To the Editor:

Three years ago I gave birth to our daughter Phoebe, who was stillborn. Early in my pregnancy, we were told she likely had Trisomy 18 and was “not compatible with life.” I carried her for 34 weeks. We purposefully loved her every day of her short life, and she passed peacefully. We were able to hold our daughter and honor her at the funeral, surrounded by family and friends. Although we couldn’t bring Phoebe home or hold her alive, she was very much alive inside me.

A piece of our family will always be missing, but her memory is forever present. We did not lose a pregnancy, nor did we lose a “potential human being.” We lost our daughter. My boys lost their sister, and our parents lost their granddaughter. Phoebe made us better people. She reminded us of the value of life and taught us to love more fiercely.

We could have made a choice to terminate her life, allowing her to be dismembered in a painful late-term abortion. If we had made such a “choice” and stolen the life that Phoebe had, we would have also robbed ourselves of the joy we discovered in knowing her.

Proponents of Issue 1 disregard these young, innocent humans and boast that a woman’s choice to abort her child reigns supreme over that child’s innate value. Life does not lose value simply because it is inconvenient, imperfect, or unwanted by someone. We might all meet that criteria at some point in our own lives. Every human life is sacred.

In a world that often devalues life in the womb, my hope is that sharing our loss and cherished moments with Phoebe will open someone’s eyes to the evil and ugliness of abortion and the precious beauty in life. Issue 1, if passed, will allow abortion through all nine months of pregnancy. This is one of many reasons I will vote “no” on Nov. 7.

Sarah Bellman

Celina