THEY WANTED TO ABORT ME

Eight years before Roe Vs. Wade my mother's doctors urged her to abort me for "legitimate" reasons. My mother had been exposed to polio as a young girl and also suffered a back injury that placed her in a full body cast for several months at 13 years of age. She had already borne four children and was now pregnant with her fifth.

The doctor's lost my heartbeat and my mother wasn't even carrying me out in front, but rather on the side. Her back is noticeably curved and she has always worn a brace. They told her that if she continued with this pregnancy, she would either die or never walk again and that I was merely a dead three-pound blob of tissue, placenta and all.

Praise God, my mother, Nancy, did not follow the advice of the experts. She had a C-section a month early and I was a healthy six-pound baby girl.

My mother was able to walk and raise her five children although she still suffers from pain daily. I had no medical problems except for a hernia that was repaired at nine years. My mom is now in her seventies. She has a determined, uncomplaining spirit that continues to amaze me.

As for me, the Lord graciously brought a wonderful man into my life at the age of 17 years. I had no intention of marrying until I was 30 and was a product of the Southern California feminist mentality. But here I was, swept off my feet by an honest, farm-raised U.S. Marine. We married two months shy of my turning 19 years. We moved to his home state of New Hampshire where my childhood longings of country life were now fulfilled.

Now, 25 years later, we have been saved, grown in grace and have six wonderful children. Our home is dedicated to the Lord Jesus and he has blessed our lives in innumerable ways. All of this could have been cut short months before September 16, 1965 by well-meaning but not sovereign physicians.

I thank the Lord for a mother who chose to trust in the Lord with all her heart.

MARIA CHAMBERLAIN