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Woman’s Right to Know: A day to weep for joy
Mark H. Creech, Guest Column
August 17, 2011
5 MIN READ TIME

Woman’s Right to Know: A day to weep for joy

Woman’s Right to Know: A day to weep for joy
Mark H. Creech, Guest Column
August 17, 2011

I am still experiencing sporadic moments of jubilation and
tears of joy concerning the “Woman’s Right to Know Act” becoming law in North
Carolina. Gov. Beverly Perdue had deemed the bill
“extreme” and “repugnant,” stamping on it in big bold red letters the word,
“VETO.” But recently lawmakers in the North Carolina House and Senate, by a
three-fifths majority in both chambers, disagreed and overrode her objections.

The “Woman’s Right to Know Act” simply requires a woman be
presented with a number of possible choices, rather than leaving her with the
misconception she has only one choice — abortion. Far too often, a woman with
an unplanned pregnancy is mortified, frightened and consequentially in a rush
to get rid of her perceived problem. And, for a few hundred dollars the
abortionist’s knife is more than ready to accommodate — no questions asked. But
this measure slows the process down, requiring she wait at least 24 hours and
be availed of comprehensive information concerning all her alternatives,
including an opportunity to view an ultrasound of her unborn child.

In other states where similar laws have been enacted, the
abortion rate has dropped. In North Carolina,
it is estimated the enactment of this bill will save approximately 3,000 unborn
lives annually. The bill actually works to make abortion safer and rarer —
something pro-choice advocates have argued in favor of for years. Nevertheless,
when this legislation was debated, the rhetoric by pro-choice opponents of the
measure was outrageously hyperbolic. Every exaggeration about humiliating
women, taking away their personal freedoms, interfering between the
doctor/patient relationships, to exacerbating the problems of poverty, were
erroneously levied against the proposed law.

But out of the many voices that railed against the “Woman’s
Right to Know Act,” one voice in favor of it got to the truth of the matter. In
my estimation, the remarks of Rep. John Blust (R-Guilford) on the House floor
were most succinct and profound. In fact, I think, if one had “ears to hear,”
the beauty of his words were that they had the very voice of God in them.

Below is a condensed version of Blust’s impromptu remarks:

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and members of the House. When I
came in here I wasn’t planning on saying anything on this motion …

“I am not going to try and refute everything that has been
said in support of the governor’s veto — so much of which was not correct. But
I will say this: the bill does not affect the choice of the pregnant woman …
The bill just says that you ought to take some time and be sure to know certain
things.

“I’m speaking to this mainly because … I have been
involved in an unplanned pregnancy. And, I have seen the ultrasound. I knew …
when I saw it that this was a life! This was my daughter … Barbara. It wasn’t a
blob of cells. This was my little baby in the womb. I’ve heard over the years so many times the
mantra … we will be judged as a society on how we treat our most vulnerable. I
ask you, what is possibly more vulnerable than a baby human being in her
mother’s womb? And, had that — using the euphemisms that give us comfort to
keep us from thinking about what’s really happening — had that pregnancy been
terminated — that would not have been just a medical procedure — that would
have been the destruction of Barbara Blust!

“We’re just saying — the proponents of this bill — there are
two lives involved … This isn’t just a small little thing that sometimes people
go in for medical procedures — folks there have been 50 million souls
destroyed! Does that not bother you at all?

“This is a small thing to ask someone to do, who is given
custody of such a precious commodity … if there is one thing that I have
learned, it’s that a life is a miracle … And it deserves, at least, a modicum
of protection … Otherwise, why do we even have governments, if they don’t do
something to protect the most vulnerable of lives?”

Yes, I can’t help from getting emotional each time I pause
and reflect on what happened — when good and evil clashed on the House and
Senate floors and at least a better chance at life was won for many of the
unborn citizens of this state. And may God hasten the day when those little
innocent ones — although still housed within their mother’s womb, defenseless
as they are — will have all of the same rights and privileges as each of us:
“the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Now that will be a day to weep for joy!

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Creech is executive director of Christian
Action League, christianactionleague.org.)