This
week at our monthly meeting we had met with a young man named Daniel, 23, who
shared with us his fruition into becoming a Pro-Life advocate –
“I
was always an obedient Catholic, but had remained Pro-Choice because I had
always believed religion - and government - had no right to interfere with a
woman’s right to make decisions based upon her health and well-being.
In
January of 2011, on what was to be the first day of a three-day rainstorm, I
waited outside the locked bathroom door of my girlfriend’s apartment as she
cried uncontrollably at the positive pregnancy test. I was 22 – she, 23 - this
was the first relationship I had sustained for over three months; we had now
been together for a year. I tried to remain calm but in her hysteria, and my own:
we shouted, screamed and damned whatever responsible for her birth control
malfunctioning – mainly each other.
Prior
to our drive to my parent’s house, I puked one final time and turned off the
television depicting some lunatic Evangelist who seemed passionate for burning
the Koran. My family was supportive in whatever plan of action we chose, she
was too afraid to tell her parents – she felt her father would surely force her
to keep the child, himself supposedly being a strong Christian man. We had to be
sure how far along she was pregnant, to understand the timetable we had to make
a decision for abortion – which I honestly wanted.
The
streets were strewn with debris and flood as the storm carried on through Los
Angeles County; the atmosphere in the Planned Parenthood was hardly more
comforting. I was the only man there, amongst the other anxious – some crying –
women(girls). No one spoke, everyone was either on their cell phones or glaring
my way; the appointment took almost two hours – she was 5 weeks Pregnant.
The
next few days were filled with argument and confusion; She wasn’t sure what to
do, after confiding her Father, he expressed that he would pay for her to abort
the baby. I was relived at his stance, but knew she was so frightened of the procedure
and the religious damnation. It was hard trying to ease her about the safety of
the procedure, meanwhile reassuring her I knew God would show forgiveness on
her – I might have made the argument that God bless her having not brought
another child into this world of tyranny and pending doom – as the local news
had suggested. Part of that might have gotten lost in translation seeing that
the previous evening I had nearly bit my tongue off in my sleep – this happened
periodically throughout the next year, amongst hyperventilation spells.
We
had made an appointment for the abortion in Santa Cruz so she could be close to
her Mother after the procedure. Our Medi-Cal – which we waited 3 hours at the
Compton Social Service Offices for in the rain – was denied because we had to
be in our own county for the Medi-Cal benefits to apply. The following 24 hours
were torturous. We then attend another appointment; this time there are swarms
of anti-Abortion protestors crowding the vehicle as we enter the driveway, she
is hysterical while her Father is reiterating to me over the phone the
importance of the ensuing procedure. She reluctantly enters the appointment and
is gone for an hour, I see her through the glass reception windows. She is in
line with the other women – whom are supposedly being discharged after a
similar procedure – waiting gauntly, like guilty prisoners waiting for their
turn to be questioned.
I
embrace her and thank her for her courage; she doesn’t speak, but when she does
- says only, “I have something to tell you.” I know then she hadn’t gone
through with it, as the world begins to evaporate.
Her
Father disowns her and I abandon her – in hopes that she recognizes if she
wants to continue with the pregnancy she must be prepared to continue on her
own. She perseveres with the help of her local church and family friends. At
the 6th month of her pregnancy I returned, and her Father the day my
son was born.
My
son was born entirely healthy and everything seemed to fall in place within
those next two years. I was hired into the career I was striving for, and she
started her own business – both endeavors being quite lucrative. The world had
yet to end and his grandparents had never been happier. The Kings finally won
the Stanley Cup, and there he was screaming, “Go Kings Go.” – too bad his
Dodger chants seemed to have little affect. He is only two but he might as well
be 10, because I cant remember what life was like before him and I don’t need
to.
Its
not a matter of religious alignment, I am Pro-Life because the life that is
being ended is so infinitely good and radiant – and in a world which is so
cruel and dark, I cant stand the thought of ending an opportunity to illuminate
it.
Thank
you Daniel. We’ll be having a more in depth conversation with Daniel at our
next meeting, October 22nd.
