A personal message to members of Congress regarding partial-birth abortion

Note: This letter was originally posted to the ACLJ website last spring, when the House and Senate were beginning work on the bills that have now been approved.

March 7, 2003

TO: The Honorable Members of the United States House of Representatives
TO: The Honorable Members of the United States Senate

Dear Sir or Madam:

In the past five to ten years, Congress has on three occasions taken up the issue of partial-birth abortion -- twice during the previous administration, and again last year. While legislators passed the first two bills, President Clinton vetoed them. Last summer (July 24th to be precise), the House passed H.R. 4965, the "Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2002"; however, the bill was never allowed a vote in the Senate.

Last month, two pieces of legislation were introduced that would ban the procedure: H.R. 760, introduced by Rep. Steve Chabot; and S. 3, introduced by Sen. Rick Santorum.(1) It is my strong desire that you will fulfill the request of the President in his State of the Union address and pass this legislation so that it may be signed into law, "to protect infants at the very hour of their birth."(2)

I cannot speak to the particulars of the constitutionality of such legislation, though I work at a law firm; nor can I speak to the theological and/or ethical ramifications of the procedure, though several members of my extended family are clergymen. Likewise, I cannot address with any authority the medical aspect, though I have both relatives and friends in the medical field. I can, however, express my personal views as one whose parents could have chosen an abortion, but decided instead to grant me the opportunity to live.

First, let me share an abbreviated version of my story.

As Mom remembers it, when I was born in 1978 via C-section only two days before her twenty-third birthday, the doctor gave her startling news: "Your baby has an anomaly. Have you heard of Spina Bifida?"

Almost immediately, I was rushed to a nearby children's hospital to be treated; Mom wasn't even given a chance to see me, let alone hold me, until hours later.

When the neurosurgeon who had examined my CT scan spoke with my dad that afternoon, he explained that I had extensive brain damage, and that it was unlikely that I would have intelligence within the normal range.

That same doctor spoke again with my dad a few days later to explain some of the further surgeries I would need. In the midst of the conversation, he also said something that caught Dad off-guard: "Mr. Wood, this never has to happen to you again."

When Dad asked him to elaborate, he said, "We can detect these children in the womb."

"And repair the problem?" Dad asked.

"No," replied the doctor. "Terminate the pregnancy."

This elicited a strong but calm response from Dad: "Why don't we just go in and kill him right now? It would avoid a lot of pain and suffering for all of us." My dad then made sure that this doctor was no longer assigned to care for me, because as he puts it, I would be better off in the care of someone who didn't think I'd be better off dead.

I tell this story to illustrate a point. Although some so called "pro-choice" advocates will try to excuse abortion as "eliminating an inconvenience" and justify partial-birth abortion because the "fetus" is not "viable", they forget that there are many -- myself included -- who believe that life does not wait to begin until the unborn child is fully outside its mother's womb. Although my parents were unaware of my disabilities until I was born, had the technology been used to detect them, my parents would still have never dared to consider ending my life in the womb.

Many years (and about a dozen surgeries) later, I joined my parents and thousands of others in the Georgia Right to Life March, a peaceful pro-life demonstration that wound through the streets of downtown Atlanta. The sign I carried was one my mother had made, based on one we saw another child carrying in a news story about a similar demonstration in another state. The wording of the sign was simple: "I'm glad my mommy let me live." Despite the aforementioned surgeries, painful though they were, and the nine or so that have since followed, I can still say with all sincerity, "I'm glad my mommy let me live!" It is such a joy for me to be able to tell people that I share the name of the great apostle Paul, who once described a "thorn in [his] flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment [him]."(3) Because I have endured twenty-three surgeries, people have regularly commented on my positive outlook on life. I take delight in explaining that I feel the same assurance from God about my disabilities as the apostle Paul did about his thorn: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."(4)

I am not trying to use the biblical value-of-life concept as my argument for banning partial-birth abortion; as I stated at the beginning, many of my relatives and friends are clergymen, but I am not. However, I firmly believe that no matter what your religious persuasion, every child has the potential of leading a healthy, fulfilling life. I also believe it is better to be "fighting abortion by adoption"(5) than to deny infertile couples the possibility of having a family, or the right of the unborn child to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

In closing, let me just say again, it is my sincere hope that you will act swiftly to enact legislation that will ban this barbaric practice which Rep. Charles Canady has asserted is a mere three inches from homicide.

Thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts on this important issue.

Respectfully,
Paul Wood

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. NRLC "Backgrounder: Partial-Birth Abortion", February 14, 2003 (http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/pba/backgrounderpba021403.html)

2. "State of the Union", January 28, 2003 (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/01/20030128-19.html)

3. 2 Corinthians 12:7 (NIV)

4. Ibid., v. 9

5. Mother Teresa, from her address at the National Prayer Breakfast, February 3, 1994 (http://www.ewtn.com/New_library/breakfast.htm)

Paul Wood works as a communications assistant for the American Center for Law and Justice.