You can read Leah’s excellent post about Pastor Lee Jong-rak and how he’s helping abandoned babies in South Korea, but here’s another "choose life" story that’s just as incredible.
Lianna Rebolledo was only 12-years-old when two men raped her not far from her home. The attack resulted in a pregnancy. Her doctor said she should have an abortion, but when she asked if aborting her child would wipe away the emotional pain of her assault; the doctor plainly said no. At that point, Rebolledo decided to keep her baby. She’s now 35, but has no regrets in her decision to choose life (via Life News):
She said, “If abortion wasn’t going to heal anything, I didn’t see the point. I just knew that I had somebody inside my body. I never thought about who her biological father was. She was my kid. She was inside of me.”Now Lianna, 35, says she has no regrets about choosing life for her child and that her daughter has helped her overcome suicidal thoughts. She said, “It was really hard, but just to see that little person telling me how happy she was that I gave her her life. When she said that — and she was only four years old when she told me: ‘Mommy thank you for giving me life’ — I realized that she was the one who gave me my life back.”
She concluded, “In my situation, two lives were saved. I saved my daughter’s life, but she saved my life. Even though [the rape] was a very hard moment, if I had to go through that [again] just to know and to love my daughter, I would go through that again. She’s always been there for me. She’s the only person who has shown me a real love. And I always will be grateful.”
All life should be celebrated and protected–and this remarkable story is often underreported, or straight up ignored, in today’s media outlets when these brave women do come forward. Stories like these are great, but they’re also highly personal. I admire Lianna’s courage to come forward to discuss her harrowing ordeal and what followed afterwards. It’s beautiful.
At the same time, there are some Republicans who could use a little more tact in explaining their pro-life positions to voters.