someday I hope to be,
a wife, a mother, a friend.
I want to adopt a baby,
who was given the same gift that you gave me.
So once again I thank you,
For giving me hope, a future
And dreams I long to pursue.
I promise I will not let you down.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart
Always,
Your Daughter
Because of my history, my past, I have been given a story and a voice. My voice is for the unborn, for the ones who have been silenced. The other day, my friend Arielle and I were talking and she brought up the idea of me writting to the Senator of Nebraska on the issue of abortion. I kept thinking about it and I was really doubtful, not really knowing how to do it, or what to say etc. So I asked God to confirm it again if it was something He wanted me to do. Today I was on my mom's laptop and an e-mail notification popped up on the screen. The subject of this e-mail?
"Tell your Senator to stand for LIFE".
What?! Ok God....
I will not silence myself on this issue when I have been so blessed to recieve my voice. I will not put myself into compromise by voting for those who are pro-choice. I will not shield my eyes from this bloodshed in my country. I will not allow myself to fall asleep to the sound of silence.
