This is a very personal and painful post for me to share with the world. I put my heart completely in your hands today as I share with you pictures of our son William in a way I have never shared before. I have prayed over the decision to share this and I hope that he will help bring light and understanding to those who read here.
My heart is heavy. As my newsfeed on Facebook fills up with righteous indignation over the death of Cecil, an African Lion, I can’t help but wonder where the outrage is over the videos being released by the Center for Medical Progress showing Planned Parenthood employees discussing the calculated killing and sale of human body parts. I have some friends talking about the videos, but where is everyone else? Where is the media coverage? Those who normally support Planned Parenthood are silent.
Why is that?
Do they fear admitting that Planned Parenthood has done something so vile and unconscionable or are they simply in shock that the company they trusted and who claimed to be working for women’s health “rights” is engaged in such abominable practices. Do they support Planned Parenthood’s heinous acts and are afraid of being labeled monsters as well? I don’t know why so many are silent, but it makes me sad to know that our society is so upset over the hunting and death of a lion when our own babies are being hunted down and killed for profit on a daily basis.
Maybe you are one of the few who has not seen the videos yet. Maybe you really don’t know that Planned Parenthood is profiting from the sale of the body parts they are harvesting from aborted babies. Maybe you don’t want to believe that Planned Parenthood is not all they claim to be. Maybe you hope if you close your eyes and don’t read the stories or watch the videos that the allegations against the abortion giant will all go away and that they can get back to providing women with “quality health care”. I beg you, please, open your eyes and see the truth.
Planned Parenthood is killing babies, often in ways against the law, and they are profiting from selling their body parts. BODY PARTS. They are selling body parts. How can this be ok?
When our society values the life of a lion over the life of a child, you know there is something gravely wrong within our society. While a lion is a beautiful and majestic creature created by God for man, its life is not equal to that of a human being. While outrage over his death is justifiable as we are called to protect all of God’s creatures, it should never take precedence over the outrage of humans being slaughtered each and every day.
Ricky Gervais said he struggled to imagine anything more beautiful than Cecil the lion. How can he and others be so blind? How can they look at a tiny infant, born or unborn, and not see God’s goodness, love, and beauty? How can a lion be more beautiful than the perfect image of God created in a tiny human being?
I have held the most beautiful thing in my hands- something far greater than a lion ever could be. Before I held him, I felt him kick within my womb, I saw his heart beating on ultrasound, and I loved him with all my being. He was perfect in every way… but he was not made for this life.
I share our son William with you in a way that I never have before. I want you to see that an unborn baby is truly a baby. He was not a clump of cells that didn’t feel pain. He was not something “like a human”. He was human- fully, completely, and beautifully.
I wonder if looking at William is as difficult for you as it is for me. Maybe it is hard for each of us for different reasons.
When I look at William I see my son, loved beyond all measure, taken from me too soon. I see hopes and dreams that will never be fulfilled. I see a sibling who won’t run and play with his brothers and sisters and a son who will never wrap his arms around me and tell me he loves me. I see fingers that will never make smudges on my windows and lips that will never kiss mine. I see eyes that will never gaze in awe at a birthday cake with candles ablaze just for him. I see a teeny nose that I will never get to pretend to steal. I see a little boy who looks so much like his siblings that there is no way they could ever deny he is “one of us”. I see love and hope and beauty when I look at my son. It’s difficult to look at my son and be reminded of how much we have lost.
Maybe looking at him is hard for you because you’ve never seen a child so tiny, so perfect. Perhaps you’ve been misled to believe that babies in the womb are not truly babies, that they can’t feel pain, or that they are just parasites living off of their host. Maybe you’ve never seen hands quite so little ready to hold on to his mother’s hands. Maybe it is difficult to look at him because by doing so you encounter his humanity and in a way, your own humanity as well. By recognizing that a baby in the womb is fully human with God given rights (as all humans have) it means that killing him may not be as ok as you once believed. Maybe, just maybe, it is difficult to admit that there are people out there who are killing babies for profit- not providing health care- but providing a way to murder human beings and harvest their organs.
For some people, looking at William will be a reminder of a choice they once made. It will break their hearts to know that they chose to take a life. I know that there are many women out there who are conned into believing that these tiniest humans don’t matter- that only they, the mom and dad, matter; and my heart breaks for those who have been in this position. I know there are many women who, if given the chance to make a different choice after they were given truthful information about the little baby growing inside of them, would choose to give their child life instead. If they could see inside of their wombs at the little person growing there, their hearts would know that life was the only choice.
Our Responsibility
We are given the great honor and responsibility to protect life. It is ok to be outraged over the slaughter or mistreatment of an animal. It is very admirable to protect the animals of the world. We must protect and preserve them- it is our God given duty. But we can’t forget that there are human beings who need protecting too. We should be even more outraged that our own children are being slaughtered every single day; over a million human beings each year. If it is our God given duty to protect life, including the animals, how much more should we be doing for innocent human beings who reside beneath our own hearts?
It is up to us to end this culture of death. William, even though he was completely wanted and loved by us, was disregarded by the nurses and doctors at the hospital. His life meant nothing to those who were sworn to “do no harm”. I have prayed since we lost him that God would show me the purpose of his life. I know today that William has the ability to change hearts and minds simply by my being open to sharing him with you in this intimate manner.
I pray you will look at him and see him for what he truly is- wonderfully and perfectly made in the image and likeness of God; fully human and loved beyond all measure. Count his fingers; memorize his face; image his hand wrapped around yours. Know that every child in the womb is the same- a human being worthy of love and a chance at life.
Watch the Planned Parenthood videos if you are able and see them for what they truly are. Search your heart and be open to the truth.
Every life matters, even the tiniest ones of all.
If you are in need of post-abortive counseling, whether from a past or recent abortion, Rachel’s Vineyard is a wonderful place to visit.
If you would like to read William’s entire story, please visit here.
tales from the side of the tub 
Thank you so much for sharing with us Michelle! God has given you a wonderful gift to write so eloquently, that it goes straight to the readers hearts! God bless you and I hope this touches many lives!!
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Thank you, Cindy! That means the world to me!
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Awh, this tugged at my heart strings! William is sooo adirable! This made me tear up. Beautifully written. You are brave to come forward but we need more of that. The purpose of William’s life, is love. Love is the purpose of why he was created. We all need to not let this story slip through our hands. We must all pray fervently. Thank you Michelle for sharing your beautiful little William. God bless us all.
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I love this so much. Your William is so beautiful.
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Thank you ❤ Sometimes my breath just catches when I look at his picture. He is so beautiful to me. I am thankful that others can see his beauty as well.
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I look at your son and see a person. A person who deserved to be protected and loved his entire earthly life and I rejoice that he was given that for the whole of it.
I share your shock and bewilderment that so many who are outraged by the senseless slaughter of a lion were silent or openly apathetic over Planned Parenthood killing children and selling their organs. When I pointed out the difference to our 13yo daughter, she said: “Cognitive dissonance, Mom. I don’t know how they live with these contradictions, either, but they do.” We’ve become a people whose greatest sin is to offend someone, while actual violence against defenseless humans is met with a yawn. I am very scared for our country and especially for our children, who will have to hold the line for the value of life in a society that has decided human beings are worth less than an animal.
Thank you for this brave and beautiful article. Your son is surely proud to be defending the value of life even from heaven.
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Thank you, Dawn. When I was putting the pictures into this article, Jake and Leo were sitting beside me. As the pictures came up, Jake, who is merely 3, says, “Oh Mama! Wook, a baby!” Leo, only 2, leans forward and touches the screen and says, “Mama’s baby!” They had never seen these pictures before and yet at 2 and 3 can see he is a perfect human baby. My heart wonders why others just can’t see it and if they do see it, why do they allow others to take the lives of such precious children.
I prayed asking William to pray with and for me as I wrote. I can only hope that he is as proud of me as I am of him. I love him so much. My heart and arms still yearn for him. ❤
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Thank you for sharing. God is using this article and your precious boy for good. My heart breaks thinking of all of the children killed purposely in abortion but I do believe that they are with Jesus.
God bless uou and uour family!
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This must have been profoundly painful to write. Thank you for sharing this so publicly.
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What a beautiful post.
Precious William is a saint sitting next to Christ in heaven 🙂
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My 5yo daughter was sitting beside me as I read the article. She saw William and said, “Awww, look at that little baby!” I found it so telling that a child instantly recognized the humanity of your son, whereas adults have to do mental cartwheels to justify abortion. Though what’s frightening is that I rarely see the assertion anymore that the unborn are “just a clump of cells”…technology and science have made that untenable. Now, I see people more openly admitting to the child’s humanity, but claiming we can kill anyway because” might makes right.”
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Thank you Dawn. My little ones, who were not born when William was here, looked at his picture and said the same thing. How is it that our children can look and see a baby but others can’t? And you are right… it’s worth that there are people willing to kill something they know and understand is not just a clump of cells.
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Thank you for this beautiful and touching post.
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Thank you, Carol ❤
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Perhaps the reason for William was for such a time as this. Perhaps what you have shared will strike a note in many hearts and they will suddenly see life before birth for what it is…..a human being. We are reminded that God knew each of us before we were formed in our mother’s wombs. Thank you for sharing. Those of us who have had miscarriages know that child was as much a human as one who is carried to full term.
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Thank you, Jo. I pray you are right. It was difficult to share him in this manner but I pray he does like you said and changes hearts. ❤
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Thank you for sharing your beautiful little man with us. What a precious gift. All children have worth, simply because they “are.” Even though his time was short, William is touching thousands of people.
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Thank you, Joni!
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Michelle,
What an amazing testament to the precious gift of life…thank you for sharing William with the world. He lived, ever so briefly, but he lived long enough to put his beautiful mark on our hearts and a human face on what so many deem to be an inconsequential matter.
May those who have eyes, see and ears hear. And may all those who have hearts, change.
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Thank you Donna!
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Thank you for sharing such a painful (and beautiful) story with us, Michelle. Here’s a quote worth passing around: http://pattisonblog.com/2015/01/22/quotes-measuring-a-womans-worth/
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While we’re on the subject, here’s one more thing for your consideration:
http://pattisonblog.com/2015/08/01/10-reasons-why-ive-decided-to-become-pro-choice/
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Thank you JL!
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William is waiting for you in heaven ! Personally I believe you put your pearl before the swine, these monsters have dug their feet in, they have no sympathy, no compassion , no concern whatsoever for the unborn child. Nothing will soften their hearts or open their minds, it’s the party line, that’s it!
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I pray we will change their hearts! It’s amazing to me how blind some can be. We’ll work on continuing to share the truth and praying that God will work on their hearts.
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Your William is beautiful! We lost our William also, our grandson. Early in the 4th month of pregnancy, our son & daughter-in-law were told that William had many defects that would mean he wouldn’t survive. Most people faced with that diagnosis choose to abort. They didn’t; they chose to leave William’s life and death where it belonged – in God’s hands. Our best hope was that he would be born alive so we could meet him before he left us. One of his conditions was hydrocephalus (water on the brain) and his head was enlarged from fluid pressure. When his heartbeat began to slow down at the beginning of the 7th month, labor was induced for fear that the pressure on his brain would kill him before he was born. He was alive until a few moments before his birth – he was still born. But we did get to all hold and kiss him, marvel at his tiny hands and feet, notice how much he looked like his 2 year-old brother, take lots of photos, and molds of his hands and feet. For all those who abort, especially after a diagnosis like our William’s, I want to say that we wouldn’t trade those moments for the world! Aborting a defective baby doesn’t mean that he/she didn’t exist. Our William existed and his life had a dignity and purpose, to teach us the sanctity and beauty of each and every life, no matter how long or short. And leaving him in God’s hands gave us such peace!
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What a beautiful gift your son and daughter in law gave not only their William but all of you as well. I have a very dear friend who gave birth to her daughter knowing that she would not survive long after birth (if she survived the birth at all). I was blessed to be with her during delivery. Frances lived only an hour and a half but changed the lives of so many people in that short time! We can’t possibly know the purpose of our lives, but if we take that life we will never know.
Thank you for sharing your story with us. I pray for peace and healing when you begin to miss your William too. ❤
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Thank you for you story, it must have been very painful to share, but Im so glad you did, I think people need to know what Planned Parenthood, and other places do to our children in the name of birth control and a womans choice. Your story and photos are very powerful and Im sorry you had to write it, but I thank you for making a difference to so many that cant speak for themselves.
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Thank you ❤
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I had all my children prematurely, they all survived, I feel blessed.
Liz
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Liz, I know you cherish your children. They are blessed to have you ❤
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Thank you so much for sharing your heart and the beautiful pictures of your son. I am one of those women who aborted, falling prey to the rhetoric of the pro-choice movement (back in the 70’s and early 80’s) and I did suffer dire psychological and emotional consequences. In fact, I convinced a doctor to give me a tubal ligation at the age of 30 (self-punishment). It took years for me to accept responsibility for what I had done to my children, Matthew and Sarah. Thank God for healing programs (I attended Rachel’s Hope in San Diego), in fact, I now lead healing retreats.
Watching the videos was difficult for me, but at the same time strengthened my resolve to fight for life and the end of Planned Parenthood’s barbarity.
Thank you again for writing something that had to be so difficult and painful. Your son is proud of you as well as all who read your post. I’m so sorry his time on this earth was so short. I admire your love and courage in sharing him with the world. William is a beautiful testament to the sanctity of life.
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Patti, your comment brought me to tears. Thank you for sharing with me. I can’t imagine how much courage that takes to share in this manner. I admire you so much for your strength and courage and for your change of heart. I imagine your story has helped so many others. God bless you!
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Thank you for your thoughts. We need to get this out there for people to read and hopefully open their eyes to how twisted our society has become. I wrote a similar reflection on my blog as well.
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Thank you so much for sharing with us. It was so worth it. I know it’s not easy to share. Lord bless you.
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Bless your beautiful soul & such a wonderfully made image of God, Your son William! I was in tears reading your story & all the heartwarming comments…. Actually watched all the 5 videos released so far & been tearfully praying, begging God for miracles of conversion for all involved in this barbaric act against the most defenseless human beings in the safest place on earth in their mother’s womb. God help us all! Thank you for sharing.
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