Awake! Helps to Save an Unborn Child

● A Mexican woman named Anita had three children and was pregnant once again. * She told her husband that she did not want another baby and that she would do anything to get rid of it. She even threatened suicide! At the time, Anita was studying the Bible with one of Jehovah’s Witnesses but was making little progress. “I had an arrogant attitude,” she said.

The Witness who studied with Anita explained the relevant Bible principles. For example, she showed Anita that the life of the unborn is sacred in God’s eyes. In ancient Israel if someone injured a pregnant woman and she or her unborn child died, God’s Law decreed that the attacker be judged a murderer. (Exodus 21:22, 23) * But Anita was not really listening. Her mind was made up.

“Someone told me that if I injected a certain drug,” said Anita, “it would cause a spontaneous abortion. So I bought the drug and asked a friend to inject it. He did, but nothing happened. I later learned that he did not want to become an accomplice, so he secretly replaced the drug with clean water.”

Still, Anita persisted. In her fourth month, she found a doctor who agreed to perform an abortion. Six days before the appointment, the Witness gave Anita a copy of the article “Diary of an Unborn Child,” published in the May 22, 1980, edition of Awake! The “diary” concluded: “Today my mother killed me.” Those words shocked Anita, and she wept for several hours. “That article finally opened my eyes,” she said.

Anita gave birth to a healthy girl. “Today,” says Anita, “I have the privilege of knowing Jehovah, whom I love with all my heart.” Also, she is teaching God’s Word to her daughter so that she too will grow in love for Jehovah. Indeed, her daughter frankly admits that she owes her life to God​—first because he is the Source of life and second because the teachings in his Word, as discussed in Awake!, saved her from harm.

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