Trivia Question: What do Babe Ruth, Simone Biles, Steve Jobs, Leo Tolstoy, and Nelson Mandela all have in common?
Answer: They were all adopted.
In other words, someone cared enough to raise and nurture them after they were given up for adoption or orphaned. Adoption enabled these remarkable individuals to grow up and make their mark on sports, technology, literature, and a country – ultimately, on the whole world.
- Babe Ruth and his sister were orphaned at a young age. They were placed in an orphanage run by Catholic Brothers. One encouraged Babe (real name: George) to play baseball. Ultimately, a talent scout became his legal guardian, and the rest, as they say, is history.
- Simone Biles was in and out of foster care until her grandparents adopted her. In their care, she pursued her dream of becoming an Olympic gymnast, ultimately earning seven Olympic medals in her still-ongoing career.
- Steve Jobs was given up as a baby and adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs. It is hard to fathom what the world of computing and cell phones would be without Steve Jobs, founder of Apple.
- Leo Tolstoy’s parents died when he was about two, followed by his grandmother and another guardian. Ultimately, he and his siblings were raised by an aunt. He is considered one of the greatest writers, let alone Russian writers, who ever lived. He wrote War and Peace, Anna Karenina, and The Death of Ivan Ilyich, as well as numerous plays, essays, short stories, and novellas.
- Nelson Mandela’s father died when he was nine, and a tribe chieftain took him in and raised him. It is hard to summarize Nelson Mandela’s impact on South Africa and the world resulting from his courageous decades-long stand against the country’s apartheid system. He spent 27 years in prison due to his views and activism. He ultimately became the first president of South Africa, serving from 1994 to 1999.
How different would our world be without them? How much poorer in spirit? What would our world look like if no one had cared enough for these individuals to raise them – to nourish their hopes, support their vision, and encourage their determination?
We cannot definitively answer that question. But, in a way, we can: because we live in that world. We live in a country in which an estimated 63 million lives have ended through the scourge of abortion. What could these lives have contributed? What entrepreneurs, athletes, scientists, doctors, artists, writers, leaders, musicians, and just plain regular people who brought happiness to their families and friends were never allowed to be part of this world? What have we lost?
Unleashing Hidden Potential
In a previous post, we talked about protections for sea turtle eggs. Under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), a federal law, damaging a sea turtle nest or taking a sea turtle egg can result in a punishment of up to $100,000 in fines and a year in prison. In fact, when a species is endangered, it is against federal law not just to kill a member of the protected species but also to “take, harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, or capture” any member of the species. The term “harm” has been interpreted by federal courts to include disturbing the habitat of that species. For example, if a beetle lives in a particular type of bush, it is illegal to destroy that type of bush on your property, even if no beetles can be found on that specific bush because it is a potential “habitat” for the species. That’s a lot of protection – a lot more than we give to preborn humans.
The National Wildlife Federation (NWF), an organization that works to protect endangered species, pulled in over $90 million in donations in 2022 alone. NWF publishes a brochure explaining the reasons they think it is essential to protect these species:
In the United States, 56 percent of the 150 most popular prescribed drugs are linked to discoveries of natural compounds found in the wild. The annual economic value of these 150 drugs alone totals $80 billion. Less than one percent of all plant species have been screened for potential pharmaceutical applications. At the current extinction rate, experts estimate that the Earth is losing one major drug every two years. A cure for cancer or AIDS may lie in a plant or animal on the brink of extinction.
NWF’s basic argument is that we should not allow the destruction of any species because of their life-saving (and economic) potential. We don’t know what will be discovered in some future time, and we should not destroy anything if it has the potential to be something of benefit or value.
What does it say about our country that over $90 million per year in donations is given to NWF to protect the potential of plant and animal life when so little attention has been paid to the more promising potential that has been destroyed by the intentional taking of over 63 million lives since Roe v. Wade?
There is not a plant or animal on earth that has the potential to cure anything: nothing can be discovered or developed without the biologists, chemists, visionaries, researchers, and inventors who do the discovering and developing. (After all, Maurice Hilleman, who invented over 40 vaccines, was also adopted.)
What if we have already aborted the remarkable scientist who would have discovered a cure for cancer? It’s not a far-fetched concept. In the last 50 years, babies that, had they lived, would have made up about 16% of our current population of 331 million people, never even had the chance to be born. Does anyone honestly believe that not a single individual among those 63 million individuals would have contributed anything of value to the world?
Choose Life. Full Stop.
The stories of Babe Ruth, Simone Biles, Steve Jobs, Nelson Mandela, and Leo Tolstoy highlight the incredible potential that can be unlocked when children are given the chance to thrive through adoption. These are just five among the millions of children who have been adopted. Choosing life for a child and raising a child, even when circumstances are challenging or unplanned, demonstrates faith in the inherent value of human life and the limitless possibilities that lie within each individual.
Every person has a unique journey, and no one can judge anyone else’s worth based on the circumstances of their parents before birth, their immediate prospects at birth, or even what misfortunes might befall them in childhood or adulthood. Adoption is not just the compassionate alternative to abortion; it embodies hope and promise for the human race.
At ProLife Doc, we never lose our wonder at the miracle of human life. Each human being is unique and special, different from every other human being who ever lived before or after. Even the most cursory survey of our history shows that each human is not just “one member” of a species or a commodity to be used for economic gain. We know that one person, one life, has the potential to change our entire world.
To learn more about ProLife Doc or to donate to ProLife Doc’s ministry, contact us today or subscribe to our newsletter.
