Valentine’s Day is a day set apart to celebrate love and affection. For a society that sentimentalises love, we are often blind to the ways in which we are not providing love and support to those around us – particularly those who are vulnerable.

Since 1967, over 9 million unborn children have lost their lives to abortion in the UK. In this country, on average, 567 children will be killed by abortion each day. Considering these figures, it is clear why the focus for pro-lifers is to make abortion illegal; it is a tragic loss of life unlike anything that has come before it. 

Love them both

However, it must be acknowledged that there is much more encompassed in being pro-life than opposing abortion. In fact, the pro-life movement comprises an array of efforts aimed at providing support and protection of all innocent human life. That support and protection includes care for women and girls, especially those who find themselves in a crisis pregnancy.

It is important to care for the well-being of the most innocent amongst us: the unborn. It is equally important to care for the well-being of pregnant women. In order to do so, we must promote systems which support women in crisis pregnancy. A crisis pregnancy can occur for a variety of reasons, from financial uncertainty to relationship troubles. Consequently, the option of abortion presents itself as a quick and easy fix - or in fact the only ‘choice’ - for a woman who finds herself with an unwanted pregnancy. Abortion, promoted to women as a life-saving escape, is in reality destructive to both woman and child.

Abortion is not the loving option for women

For a woman facing a crisis pregnancy, abortion fails to solve the root cause of her crisis.  Instead, it will take her child and do nothing to alleviate the circumstances that led her to abortion. Abortion is a scam.

According to medical-based review Abortion and Women’s Health, abortion has a directly negative impact on the health of women. One study found that women who had an abortion are six times more likely to commit suicide compared to women who continue with pregnancy, 30% more likely to suffer from depression compared to women who continue with pregnancy and 25% more likely to suffer from anxiety compared to women who continue with pregnancy. 

It is evident that despite the friendly guise of abortion, it does not represent love, support or care. Abortion exploits the vulnerability of women during a time of crisis; leaving them with the emotional scars to bear for years to come. A system which seeks to offer authentic support for women experiencing a crisis pregnancy must reject abortion for what it is: a destructive act which kills one and hurts the other.

Women and children deserve better

Abortion betrays women and they deserve better. They deserve a system of support which not only empowers them to choose life for their baby, but also a system which provides them with the resources which support them in doing so.

There are various pro-life charities dedicated to supporting women who find themselves in a crisis pregnancy and who may feel unable to emotionally or financially cope. Such charities empower women to choose life and equip them with practical resources, information and financial support which allow them to raise their child.

No little girl grows up wanting to have an abortion, and we shouldn’t tolerate a society which pressures her to have one. Instead, we should strive for a society which cherishes both mother and baby. We should strive for a society which embodies support and care - one which rejects the violence and hurt of abortion. We should envision a better future for mother and child – one marked by love.