My Pro-Life Conversion Story by Ebeth Weidner

The Catholic Church has always been strict in its stand on social justice. Studying Catholic Social Teachings last year I realized the most central of all the teachings, the one that ranks the highest is life. So many Catholics are pro-choice nowadays and are not aware of the real ramifications of what abortion does to our society and the world. Murder is murder which is ending a human life no matter age or stage of existence.

To see the pictures of abortion is horrific at the very least, but to dare go further into the act and see the legs, arms, tiny eyeballs mixed in with blood, skin, and other obvious body parts is condemnable. What was this before it was abruptly pulled apart limb from trunk from head to it's end? How is this procedure done by a caring, knowledgeable medical professional? How do these people sleep at night, much less feel innocent of murder in this matter-of-fact attitude?

But I wasn't so aware of all these details years ago as a young college student. My mother had told me when I was about 16 or so that if I ever had an abortion, she'd disown me and she was very serious. There were other mothers that gladly paid for their daughter's abortion to save family embarrassment. My mother was not one of them, believe me.. Later in college I stood on a balcony over looking a abortion clinic and watched a pro-lifer yelling, using a bullhorn, at a woman as she made her way to the front door of the clinic. How it angered me to see that and how sorry I felt for the poor woman in the position she was in to begin with and then to be yelled at to boot. I vowed right then and there that if that is what pro- life meant, I wanted nothing to do with it. This and the murders of doctors, nurses, and the Birmingham clinic bombing happened during that time helped feed my detachment. My mother also told me once that there was no reason at all to have an abortion, not even rape. I had to think about that for long time. She said that it wasn't the child's fault and it shouldn't be punished for it by being aborted. That one part of abortion I just couldn't wrap my brain around for many, many years. True, I thought put that way, but still it was very hard to fully grasp, until about a year ago.

Now for my conversion story. Years ago as a real estate agent, I took in as seminars and classes as I could. One very important lesson we were taught was if you don't list you don't last. Meaning, if you don't get people to hire you to sell their property by listing, just selling other agents' listings, soon you will just poop out and run out of buyers. This lesson talks about the human element of real estate, if you take care of the people, caring for their needs in purchasing property, the money will come. Being good with people will build your business. If our society would be good to the persons of our society, no matter how old or what stage of life they are in, the rest of the problems will take care of themselves.

After reading Roe vs Wade's legal document and then comparing it to the 'Freedom of Choice Act" documentation, the light bulb went on in my heart. The word, viable, is used as defining the worth of the baby within the womb and the elderly or ill person in bed. Viable, when and at what point of health, is a human being worth keeping and cared for. Wow, someone other than God is given the authority to decide in all this documentation. How can this be?

Then I asked myself this question, "At what point were any of my children not viable to me during my pregnancy?" I know that there was no stage of pregnancy that these children were not viable, but then I must also realize that this is true for any and all pregnancies. It doesn't matter how they came to be, what does matter is that they are viable and they deserve the respect and care needed to allow them health, happiness, and to persue liberty, and justice...... for all.