On Wednesday, April 18, 2007, our family and friends were rejoicing in the United States Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the ban on the gruesome killing of children during the third trimester of pregnancy, a process referred to a partial-birth abortion.

Imagine our dismay on Monday, April 23 when the extremely offensive “coat hanger” cartoon appeared in The Natchez Democrat, a message blatantly intended to engender fear of a marked upsurge in dangerous botched abortions.

Does anyone have credible figures on the number of “back alley” abortions which were performed prior to Roe vs. Wade, or would be if legal abortions weren’t available? But I do know the number of our country’s children who are destroyed by legalized abortions.

The number is a staggering 4,000 every day, 365 days a year. That’s a thousand more than our losses in the entire four years of war against terror in Iraq. It is approximately 166 every your, almost three deaths a minute.

The image of a desperate woman who as a last resort seeks an abortion under dangerous circumstances is not a pretty picture. No one wants that.

There is another picture, much more ghastly: the one ushered in by the Roe vs. Wade decision. I have not personally witnessed an abortion, nor do I want to, but I have read about the process. According to the information I have read the most common abortion procedure during the first two trimesters involves dismemberment of the baby before removing it and reassembling the body parts to be certain there is a complete baby and nothing is left behind. Something is dreadfully wrong in a “civilized” nation that legitimizes this practice, much less 4,000 times each day. The victim of abortion’s only “crime” is that he is not wanted. Yet this innocent baby gets the death penalty. We know that’s wrong.

In an ideal world every baby is wanted and cared for, but ours is the real world. There are instances of desperate expectant mothers in difficult situations who need help. It is clearly our job to let them know that there is help available, and to reach out to them with love, with understanding and with help in a practical way, enabling them to make a happier and life-giving choice.

Our family’s hope and prayer is that in the near future our Supreme Court will reverse Roe vs. Wade. In the meantime, let us all celebrate this first step in the right direction.

Virginia O’Beirne, Co-Chair

Pro-Life Natchez-Adams County