We are horrified to think about all of the lives lost in tragedies such as the Holocaust and 9/11. It is absolutely heartbreaking to think of innocent lives being taken in such tragedies. However, our perspectives on life may just change a little when we hear that there is an ongoing, daily tragedy taking the lives of thousands each year. This massacre is called abortion.

Since Roe V. Wade occurred in 1973, more than 56 million babies have been murdered in the US. That is about 3000 babies being aborted daily. To put things in perspective, the amount of babies murdered by abortion each year is just about the same number of U.S. soldiers that have died in all of the wars the United states has ever been involved with put together.

Though tragedies such as shootings are broadcast all over the media right after their occurrence, it is rare to hear news of the 3000 lives being taken everyday in this ongoing tragedy. Why is this, might you ask? People often are blinded by the fact that a fetus is a living, breathing, and functioning being. A baby's heart starts to beat within six weeks of pregnancy; however, it is legal in the US to have an abortion within 24 weeks of the pregnancy. This means that day by day thousands of innocent babies' hearts are being stopped.

A fetus has eyes, ears and a nose, just like you and me. That could possibly be due to the fact that we were each once a fetus ourselves. Does that mean that we were not living humans when we were fetuses because we were in a different form? Of course not! That would be like saying when we are old and gray, we are not humans because we look different.

A pro-choice supporter may go on saying that the baby is a part of the mother, therefore the mother has the right over her own body. However, may I ask why does a murderer killing a pregnant woman get charged for two murders? Another question that rises up is that even if a baby was a part of the mother's body, and the mother is purposefully harming or murdering that part of her body, how does that justify and abortion, when we look at suicide as a mentally unstable act that calls for rehabilitation?

While this country continues to keep it's focus in the media on homosexuality, and the economy, it is important as a country to get our priorities straight by focusing on saving the lives of millions. With the presidential elections coming up, complete your duty as a citizen and vote for someone who is going to make it a priority to limit or end abortion in the country as we know it. In doing so, you are defending those who don't have the ability to defend themselves and saving mothers from a lifetime of devastation.

The lasting effects on a mother after having an abortion are full of grief and despair. It is said that after an abortion, a mother will often have a longing ache in her arms from not being able to hold her child.

If you have had an abortion or know someone who had an abortion, I'm not here to condemn you. I'm here to try to bring awareness to a devastating daily tragedy. I want you to know that you are loved, and through the power of Jesus are forgiven from your sin and can be made new. Living with the effects of aborting your child can be a life of devastation; however, I pray that you rest in the hope that one day you can get the chance to meet your child in an everlasting eternity in the forgiving presence of Jesus.