Sarah D. Shearer

As an advocate for adoption, family, the unborn, and children in general, I have not yet arrived on my perspective on the whole idea of birth control.
I have an especially hard time with the idea that we as a country would be mandated to provide it for free.
From what I have read about the newly enacted mandate, this policy will only affect a small percentage of women. Approximately 120,000 women may be forced to pay for birth control whereas the vast majority who are currently receiving free contraceptives will continue to do so. Even still, I am perturbed.
So here’s the question, is birth control a human right? Is the access to contraceptives a liberty women are owed? Are we anticipating a rise in unplanned pregnancies as a result of this mandate, therefore increasing the number of children which may end up orphaned or in foster care systems?
Wouldn’t it be better to give the ladies free pills so they won’t have children they can’t provide for?

To me, that’s a very depressing question to ask.
It would seem some are encouraging conservatives to lean left on this issue because we are pro life, so as a result we believe these children should be born, but we don’t want everyone to be dependent on the government and so by not providing birth control we are creating a problem we wish to avoid all together.

These seem like Band-Aids that cover a

gaping hole.

Last night I went to a fund-raising dinner for a pregnancy center. Together we took a stand for adoption and family and caring for those who have no voice. We committed to empower women to choose life and to choose adoption if they feel they cannot parent.
Even as I was moved and grateful for the beauty of adoption, I thought about how I wish this birth-control issue didn’t exist and that everyone would just keep their pants on until they got married.

That way, children would be born into families, they could stay with their biological parents, and we would all live happily ever after. In this perfect world, there would be no need for adoption or foster care or pregnancy centers, because everyone would be making the right decisions.
As I considered the ramifications of this perfect world I was imagining, I realized outside of heaven this will never exist. We can’t fix unplanned pregnancies with birth-control, we can’t fix unplanned pregnancies with sex education, we can’t fix broken families with birth control, and

we can’t fix our mistakes with abortions.

The only one who can cover and heal this gaping hole and are very broken society is Jesus. And even as that is my hope all will come to know him, the Bible clearly tells me that not everyone will choose that. So how do I live in a world full of temporary solutions, knowing full well there is only one solution but also knowing full well many will turn from this One who has given everything, risked everything, lost everything, and been accused of everything. For us. For you. For me. For the joy set before him.
I am fed up with politics, because politics doesn’t factor Jesus into the equation. They see a problem and they want to slap a Band-Aid over it and hope it fixes the issue, and even as I am a voter and I have to pick a side, I am burdened, knowing my side will not bring the restoration I desire.
So how to proceed. I’m not really sure. I suppose the best way to move forward is to choose Jesus every day, and when we encounter someone who is lost and alone and uncertain of where to turn, maybe instead of considering our political stances, we should see them as a person in need of a Person. I know this doesn’t fix the debate, but maybe it will help us change our perspective a little.

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments. Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.”

‭‭1 John‬ ‭5:1-5‬ ‭NLT‬‬