I was a bastard child. My wife was too.
My mom, at age 16, conceived me out of wedlock, and by old definitions this made me illegitimate, unworthy, unclean. My wife's mom conceived her at age 18.
With my mom's Catholic upbringing, she would never have considered aborting me, but she paid a heavy price by keeping me. Her own father cut her off and didn't speak to her again for decades. I didn't meet my grandpa till I was 20 years old.
In 2012, I was asked to adapt a screenplay into a novel. This would be my 14th published book and my third bestseller. The story was inspired by the true-life account of an abortion survivor. I never even knew there was such a thing.
As I wrote October Baby, I was so moved by the journey of Hannah from being an adoptee to having blackouts to discovering the truth of her origins. I laughed, because of course this drama-filled story needed some lighthearted moments. And I cried, because I love my two daughters so much and value every moment of their precious lives.
I also felt deeply for the mother who had aborted her child, because life is full of pressures and circumstances which are difficult and no woman makes such a choice lightly. They need our compassion. And if we're going to encourage women to keep a child, we better damn well be willing to stand alongside them when things get rough instead of pointing fingers at them.
Life is sometimes ugly and hard. Despite our circumstances, we get to choose each day how we value ourselves, friends, family, and especially those we don't always agree with or understand.
In that way, I am pro-choice.
I am also pro-life.
I choose to celebrate and defend others, even when we don't always see eye to eye. Why? Because life is beautiful.
--Eric Wilson
