Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who passed away a few days ago, was best known for her forceful stance on women’s rights, particularly abortion rights, and equal treatment of women under the law. Her name is usually linked with the landmark 1973 case Roe v Wade that made abortion legal in the United States, although some sources revealed that Justice Ginsburg did have some reservations on the way the decision was structured.
Now that she has passed away, there is a lot of concern about the future of Roe v Wade and abortion rights. Far be it from me to attempt any legal or political discourse on the matter. I am not a lawyer nor a politician, but as a woman and a writer of women’s fiction, I understand the reasoning behind the passage of Roe v Wade.
In my debut novel Coming Out of Egypt, the protagonist Marva and her sister June Garcia were both sexually abused by their father. Marva became pregnant and her father instructed her mother to perform an abortion on her. In a scene following her birthday party, Marva recounts to June what happened:
“I had to have an abortion because of Daddy. He made Mama do it to me. The pain was so bad he gave me a shot of gin to dull the pain. And it helped. That was my first drink. After that, I dropped out of school. I knew the teachers were talking about me. It was horrible. I don’t want the same thing happening to you. I don’t want anything to stop you from finishing your education and making something of yourself.”
In another scene where she is being questioned by a police officer:
“Marva, years ago you had an abortion, didn’t you?”
She sprang up from her chair. “Who told you about that?” She turned her back and folded her arms in a show of defiance. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Then it’s true. You did have an abortion.”
Seconds passed before she replied, “Yes, I had an abortion, and I don’t want to talk about it.” She paused. “I never had so much pain in my life.”
As you read the book, you will see that this traumatic event left a long and lasting effect on Marva, as I believe it does on a lot of women. Years ago in college, I chose abortion as the topic for my persuasive speech in Speech class. After a lot of research, I discovered that few women have an abortion for frivolous reasons. Many of them are either persuaded to do so by their boyfriends or even husbands.
From my biology class, I learned that life does begin at conception, that by the time a woman realizes she is pregnant, the fetus (or blob of blood as some like to call it) already has a heartbeat. All this information solidified my Christian belief that women should not have abortions. I guess my speech was so convincing I received the highest honors in all the speech classes in my year.
So what I’m going to say next may shock you. I don’t think a woman should have an abortion unless her life is at risk, however I also believe she does have the right to choose whether she wishes to keep her baby or not. If she could look herself in the mirror and decide she wants to have an abortion, that’s between her and God. She and she alone will have to answer to Him when the time comes.
I know I’ll receive a lot of flak for this but I believe there’s a lot more to being a Christian than just being against abortion. There’s no big sin and little sin where God is concerned. I believe women should not have to suffer the way Marva and countless other women suffered long ago and some still do today. ‘Nuff said.
To learn more about Marva and June, go to my author page where you will see the other books in the Egypt series. The first book Coming Out of Egypt is just 99c. and you can read the other two books free on Kindle Unlimited.
In the introduction to his book Take Back Your Life, Levi Lusko states, “Too many times to count, I’ve made the mistake of doing the right thing the wrong way.” Can you relate? You put the kettle on the burner but do not turn it on. You begin to wash your hair only to realize you are using conditioner and not shampoo. I’m sure you can add some more.
Take Back Your Life is an insightful, interactive journey that helps you do the right thing the right way, or as Levi would say, get rid of the mosquitoes that are causing your illness and not the ants. He teaches us to act with faith, to recognize the greatness that lies within us and how to use our speech to create the kind of life God intended us to have.
One of the most touching chapters of the book is where Levi speaks of his daughter’s death. He doesn’t try to sugar coat his feelings. In his words, “It hurt like hell.” In the midst of his pain and grief, Levi experienced God’s presence giving him the peace, the hope, the strength he needed to help him make it through that dark night.
I hope you enjoyed this review of Take Back Your Life. This is a book that should be in the home of anyone who feels like life is slipping by and you might be going the wrong way. The Breathe, Think, Live sections at the end of every chapter will help you to get in touch with God and have Him speak to you in a brand new way. I highly recommend this book.
The distributors of this book have developed a free resource for parents and kids: Take Back Your Life Guide for Kids. You can get it here: https://bit.ly/takebackdevo
The above heading is probably not the best one for this post, but I couldn’t think of any other way to express what I’m feeling right now. I don’t know of anyone who has not been impacted in some way by 19 in 2020. I hope by the time 2021 rolls around we won’t still be talking about 19.
I hope you and your family are staying healthy and doing your best to keep a positive attitude. Following all the guidelines given us by the authorities may keep us healthy, but staying positive in light of all that is going on around us may be somewhat challenging.
Still, I try to immerse myself in prayer and gospel music and talking to friends and family on the phone. This lifts my spirits and helps me take my mind off things. My writing has slowed a bit since my husband had hip surgery, but I’m beginning to pick up the pieces again and am close to completing the last edits of my WIP, Love, Lies, and Grace. More about this in another post.
Meanwhile, I would like you to take part in this Clean/ Wholesome Reads promotion going on now through Sept. 30. This promotion is for general fiction/women’s fiction, and sweet, clean, contemporary romance. Sorry, no erotica.
I daresay, this selection of books is just what you need to help you overcome any feelings of depression or melancholy you may be experiencing as a result of COVID-19. Two of my books, In the Wilderness and In the Promised Land, books 2 and 3 of the Egypt trilogy, are among the list.
If you belong to Kindle Unlimited, you can now read these two books for FREE.
You can grab an armload of books by clicking on this link: https://books.bookfunnel.com/cleanromancereads/88j155t14t
And please remember to leave an honest review on Amazon or Goodreads after you have read these books. You can invite your friends to sign up for my mailing list to receive updates on special offers like these.
