“I almost felt like I was throwing the baby at the nurses, like ‘quick!’ and the team just responded immediately!”
Those words, spoken by a young doctor with evident joy and relief on her face, hit me like a ton of bricks as I sat watching the news clip.
Baby Noah Guzman had been declared dead in the womb by two doctors who could not detect a heartbeat after his mother came into the hospital suffering from bleeding. She was experiencing placenta previa, a dangerous pregnancy complication.
But to the doctors’ surprise – and Noah’s parents’ immeasurable joy – he was born alive and healthy. The doctor at his delivery, though caught off guard, acted immediately to get Noah into the hands of nurses to care for him. It was deemed by all a “Thanksgiving Miracle.”
Noah’s beautiful story made me think of another baby who was surprisingly born alive: Melissa Ohden.
Melissa Ohden (left) is a pro-life activist whose birth story continues to shock the conscience of America.
Having stewed in a toxic solution in her mother’s womb for five days, Melissa was born alive after a failed saline abortion. The doctor at Melissa’s birth reacted quite opposite to the way of Noah’s doctors.
Melissa wasn’t rushed into helping hands. Rather, Melissa was laid aside and left to die.
A nurse attending to Melissa’s mother heard weak grunts emitting from her tiny body, and cared enough to ensure she was given proper medical treatment. Fortunately, Melissa is alive today to tell her story.
What was the difference between Noah and Melissa? Why did the doctors attending their births act so differently? One was wanted; the other was meant to be aborted and therefore wasn’t wanted.
The horror of this explanation – that an innocent, precious baby can legally have his or her life ended or be left to die because they aren’t considered “wanted,” is a reality that we in the pro-life movement must continue to expose.
As we prepare to begin a new year – and another radically pro-abortion Obama term – let us make a resolution: to re-focus the abortion debate on the individual child, mother, and family effected by the tragedy of abortion. In short, we must reclaim the human center of the abortion debate.
When people are directly confronted with the reality of abortion – they can be swayed. That’s what happened during the election with our ad campaign featuring Melissa.
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The ad exposed President Obama’s unwillingness to provide equal protection to babies like Melissa, during a campaign in which his abortion extremism went largely unquestioned. Sharing Melissa’s story expressed the humanity of the pro-life position with clarity and compassion juxtaposed to callous politicians. The result was that many voters – even those considering themselves “pro-choice,” and independents – turned away from President Obama, according to SBA List polling.
Melissa’s story is compelling for the same reason that the testimony of post-abortive women and former abortion clinic employees is so powerful. Their personal witness breaks through the rhetorical barriers to expose the human face and truth behind the language of “choice.”
We must continue to educate the general public and expose the reality of abortion. Reclaiming the human center of the abortion debate is the only way we will win.
