40th year of Roe v. Wade offers hope for continuing trend of fewer abortions

Tuesday on the 40th anniversary of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion, pro-lifers have something to shout about ---- the closure of 1,500 abortion clinics over the past 22 years.

As a Christian, who believes that abortion is wrong in most instances, I join in the celebration that fewer defenseless unborn children will be killed.

Abortion is close to my heart and something I continue to pray will end.

I know there are rare instances when the health of the mother might require an abortion to be performed, but generally that is not the case.

Our society has allowed our common sense, moral convictions and doing the right thing to take a backseat to convenience with abortion too often the option for a mistake or a means of contraception.

One of the reasons that Roe v. Wade is near and dear to me is because I am adopted ---- born in 1953 in a Catholic home for unwed mothers in the city of Indianapolis.

I know virtually nothing about my biological parents or the circumstances of my mother's pregnancy. I am more than glad that she chose life and not death for her child.

Had abortion been legal and allowed, I may have met the awful fate that hundreds of thousands of unborn children have faced since 1973.

Instead of being born, raising a family and having children and grandchildren of my own, that heritage could have ended before it began.

I thank God for his mercy and grace in allowing me to live.

According to www.ushistory.org, the battle began in Texas, which outlawed any type of abortion unless a doctor determined that the mother's life was in danger. The anonymous Jane Roe challenged the Texas law, and the case slowly made its way to the highest court in the land.

After two years of hearing evidence, the Supreme Court invalidated the Texas law by a 7-2 vote. The majority of the justices maintained that a right to privacy was implied by the Ninth and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

No state could restrict abortions during the first three months, or trimester, of a pregnancy.

States were permitted to adopt restrictive laws in accordance with respecting the mother's health during the second trimester. The practice could be banned outright during the third trimester. Any state law that conflicted with this ruling was automatically overturned.

Thus, began the proliferation of abortion clinics.

But there is an encouraging trend. The number of abortion clinics is on the decline.

According to the Christian News Wire, in 1991 there were 2,176 surgical abortion clinics nationwide.

Today, that number has been trimmed to 660 and falling. More than 1,500 abortion clinics, 70% of the total, have closed their doors for good.

Last year, an average of seven abortion clinics closed each month.

Five states; Arkansas, Mississippi, Wyoming, North, and South Dakota, have only one clinic each.

Overall abortions are down 25% from 1.6 million in 1990 to 1.2 million since 2005.

Star Parker is an author and president of CURE, Center for Urban Renewal and Education, and she writes, "The number 40 has great significance in the Bible. Perhaps best known is the 40 years that the Israelites were condemned to wander in the desert before being permitted entry into the Promised Land.

"Maybe this mystical quantity will bear significance as we note, this month, the 40th year since the Roe v. Wade decision legalized abortion in America.

"Forty years we have lived with the silent, and sometimes not-so-silent, holocaust in our midst as the lives of 55 million innocent and unborn children have been killed, plucked from their journey to enter this world."

I realize that abortion is one of those controversial topics that you either hate or support.

I am glad there are organizations in our communities, like Right to Life, that are continuing the roll out the banner and offer hope that our nation will once again turn to God and outlaw abortions.

To me personally, abortion is wrong in nearly all cases. I view it as legalized murder of the innocent, who have no voice or choice in their own fate.

I am so thankful that Roe v. Wade hadn't been decided by the High Court before 1953 and adoption was offered as an alternative to my parents.

Nick is assistant editor for the Greene County Daily World. He can be reached by telephone at 847-4487 or 1-800-947-4487 or by e-mail at schneider.nick@gmail.com. Follow Nick on Twitter @GCDWSchneider .