Jessa Duggar announced some tragic news a few days ago, this is not up for debate.
The former reality star posted a 19-minute video in which she explained that she suffered a miscarriage late last year.
“I’m so shocked,” Jessa told followers when she heard the news.
“I don’t even have words. I started crying… [husband] Ben was there, and he hugged me.”
It’s a sad situation, but it’s also a controversial one.
Why?
Because Duggar later said she went to the hospital after being told about the miscarriage to have a dilation and curettage (D&C) procedure to remove the fetus from her womb.
This is the same procedure as a woman who wants an abortion.
It is unclear to observers whether Jessa’s baby had a heartbeat during this operation – but abortion rights advocates and many in the medical community affirm the following facts:
Whether a woman is seeking to end an unwanted pregnancy or undergoing a D&C for health issues as Jessa explains on YouTube, the results are the same.
The woman terminated her pregnancy. This is an abortion.
Meanwhile, the Duggars have been openly pro-life since they stepped into the spotlight.
About ten years ago, Jessa and her mother even compared abortion to the Holocaust.
“A few weeks after we went to the Holocaust Museum, we found out that there was a holocaust in America!” matriarch of the Duggar family wrote in March 2013, for example.
“More than 56 million lives have been destroyed in our country!
“That’s more than 4,000 dead babies and 4,000 injured women every day!”
Jessa, for her part, understood the turmoil of her decision.
“Women have D&Cs for many reasons, not all of which involve killing a human being,” the mother of four wrote this week on social media.
“The ultrasound revealed that I had a miscarriage.
“My baby’s heart stopped 3 weeks before I had the D&C.”
He continued:
“Every person is made “in the image of God” (Genesis 1:27) and intentionally destroying the baby in the womb is an insult to God who created that life.
“There is a difference between the dead and the killed. To quote one – and for a mother who is suffering because of her baby no less – it is very sad.
“There is a world of difference between a mortician and a murderer.
“Even a child knows the difference between the two.”
No other members of the Duggar family have commented on Jessa’s miscarriage or the abortion debate since Jessa announced her sad news.
We will update this story if anyone records it.
And at this time we send our condolences to Jessa, her husband and children.