today

Today I had the privilege of telling two new moms that they are pregnant!

One of them is a beautiful, excited, young hispanic girl who came to me basically complaining of morning sickness. She just got married 3 months ago, doesn't have a job, and her husband is a blue-collar worker. I know they will love their baby well. (and I hope it will be my future patient!) They are so happy about the new little member of their family and are surprised to find out that the little one already has 4 limbs complete with nubs of fingers and toes, pigmented eyes, a beating heart and a spinal column. I love these visits.

The next one didn't even smile when I walked in the room congratulating her on her pregnancy. She was visibly annoyed and told me that she wants kids eventually but "this is not the time." She's a full-time nurse and her boyfriend has a job, but they don't want to be inconvenienced with a baby. I took a deep breath (and said a quick prayer) and realized I needed to explain her options. I already knew what she was thinking, but I wanted to try to convince her to have her baby. I talked with her about adoption, and told her that there are adoptions agencies that will pay all the medical bills (including hospital bills) if you give your baby up for adoption. I printed out some info about the Dallas Pregnancy Resource center and hope that she'll give it a second thought. In the end, she told me she's going to have an abortion. This was one of my most difficult situations at work.

I will be praying that she doesn't go through with it, but the sad truth is that this is reality in America. It happens every day:

- Nearly half of pregnancies among American women are unintended, and four in 10 of these are terminated by abortion. Twenty-two percent of all pregnancies (excluding miscarriages) end in abortion.

- In 2005, 1.21 million abortions were performed, down from 1.31 million in 2000. From 1973 through 2005, more than 45 million legal abortions occurred.

1.21 million is unacceptable. I need to pray that there would be fewer abortions in America... that doctors, politicians, and just normal good people would realize that there are other options.

Sorry for such a depressing post... this is just what was on my mind today...