Big Muddy rancher
Well-known member
It was a warm April morning, but Tina shivered when she got off the bus in Los Angeles. She didn’t feel 17. She felt like a little girl, sick with fright. She didn’t want an abortion, especially this late in her pregnancy – but the people at the abortion clinic insisted, "You can’t raise a baby."
Tina pushed open the hospital door. Beyond the waiting room were two large rooms lined with beds. Like barracks, she thought. To one side was an examining room. Teenage girls – about 30 of them wearing below-the-knee-length hospital gowns – filled the hall, talking animatedly with each other. Tina wondered if they felt as nervous as she did.
"Tina!" The sound of her own name a few minutes later startled her. A nurse was motioning her toward the tiny examining room. Bare walls. Lots of stainless steel. A man was at the sink, his back to her, washing his hands. Tina climbed onto the examining table and lay down. She searched the doctor’s face as he felt and measured her.
"Saline," he said, extending his hand. Tina jerked when she saw the length of the needle the nurse handed him. As the needle went in, a wave of nausea hit Tina, and she squeezed the nurse’s arm so tightly that her nails pierced the skin. My body’s rejecting this! She thought with panic. I’m going to throw up! She fought to keep still, to stay calm.
The injection to kill the fetus and start labor was over. "Drink water and walk," instructed the nurse. By the end of the day, the hall had almost emptied, and most of the beds in the next room were full. Tina was the only patient whose saline injection had not yet taken effect. The doctor had gone home.
At last, toward evening, Tina lay down. She must have dozed off because something woke her in the night. Tina had just a low backache, but she felt something warm and wet on her legs. She pushed the buzzer for the nurse, but no one came.
Something different was happening now. Tina felt an urgent need to push, to expel this unknown substance. "Tissue," the professionals had called it. "Fetal tissue." The muscles in Tina’s abdomen were contracting insistently – and the nurse still had not come.
Reaching down, she felt the wet, solid curve of a skull. It’s a head! She thought, shocked. Her heart began to thud in her ears. How can tissue have a head? At that instant, a thin, penetrating wail pierced the quiet room. Surrounded by a roomful of women who had delivered limp, lifeless fetuses, a baby girl was making her triumphant, indignant way into the world.
Absorbed in the confusing drama within her mind and body, Tina was vaguely aware of patients around her waking up and screaming for a nurse. With her own hands, she was delivering a bawling, wriggling baby: Eyes scrunched shut, squeezing out real tears. An open, roaring outrage! Tiny shoulders and arms no longer than a pencil, gesticulating. A slippery body, little legs, all perfectly formed. A little girl – a daughter no bigger than a doll, she marveled. This was a baby! What I did was so wrong! And then, This was meant to be.
Around the two of them, mother and child, pandemonium had broken out. But the 17-year old was in a world alone with her baby. "You’re beautiful," she whispered, tracing the small, downy, cheeks and stroking the matted, dark hair. The minuscule rib cage heaved with subsiding sobs.
The whole clinic was awake now – even, at last, the nurse on duty. She came running, looked with shock at the little human being cupped in Tina’s hands and breathed, "Oh my God!" People were asking her questions, but she didn’t seem to hear them. She cut the umbilical cord, lined a bedpan with a blue hospital pad, and laid the baby girl in it. Her middle-aged face looked frightened, and her hands were shaking. She took the baby away.
That is the true story of how Gianna Jessen came into the world on April 6, 1977. Tina regretted the abortion and wanted to raise Gianna, but the county took the baby away and put her in a foster home. The abortion left Gianna with cerebral palsy, and she needed many painful and expensive operations on her legs as she grew. Her foster mother worked tirelessly with Gianna, exercising her legs so she would have the strength to crawl. Later she had to wear metal leg braces.
Meanwhile, Tina prayed that a Christian family would adopt Gianna. Gianna’s foster mom had a married daughter named Diana, who had given her life to Jesus Christ when she was a young mother. When Diana first saw Gianna, the baby was propped up between two pillows because she was too limp to sit up alone. Diana fell in love with her. She and her husband started adoption proceedings, and when they came to pick up their new 3-1/2 year old daughter, Gianna walked for the first time – right into their arms.
Ever since Gianna was a tiny, frail, blonde toddler, she loved to sing. She would sing in the shower using a bar of soap for a microphone. At four, she sang in front of her whole church. Her eyes sparkled and she wasn’t a bit shy. Gianna grew up dreaming of the day when she could "sing somewhere new, every night." When she was a teenager, that dream came true. Churches and pro-life groups all over the world heard about the girl who had survived her mother’s abortion. She was invited to speak and sing so many places she couldn’t accept them all! Diana home-schooled her as they traveled around the country.
Everywhere she goes, Gianna says, "I’m glad to be alive. The doctor meant to kill me, but God had a plan for my life so He kept me alive. I have forgiven my mother. She was young. She didn’t know what she was doing."
When other women who have had abortions hear Gianna speak, it often makes them cry. They come up to her afterward and tell her, "If you forgive your mother, maybe my baby forgives me." Gianna assures them, "If you admit what you did was wrong, God will forgive you, too. The Bible promises that."
You may receive God’s forgiveness simply by taking these steps:
Acknowledge that you have sinned and fallen short of God’s standards (Romans 3:23; 6:23).
Believe that Jesus Christ, who was God in human flesh, died for your sins on the cross and was resurrected (Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
You may express your belief through prayer, communicating to God your acceptance of Jesus’ death on the cross on your behalf (John 3:16-17).
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8-9).
If you want further help in the decision you have made, or if you have more questions about the Christian faith, send your name and address to the American Tract Society.
Bible references from the NIV
American Tract Society
P.O. Box 462008
Garland, TX 75046 USA
[email protected]
[email protected]
www.gospelcom.net/ATS
www.goshen.net/AmericanTractSociety
For orders in the US: 1-800-54-TRACT
40427
You can read the rest of Gianna’s story in GIANNA: Aborted...and Lived to Tell About It by Jessica Shaver, published by Focus on the Family Publishers. Copyright ©1995, Jessica Shaver and Gianna Jesson. All rights reserved. International copyright secured.
Tina pushed open the hospital door. Beyond the waiting room were two large rooms lined with beds. Like barracks, she thought. To one side was an examining room. Teenage girls – about 30 of them wearing below-the-knee-length hospital gowns – filled the hall, talking animatedly with each other. Tina wondered if they felt as nervous as she did.
"Tina!" The sound of her own name a few minutes later startled her. A nurse was motioning her toward the tiny examining room. Bare walls. Lots of stainless steel. A man was at the sink, his back to her, washing his hands. Tina climbed onto the examining table and lay down. She searched the doctor’s face as he felt and measured her.
"Saline," he said, extending his hand. Tina jerked when she saw the length of the needle the nurse handed him. As the needle went in, a wave of nausea hit Tina, and she squeezed the nurse’s arm so tightly that her nails pierced the skin. My body’s rejecting this! She thought with panic. I’m going to throw up! She fought to keep still, to stay calm.
The injection to kill the fetus and start labor was over. "Drink water and walk," instructed the nurse. By the end of the day, the hall had almost emptied, and most of the beds in the next room were full. Tina was the only patient whose saline injection had not yet taken effect. The doctor had gone home.
At last, toward evening, Tina lay down. She must have dozed off because something woke her in the night. Tina had just a low backache, but she felt something warm and wet on her legs. She pushed the buzzer for the nurse, but no one came.
Something different was happening now. Tina felt an urgent need to push, to expel this unknown substance. "Tissue," the professionals had called it. "Fetal tissue." The muscles in Tina’s abdomen were contracting insistently – and the nurse still had not come.
Reaching down, she felt the wet, solid curve of a skull. It’s a head! She thought, shocked. Her heart began to thud in her ears. How can tissue have a head? At that instant, a thin, penetrating wail pierced the quiet room. Surrounded by a roomful of women who had delivered limp, lifeless fetuses, a baby girl was making her triumphant, indignant way into the world.
Absorbed in the confusing drama within her mind and body, Tina was vaguely aware of patients around her waking up and screaming for a nurse. With her own hands, she was delivering a bawling, wriggling baby: Eyes scrunched shut, squeezing out real tears. An open, roaring outrage! Tiny shoulders and arms no longer than a pencil, gesticulating. A slippery body, little legs, all perfectly formed. A little girl – a daughter no bigger than a doll, she marveled. This was a baby! What I did was so wrong! And then, This was meant to be.
Around the two of them, mother and child, pandemonium had broken out. But the 17-year old was in a world alone with her baby. "You’re beautiful," she whispered, tracing the small, downy, cheeks and stroking the matted, dark hair. The minuscule rib cage heaved with subsiding sobs.
The whole clinic was awake now – even, at last, the nurse on duty. She came running, looked with shock at the little human being cupped in Tina’s hands and breathed, "Oh my God!" People were asking her questions, but she didn’t seem to hear them. She cut the umbilical cord, lined a bedpan with a blue hospital pad, and laid the baby girl in it. Her middle-aged face looked frightened, and her hands were shaking. She took the baby away.
That is the true story of how Gianna Jessen came into the world on April 6, 1977. Tina regretted the abortion and wanted to raise Gianna, but the county took the baby away and put her in a foster home. The abortion left Gianna with cerebral palsy, and she needed many painful and expensive operations on her legs as she grew. Her foster mother worked tirelessly with Gianna, exercising her legs so she would have the strength to crawl. Later she had to wear metal leg braces.
Meanwhile, Tina prayed that a Christian family would adopt Gianna. Gianna’s foster mom had a married daughter named Diana, who had given her life to Jesus Christ when she was a young mother. When Diana first saw Gianna, the baby was propped up between two pillows because she was too limp to sit up alone. Diana fell in love with her. She and her husband started adoption proceedings, and when they came to pick up their new 3-1/2 year old daughter, Gianna walked for the first time – right into their arms.
Ever since Gianna was a tiny, frail, blonde toddler, she loved to sing. She would sing in the shower using a bar of soap for a microphone. At four, she sang in front of her whole church. Her eyes sparkled and she wasn’t a bit shy. Gianna grew up dreaming of the day when she could "sing somewhere new, every night." When she was a teenager, that dream came true. Churches and pro-life groups all over the world heard about the girl who had survived her mother’s abortion. She was invited to speak and sing so many places she couldn’t accept them all! Diana home-schooled her as they traveled around the country.
Everywhere she goes, Gianna says, "I’m glad to be alive. The doctor meant to kill me, but God had a plan for my life so He kept me alive. I have forgiven my mother. She was young. She didn’t know what she was doing."
When other women who have had abortions hear Gianna speak, it often makes them cry. They come up to her afterward and tell her, "If you forgive your mother, maybe my baby forgives me." Gianna assures them, "If you admit what you did was wrong, God will forgive you, too. The Bible promises that."
You may receive God’s forgiveness simply by taking these steps:
Acknowledge that you have sinned and fallen short of God’s standards (Romans 3:23; 6:23).
Believe that Jesus Christ, who was God in human flesh, died for your sins on the cross and was resurrected (Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
You may express your belief through prayer, communicating to God your acceptance of Jesus’ death on the cross on your behalf (John 3:16-17).
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8-9).
If you want further help in the decision you have made, or if you have more questions about the Christian faith, send your name and address to the American Tract Society.
Bible references from the NIV
American Tract Society
P.O. Box 462008
Garland, TX 75046 USA
[email protected]
[email protected]
www.gospelcom.net/ATS
www.goshen.net/AmericanTractSociety
For orders in the US: 1-800-54-TRACT
40427
You can read the rest of Gianna’s story in GIANNA: Aborted...and Lived to Tell About It by Jessica Shaver, published by Focus on the Family Publishers. Copyright ©1995, Jessica Shaver and Gianna Jesson. All rights reserved. International copyright secured.