Are we really pro-life?

I took my little 6-month niece/goddaughter to Mass with me on Sunday evening. I look very young and I am not married so do not wear a ring on my finger. I kept noticing throughout the church people looking at me with a look of disappointment and concern. As soon as I noticed they were staring at me they would awkwardly smile. I quickly realized that they probably thought my niece was my daughter and I was a single mom. Because I look so young they probably thought I was a teen/early 20's single mom. All these people apparently were disappointed with me. How pro-life is that? We tell girls to carry their babies to term but then we give them dirty looks for doing so. We need to do everything we can to encourage people to practice abstinence until marriage but if they do not and a young girls gets pregnant we MUST shower her with love and support. We need to honor her and celebrate her for not making another terrible decision. Then we need to encourage her to change her sexual behaviors. I understand now why so many girls feel pressured to have an abortion. If we are going to be pro-life, we need to be pro-life all the way and support girls who choose life, no matter what their situation.

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Planned Parenthood, hurting women since 1916

I am extremely concerned about a recent article I read. In North Carolina, two college members of "Students for Life" visited separate Planned Parenthood clinics, posing as underage women (ages 14 and 15) who had had sex with their mothers' live-in boyfriend. For both visits, Planned Parenthood staff acknowledged that this situation was defined as statutory rape, yet neither case was ever reported. Both girls were also given birth control pills without their parents' consent (allowing the situation to continue longer), and were sent home to take the After Morning Pill, to cover the rapists' crimes.

Read the entire article here.

Now I realize that in society's eyes, the majority of people have trouble understanding why artificial birth control is harmful to women. Similarly, there is a large number of people in the world who do not understand how harmful abortion is to women. I know that it is safe to say, however, that the MAJORITY of society KNOWS that rape is detrimental to women, young and old. Can someone PLEASE explain to me how an organization that claims to "support women" can actually let something this serious slide by?!?

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A Case for Young Marriage

There is no doubt that people in this society are opposed to marrying young. I cannot tell you how many people have given me questioning, or even pitiful looks when they find out that I am 23 years old and already married. As crazy as this sounds, sometimes when I want to be perceived as older than I am, I carefully flash my lefthand ring during a conversation. This came in especially handy when Michael and I went car shopping, and the dealer (noticing us arguing a little) made a comment about how fun SIBLING rivalry can be!!! The bottom line is, marriage before late-twenties is not expected, nor is it socially accepted in our culture.

Many responses to this article http://www.faithandfamilylive.com/blog/on_marrying_young#When:01:30:02Z which favors young marriages, argued that not everyone has to be married young. Of course this is true; a marriage’s holiness is in no way based on age, and there are endless valid reasons for getting married later in life. What is important in this subject matter is that young people, especially those in relationships, need to constantly discern the possibility of marriage. Instead of cohabitating, or floating from relationship to relationship until a young person feels “ready”, marriage should always be the end goal for couples. I have no doubt that many people in their late-teens and possibly in their early twenties may not be ready for marriage or may not have met a suitable partner, and in these case, they should abstain and postpone entering relationships altogether. If a couple is mature enough to enter into a courtship, they should be mature enough to marry.

For those of you who know me, it is clear that I did not even follow my own advice. I entered a relationship at 18, and despite being committed, I did not anticipate wedding bells for several more years. When Brodle was finally old enough to support himself financially, we still met much opposition for being too young. A long engagement until I finished college became a very painful experience, but everyone agreed that this was the “smart” thing to do. Obviously, we were finally married at 22 and 26, making every ounce of patience worth it.

Marriage and parenthood at a young age is no doubt difficult, mostly due to financial strains and a lack of supportive communities. Young marriage however, also has many advantages, as couples grow and mature together during “moldable” years of life, and have more energy to raise little ones. Either way, marriage should not be socially discouraged (it should be encouraged!), and a real, discerned vocation (to marriage or religious life) should never be postponed… Only by aligning our will to God’s will we find His peace!

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