The Washington Post made the case for life this week, almost certainly by accident, in a feature on a
Texas
teenager who considered an abortion only to change her mind and choose the harder, much more rewarding path available to her: motherhood.
Brooke Alexander, 18, found out she was pregnant just two days before the Texas Heartbeat Act, which bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, went into effect. She immediately called an
abortion clinic,
but there were no appointments available. In the meantime, she decided to get an ultrasound to “see how far along” she was so she could determine whether abortion was an option for her.
“What’s the cut off date,” her father asked.
“They just passed a law today!!” she responded. “What are the f***ing odds I believe it’s 6 weeks.”
“Fingers crossed????” her father replied.
But the moment Brooke saw her babies’ heartbeats on the ultrasound screen, something changed. Suddenly, the real estate classes she had enrolled in at a community college and the anxiety about her new relationship with the twins’ father didn’t matter.
“Are you sure?” Brooke asked the pro-life technician, who told her she was pregnant with 12-week-old twins.
Brooke’s mother, who had been pushing her to get an abortion, had a change of heart as well: “Oh my God. This is a miracle from the Lord. We are having these babies.” Brooke said her mother started calling the twins “my babies” and vowed to help Brooke navigate through
this next phase of life.
The point of the Washington Post’s feature was not to celebrate Brooke’s decision, but to argue that girls like her who might not want to go through with their pregnancies should be able to terminate them. But what the piece really ends up proving is that most women don’t want an abortion. They just feel like it’s their only option and are driven into it out of desperation.
Brooke’s story also shows how the pro-life movement is successfully building a culture of life. Texas leaders passed a pro-life bill restricting abortion, which led Brooke to seek out alternatives to abortion. One of those alternatives was a pro-life pregnancy resource center that informed Brooke about the realistic risks of abortion and provided her with a free ultrasound that allowed her to see her children for the first time.
To be sure, the days since Brooke chose life have not been easy. She has had to give up many of her future plans and the freedom she once enjoyed. But now, she has Olivia and Kendall, whom she loves more than anything in the world. “It’s really scary thinking that I wouldn’t have them,” she said.
